Camilo
I don't know where I am. Everything is black. I can only see myself. I feel like I'm walking on water, but I don't sink. When I look down, I see my reflection. I hear someone laughing, so I look around. No one is there. Only miles, and miles of pitch, black darkness. I look down again, but it isn't me who I see in the water. It is Abuela Alma. "We must help those around us, Camilo. But to do that, you. . . must stop being yourself, mijo."
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Camilo." I turn to see my mother walking towards me with a strange smile on her face, "Do what mamá tells you, we don't want to upset her now, do we?" What were they talking about? Do they expect me to pretend to be someone else for the rest of my life?! Just for the sake of someone else's needs?
"Mamá, why-"
I scream out of fear when I feel someone grabbing me by my ankle. It's Abuela.
"Come now, let me help you change back, cariño." Abuela started to pull me down.
"No, let go of me!"
I managed to break free of her grasp, but as I started to run, a woman from the village appeared right in front of me. But the weird thing was that she was inside a mirror. She looked exhausted and worn out, like she hadn't slept in days. "Hey, Camilo. Turn into me," she reached her arms through the mirror and grabbed me by the shoulders, "come on kid. BE ME. I NEED YOU TO BE ME. Take care of my kid for a day or two, will you?"
She shook me violently, and I pushed the woman off of me. Her eyes were blood-shot red, she looked like she was crazy. She had her hands clasped together, her gaze never leaving me. I tried to run from her, but she only followed.
My eyes were still glued to her as I ran, a terrifying feeling shivering down to my core. I bumped into another figure, and I fell to the ground. I couldn't see it well, but I could figure it had the face of a man.
"My sincerest apologies, son. Here, let me help you." He offered me his hand, and I reluctantly took it. It was only when I stood up when I was able to see the horrifying sight. It was another villager inside a mirror, but he had no eyes. His eye sockets were hollow, darkness seeping in them.
I screamed, terrified of what I had just witnessed. Then another villager popped up, same as the last one. In a mirror. No eyes. I ran again, and another one came out. No matter how much I wanted to escape, they just kept coming. It got to the point where I was surrounded by them.
"Camilo. Camilo. Camilo."
They called out my name like the dead. I had nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to escape. Then, some figures started walking up front. Squeezing over the rest of them, each of my family members were walking towards me. All consumed by the same darkness that controlled the rest of the villagers.
They all surrounded me as well, but they didn't say my name. Instead, they said, "Change. Change. Change."
Again. Again. And again.
It never stopped, they all kept tormenting me. I tried to cover my ears to muffle the sound, but I could still hear them. I could feel their gazes upon me, how they judged me.
"Stop," I whispered. "Just stop," I pleaded.
"Stop it!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks. And that's when I felt Abuela's grasp again, only this time I couldn't free myself. And before I knew it, I was underwater. I moved my arms and legs, in an attempt to get back to the surface. But I just kept sinking. I looked down, and Abuela wasn't there anymore, yet I was still sinking. My lungs started to shrink, aching from the lack of oxygen. I was running out of air. Air. Air. Air. That was all I could think of. I couldn't hold on for much long-
[Echo]"Camilo?"
Huh? What was that? I looked around, trying to figure out where that sound came from. I saw nothing.
[Echo]"Camilo?!"
There it was again, but this time it was a little louder. I didn't recognize the voice.
I'm here! I'm over here!
But it was too late, my mouth had just opened, letting all the water inside.
"CAMILO!"
* * *
My eyes snap open, and I jolt right up with a gasp. I feel cold sweat on my forehead, and I feel a shiver go through my body. I look around to find myself on my bed, covered with white blankets. Safe. I'm safe. I put my face on my hands with a sigh, and run a hand through my curly hair, my heart still settling from the nightmare. I take a deep breath, and take the covers off to get up. When suddenly, I hear my mother calling for me, and I am transported back to the dream I had. My head starts to pound, and I grab my forehead hoping the pain would go away.
"Camilo!" She called again.
"Yes, mamá¹?" I yelled back.
"Get up, mijo². It's time for breakfast!"
