Once Upon A Time In Colombia...

Of Self-Doubt and Apologies

Ten years...

Bruno has lived withing the walls of Casita... For ten years.

He has been living with rats... For ten years.

This means that he "left" the family when he was 40, because as far as I'm concerned, the triplets (Pepa, Julieta, and Bruno) are all the same age. And that age, reader(s), is 50. "You never left." Mirabel said. "Well, I - I left my tower, which was, you know, a lotta stairs, and, uh, in here, eh? Kitchen adjacent!"

I guess... In here, you're not exactly near the kitchen...

"Ooh, plus, free entertainment!" Bruno showed us cardboard cut-outs that the rats poke their heads through, unkowingly enacting little plays. "So whattya like? You like sports? Game show? Telenovelas?"

Um... none of the above...? I don't know how to react to this. "Their love cold never be."

"I don't understand." Mirabel said, looking around. Me neither. "Well, because she's his aunt and she has amnesia, so she can't remember that she's his aunt, you see, it's like a very forbidden love kind of-"

Don't you just love when a creator of rat telenovelas makes fun of his own telenovelas? Or just telenovelas in general?

"I don't understand why you 'left,' but didn't 'leave?'" Mirabel asked. Bruno seemed uncomfortable at the question. "Oh, well... because, you know, the mountains around the Encanto are pretty tall... and uh - you know, like I said, free food... and everything." Bruno answered, avoiding eye contact. Where he moved away was where We saw a shaft of light. Curious, I peered through it to see... the dining room? And next to me was... a drawn-on plate on the table?

This says a lot about how badly he still wanted to be a part of the family.

"My gift wasn't helping the family... but, uh, I love my family, y'know... I just don't know how to... I just don't know how to..." He looked down and saw me with one of the rats in my paws. Probably thinking I was gonna eat it, he screamed, almost falling backwards. 

"Ah! Cat!" He screamed. Confused, I dropped the rat. "Tío Bruno, it's okay!" Mirabel said, picking me up. "Oscar's not gonna hurt you." You'd think he's seen a cat before and know that domestic ones, such as myself, aren't dangerous. Apparently not.

Tentatively, Bruno reached his hand out to pet me. I immediately rubbed my head against it, purring. He chuckled a bit, not expecting the reaction he got. THEN I did something that I only do with people I trust with every fiber of my being: I hopped up on Bruno's shoulders and laid down. 

"What's this? What is he doing?" Bruno asked Mirabel. "He does that when he trusts you." She answered with a sweet smile at my gesture. Bruno looked at me. "You... you trust me?" He asked, not entirely believing what Mirabel just said to him. 

This must mean that he hasn't been told that he's trusted often, or at all. 

I nodded, "I do." And with that, Bruno smiled. Looks like he's not afraid of me anymore. Unfortunately, his smile didn't last vry long, and he handed me back to Mirabel.

"Well, anyway, I think you two should go, because, um... well, I don't really have a good reason but if I did, you'd be like 'I should go', 'cause that's a good reason." Bruno said, sitting down. I shook my head gently, hopping up and laying on his lap. "Why were we in your vision, Bruno?" I asked. He seemed a bit shocked to see a talking cat. 

"We just... wanted to make the family proud... just once. But if we should stop... If we're hurting our family... Just tell us." Mirabel whispered. Bruno looked at her, seemingly debating on whether or not he should tell us or not.