Some Candles Burn Faster

Line Up the Domino's

With the morning light brings a faint sound of a child sobbing. Mirabel forces herself up to find out who the tears come from. A pit forms in the bottom of her stomach as she hopes it isn't Antonio.

There he is at the bottom of the steps, she rushes towards him, hoping to find out whats wrong. She kneels in front of him, hand gently touching his shoulder. When his eyes meet hers, words erupt from him, jumbled and confused. "Mirabel!" He sobs, "I thought," a small hiccup, "I thought you left... like tío Bruno." The last part was whispered, the forbidden name passes through his lips. Her heart cant help but lurch, tears sprung to her eyes as she realized how much she meant to him.

She rushes to pull him into a hug, squeezing him as she said, "never, I would never leave you, mi querido pequeño, nunca te dejaría." Frantic reassurances leave her lips.

His small voice interrupts her, "but now that I have a gift, don't I need to earn your attention."

"No, no, of course not, my love is unconditional."

His little nose crinkles, Mirabel hopes he believes her, "what does unconditional mean?"

An airy laugh leaves her as she begins to explain, "it means that... pase lo que pase siempre te querré."

"But what if I did something bad?"

"Oh?" The thought of Antonio doing something bad is almost laughable, "and what would that be?"

"The animals have told me things, and I... I don't want to tell Abuela, but I don't think I should keep it secret either." Something cold grips at Mirabel's heart. She manoeuvres over to his side. Pulling him to sit on her lap.

"Well, I have been told I am an excellent secret keeper, you'll find it extremely difficult for the others to get anything from me."

"Isabela doesn't want to marry Mariano," the first part comes out in a rush. Before Mirabel can even think about processing them he continues, "and Tío Bruno is living in the walls." What? "Mhmm the rats told me. Theres more too, Luisa is under a lot of pressure and won't tell anyone, and Camilo is having something called a 'gender crisis' and- and!"

"Hey, hey, I need you to breath with me Tonio," she tries her best to calm his breathing down, it's beneficial for both of them. Now she can process, it seems that she was wrong about so much. Blinded by her own troubles she didn't notice the others. She will help them best she can, but first, "you can't tell Abuela about any of this, okay? I promise I will take care of it." Getting up she offers him a hand, "first breakfast, but then do you think you can help me write everything down? I want to make sure everything is addressed." He nods before latching onto her, much like he did last night, at least this time there isn't the same suffocating pressure.

Maybe it was knowing that the gift would one day disappear, but Mirabel suddenly had more confidence in herself. She held her head high as she walked the snuffling Antonio to his seat, daring the others to ask what was wrong. She knew that it would somehow be blamed on her if the question was aired.

Sitting beside him she waited for Abuela to grace them with her presence. She couldn't help but notice that Luisa is sitting on the side with the adults, between Pepa and Julieta. Antonio looked to her in worry, she tried to give him what she hopes is a reassuring smile. It seems to work to some degree, he smiles back at her and turns away. Dolores takes a seat next to her, handing her a note. Fear shoots up Mirabel's spine, she forgot, how could she forget, Dolores hears everything, she has to know about what happened last night.

With a gulp, shaking hands open the gently folded paper. The paper held tear smudged graphite, and eight wonderful yet terrifying words:'I'm sorry, I will help however I can'. A hand cover's her own, her amazing brilliant prima is on her side. Giving the hand a gentle squeeze Mirabel stuffs the note into her bag, making sure its secure.

"Mirabel!" She quickly looks up to Abuela, what did she do? Dolores didn't betray her right? No, she wouldn't, not after a note like that. "Where were you last night?" That was what this was about, Mirabel would've thought she would be happy, she was less likely to mess up Antonio's ceremony by not being there. The disbelief must have shown on her face, because Abuela's expression went stormy, "we are meant to show the people of Encanto a united front. Because you weren't there people were questioning us. Were you trying to sabotage Antonio's night?"

"No! No of course not! I would never!" She can tell that Abuela is searching for the truth in her words, wondering if there is any. "The reason I left was because I was tired. I didn't think anyone would mind if I went to sleep."

"I did," the squeaky voice of Antonio says, "I wanted to dance with mi Mirabel... But I couldn't find you."

"I'm sorry Tonio, I didn't think..."

"But its okay! You're here now!" This kid, she loves him so much.

From across from the table the voice of her tía Julieta — who she calls mamá out loud — comes to he rescue, "Mami, you know how stressful the day must have been for her." She wonders if Julieta hadn't taken the role of her madre, would she still come to her aid? She wonders what life would be like if she didn't remember who her father is, because Mirabel is pretty sure that's what was supposed to happen. Thankfully at her tía's words her Abuela relented.

Abuela clears her throat, getting everyones attention, "I have spoken with the Guzman's about Mariano's proposal to Isabela. Dolores, do we have a date?"

Dolores tilts her head to the side, "tonight, he wants 5 babies." Purple flowers pop onto Isabela's head, Abuela plucks the only white one, tossing it aside.

Thankfully breakfast didn't last long. Soon afterwards Mirabel finds herself in Dolores' room along with Antonio. They sat facing each other, each on a colourful beanbag. Dolores breaks the silence, "Mirabel, what exactly do you hope to achieve? I can only tell so much by words and sounds."

"The miracle is dying," clenching her fists as they gasp, "I don't know why, and quite frankly I don't care. It has done more bad than good. Every single one of us has been shoved into a box, and if we have any hope of leaving we need to let it burn out." A breath, "our family is crumbling, and nobody is even trying to save it. Apparently Isabela, who I thought to have the perfect life is practically being forced into a marriage she doesn't want. I didn't see it before this morning, the flaws. While I still don't really like her, she's my sister you know? And thats one of the more minor issues, not that it is, minor that is. Am I rambling, I think I'm rambling, I'm going to shut up now."

There's a moment of silence before anyone knew what to say. "I agree," Dolores starts with, Antonio chiming in in agreement.

Mirabel fells her throat close, she forces herself to speak as tears fall from her eyes. Relief fills her. "Oh, oh thats good, we need a plan then." She fishes a notebook out from her bag, pencil in hand she speaks, "where do we start?"