"Ok," I started, "I'll be there in a minute."
When I heard no response, I figured she had already gone downstairs. It's so weird that the door to my room is like a mile away, but I can still hear her clearly. When my mother yells, she means business. The small headache was now gone, so I went to my dresser to get ready. Before I opened it, though, I walked over to my wooden, oval mirror. When I was in front of it, I was relieved to see my own reflection. I touched the mirror with the tip of my fingers, and used my other hand to touch every aspect of my face. I know it might sound strange, but there are times when I forget how I look as. . . well, me.
I do this every morning, 'til the point where it has become a habit. There are times where I've questioned whether this is normal or healthy, but over time I just learned how to live with it and accept it. Or, so I think I have.
Once I finished examining myself, I opened my dresser and grabbed my outfit of the day. I took off my sweatshirt, and exchanged it for a simple, white long sleeved shirt. Then I put on some black pants, and then my closed black shoes. Lastly, I grabbed my traditional, yellow ruana³. I've had this thing since I was young, and I can't help but still love it. It had different shades of yellow, and it had little chameleons imprinted on it. Mamá made it for me as a birthday present when I turned eight years old. She miscalculated when measuring, and it ended up fitting me a little too big. She was a little upset by this, and offered to fix it. I immediately refused, and I assured her that I liked it how it was. And I was speaking the truth. The only thing I cared about was that my mom had made it with love.
I walked out to the small, wooden bridge in my room. As I crossed it, I looked up to see that it was bright and sunny outside. I could hear the birds chirping and singing. I kept walking up a few stone stairs that led to a small hallway, which then led to the door. I walked through the corridor, but I decided not to even take a glance at the mirrors on the walls. I've had enough mirrors for today.
I turned the knob of my door, and stepped out. I walked through the hall until I reached the staircase that led to the first floor. When I saw no one by the dining room, I went to look for my family outside. As I thought, they decided to have breakfast outdoors. There was a table full of food, and I didn't hesitate to run towards it. I grabbed a plate and started serving myself.
"Good morning, son."
I turned around to see my father standing behind me, holding a plate of food.
"Morning, papá⁴."
My father chuckled, and brought my head to his chest with his free hand. I groaned at the gesture, but I knew he was just messing with me. He finally let me go, and I continued to serve my meal. As I grabbed some arepas con queso⁵, I saw my older cousin Luisa carrying the large, wooden table with one arm. I saw that most of my family was already waiting to take a seat, food already in hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Abuela Alma walking out of the house. I couldn't help shiver when a flash of the nightmare was again projected in my mind. I shook the thought away when she approached us and said, "Casita⁶, some chairs please." Her wish became Casita's command to follow, and in an instant, eleven chairs in total were moved towards the table. At first sight, it would seem as if the chairs had a life of their own, but it was only Casita moving them.
Everybody took their seats, said their good mornings, and started eating their breakfast. Abuela was sitting at the head of the table, and Luisa was at the other end. On Abuela's left side where my parents, my tía⁶ Julieta, tío⁷ Augustín- her husband- and my cousin Mirabel. On the other side of the table were my younger brother Antonio, my older sister Dolores, my cousin Isabela, and myself.
I was just about to take a bite out of my arepa when Abuela spoke. "Julieta, when we are done eating, do you mind stopping by the Castillo's home? I got word from Dolores that their youngest daughter woke up feeling a little ill."
"Yes mamá," she said, "I'll make sure to help them out."
Abuela smiled at her response. "Wonderful. And Luisa, would you please go and help the Mendez family? They need some assistance moving some things around their home."
"Yes, Abuela. I'll go now." Luisa got up and excused herself from the table.
"One more thing," Dolores spoke, "la señora⁸ Imelda needs a babysitter until noon." She looked at me with a teasing smile, and I death glared at her. She did that on purpose. It's not that I'm complaining, I don't have a problem taking care of the kids. I do this quite often, actually, but there are times when the little ones become very naughty and mischievous. The last time I was babysitting, a whole group of kids conspired against me. Before I knew it, I was being attacked by four and five year olds. They piled all over me, and all my family laughed at me.
