Rat Tails - Encanto

Part One

Talking to animals wasn't that bad, most of the time. It wasn't bad in the way Antonio loved all the gossip he heard, or how they were always glad to do stuff for him. It wasn't bad in how whenever one of the animals was hurt, he'd know exactly how to help.

However, every pro comes with a con.

It started with the toucans, who had mildly scary stories to tell.

Stories of what lay outside,

Of all the suffering.

They wouldn't ramble out and roll on the way the smaller birds did, but when they dropped information like that, it stung. It stung because he knew it was true, because the toucans don't lie.

But over time, it became very clear he didn't want to hear about it, so then again were their beaks filled with lively chatter and the latest avian drama.

Then it was the rats.

They led him behind the painting, into the walls.

They told him all about how life worked behind there.

Of course they said everything,

Finally, someone who could make out their words!

"It's nice having Bruno,"

They told him.

"But only if he understood like you do."

La familia doesn't talk about Bruno,

But the rats do.
And they've seen so much more.

But after Casita returned, things started to change. There were more rats simply about now, despite finding comfort in the walls, there was always little opportunity for food, they told him. They also told him how much they preferred to be with Bruno, it was always Bruno.

It made Antonio begin to wonder, how did it start? Of course, in the walls, right? When they said he first went into hiding?
Pepa has to say otherwise.

She used to complain sometimes, before the family was stitched back together, "El diablo con ojos verdes y sus ratas. Siempre las ratas, porque no ratones? At least mice are cute. Why not something cuter, something cleaner? Ever since he was young... " Pepa would go on and on and her tone would grow fierce with her thunder. Rain inside was never good for the flooring, but Casita dealt with it, and Felix always hushed her angered state before she began full on storming. She got worse with age, but ever since everyone lost their gifts and got them back, she's been getting better at controlling her emotions.

Ever since he was young.
That stuck with Antonio.

It wasn't prying, because he'd never outright pry, but he began to ask questions about Tio Bruno from when he was younger to the rats. They said all kinds of things, mainly focusing on how he was treated after his gift ceremony. It was quite chilling, to hear of such an innocent man to be treated in such a cruel manner. All because of his gift, all because of things people outright asked him to do.

What made Antonio's blood boil even hotter was how everyone was taught to not talk about Bruno after he "disappeared". No one talked about Bruno, we didn't talk about Bruno, we didn't ask questions about Bruno, we didn't ask if Mirabel would fall to the same fate as Bruno.

"We don't sympathize with the ones who've hurt la familia Madrigal, Antonio."

We don't question it when Camilo shifts into el Diablo con Ojos Verde, and says ridiculous things. We say not to encourage it, but it was always a fun horror story by the campfire. Bruno, at some point, was nothing more than a fairy tale for parents to get their kids to bed on time, or to stop them from wandering into the mountains.