It wasn't until Abuela called me when I stopped making faces at Dolores.
"Huh?"
"Camilo, will you take care of that, cariño⁹?"
"Oh, um." I said. "Yes, Abuela."
Abuela nodded in gratitude, and everyone went back to finishing their breakfast.
Around twenty minutes later, I found myself in Mrs. Imelda's home. I was playing around with her three kids: Gerardo, Emilio, and Lucia. I made my best impression of each one- shapeshifting into perfect copies of them. They all burst into laughter as I did this, and we spent the rest of the morning running and playing around with each other.
* * *
I was now standing outside of Mrs. Imelda's home, saying my goodbyes.
"Gracias otra vez¹⁰, mijo. I hope this wasn't too much trouble. I thought you would never want to babysit my kids again after the incident from last time." She laughed a little at the memory.
I chuckled at her comment. "No es nada¹¹, they learned their lesson. Right guys?"
"Yes, we won't mess with Camilo again." The three of them assured. I smiled at this and started walking away.
"Adiós¹², Camilo!" The kids yelled.
"Bye, kiddos." I yelled back.
I walked along the town, looking at people doing their daily activities. There were some men building a house, working on the infrastructure of the soon-to-be home. I could hear the ringing of the bells from the church, signaling that it was noon. To my other side, there were women dressed in very bright colors talking and conversing. In the distance, I recognized a man that was about to enter his house. I approached him, but not enough to invade his- very much liked- personal space.
"Buenos días¹³ Don¹⁴ Alberto," I greeted, waving my hand.
Don Alberto only turned to look at me with a blank face, absolutely no expression. Then, he proceeded to enter his home without a single word.
I'm not offended. Why would I? I'd say the better word to describe how I feel about that man is "perplexed." Ever since that man came to live here he has been nothing but strange. He always looks depressed, like he has no interest in anything or anyone. I don't really know much about him, but I heard the grown ups talking once. They mentioned that he was from the outside, as in outside of the Encanto. I honestly don't understand how he entered. I'm not exaggerating when I say that no one goes in or out. Not only is it prohibited, it's also impossible. The mountains are too high to climb, and there is no way to go under. How in the world did he manage to get inside?
"Hey, Camilo!"
I broke out of trance, and I turned to see Luisa holding a ball in her hands with a smile on her face. "Camilo! You up for a little game of futbol¹⁵?"
Her sister Isabela and my little brother Antonio soon came into sight, excited to join in. I wasn't in the best mood, so I declined her offer. "No thanks. I'm ok."
As I turned to leave, Luisa spoke behind me. "What? Afraid to lose against me?" She challenged me. I turned around, and I could already feel my cheeks turning red. "No," I started, "I-just-well, I want to save you from the embarrassment when I turn this around and beat YOU!" Luisa scoffed at my comment, and I didn't blame her. What kind of comeback was that?! I didn't sound confident at all.
"Come on Camilo, just come have some fun," Isabela encouraged. To my luck, Antonio started shooting ojitos¹⁶ at me. He looked like a little cute puppy, begging to be played with. How could I resist that? I needed a break anyway.
"Alright, why not? But let me tell you, you're all going down, " I responded.
"No you won't," Antonio said.
I shot him a glare as if to say, dude!
We made teams of two, Isabela and I against Luisa and Antonio. Once we were all in position, Isabela started the countdown. "Ready, set, go!" Once she gave the order, she made a beautiful purple flower emerge from the ground to shoot some pollen- which was the game signal.
* * *
We played for a few hours, and we were tied seven to seven. This was the final round, the one that would decide everything. We all ran towards the ball, hoping to kick it and make the last goal. However, Luisa got a little too into it and kicked the ball with so much force that it flew away and into the forest. Well, that is just great, now how are we going to find out who wins?
After we saw the ball disappear into oblivion, Isabela, Antonio, and I turned to look at Luisa. She looked embarrassed and was trying to cover her face with her hand. "Um," she laughed nervously, "sorry."
"I guess someone is going to have to go get it," Isabela said.
"Yeah," I concur.
Then, everyone looked at each other, thinking of the exact same thing and we all yelled.
"Safo¹⁶!"
"Safo!"
"Safo!"
"Safo-! Aww," Antonio said. "Am I going to have to go get it?"
Isabela kneeled down to be at Antonio's level, "Don't worry Toñito, you're younger. That means you don't count." She smiled at him, "So technically, Camilo was the last one to say safo. Alright Camilo, como vas¹⁷."
"Wait, what?!" I questioned. "Why do I have to go? Luisa was the one to lose the ball!" I complained.
Isabela stood up, "Sorry cousin, rules are rules."
I was about to open my mouth again to protest but stopped when I saw Isabela still having a teasing smile plastered on her face.
I stood down. "Ugh, fine. I'll go."
I turned to leave and crossed the town to enter the forest. It was around four o' clock, so there was still plenty of light for me to see. However, this place was like a maze when all there are trunks and leaves. When am I ever going to find it? This is ridiculous. I looked around trees, beside rocks, up in the branches just in case it got stuck there. I heard the croaking sound of toucans from time to time and saw the occasional clouded yellow butterfly. I kept walking until I bumped into the side of a mountain. It was huge compared to me; I couldn't even see the top from all the way down here. I had to twist my neck backwards to even take a good look at it. Another dead end, I guess.
I was about to give up and head back, but something caught my eye. There was an odd bundle of vines hanging from the mountain's wall. Not to mention, those were the only vines around the rock. Correction, they weren't hanging. They seemed like they were placed there on purpose for some reason. I lifted up my hand to move the vines, but I hesitated.
I'm probably being paranoid, they're just vines. I stepped back and turned to leave. I was about to go back into the forest when I suddenly heard something. It was like flowing, maybe moving. I turned around again and walked towards the vines again. I placed my ear next to the wall, and that's when I heard it more clearly.
Water.
No. A stream?
Next thing I know, I was already using my hand to move the vines to the side. There was a secret passage behind it! It was narrow, but big enough to go through. A tunnel inside the mountain. I could see a small opening at the end, and I could see what looked like a small fawn peering inside the tunnel as well. When it saw me, however, it sprinted away. I was tempted to follow it, but I stopped myself. I looked back, thinking that I could get in serious trouble for this.
I looked at the tunnel, then back at the direction of the village. I took a deep breath and entered the passage. I won't be gone for long. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
I squeezed through, struggling to walk through, and reached the end. I was now in the open. I was now on the outside. Wait? I'm on the outside. . .I'm on the outside! This is so crazy, what did I just do?!
I ran a hand through my hair, laughing at the insanity. I looked around, and I saw a group of colorful birds flying and dancing around each other. I could hear the sound of leaves rattling against each other, and I could feel a fresh breeze hit my face. I then saw the fawn, who was nibbling on some grass. I tried to approach it cautiously, like when a predator stalks its prey.
I must've stepped on a leaf or a twig, because the little deer ran away at the speed of light. I sighed, I really wanted to take a good look at it. There are no deer in the Encanto, I had only seen them in picture books.
Then, I heard something else. I tried to listen carefully, trying to see if I could recognize the sound. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I tried following it. I walked through a small trail and used my hands to move some branches to clear my path. The trail eventually led to a river, which must have been what I heard back at the tunnel. That's when I saw a figure along the distance, sitting down on the floor. As I got closer -careful not to alarm it- I was able to recognize what it was.
There, sitting by the river water, arms wrapping her knees.
Was a girl.
* * *
¹[Mom]
²[Son]
³[A type of latin clothing]
⁴[Dad]
⁵[A Colombian treat made of dough combined with cheese]
⁶[Aunt]
⁷[Uncle]
⁸[Mrs.]
⁹[Sweetheart/sweetie]
¹⁰["Thanks, again."]
¹¹["It's nothing."]
¹²[Goodbye/Bye]
¹³[Good morning]
¹⁴[Mr.]
¹⁵[Soccer]
¹⁶["Not it."]
¹⁷[Get going]