Encanto: The Miracle Giver

It was a cold quiet night all except for one crying baby in a barn surrounded by animals being held by his mother and father. As his mother rocked the baby, she looks towards her husband and says, "we'll call him Jose" she looked back at crying Jose and she began to hum a sweet melody calming Jose down to a deep sleep, as she watched Jose drift asleep she reached down and gave him a kiss on the forehead with a soft smile she says, " My little Jose, the miracle giver"

Encanto:
The Miracle Giver
16 years later

*art done by Reeves, this is Jose*

*sniff* as Jose smells a papaya he gives a soft smile and pays the stand lady for it, Jose begins walking through a small town named Encanto, as he turns down a street he begins to hear music, laughter and shuffling of feet. He makes his way towards the sound, finding himself in the middle of town in front of a church. There he sees a multitude of townspeople dancing and laughing to beautiful music. Jose steps aside, leans against a wall and enjoys the merry group, when the music dies down and the people begin to disperse he begins to clap, though he can hardly hear himself due to the fact people are still laughing and talking. after a while Jose asks one of the townsfolk, a small dark haired women if they do this often, " oh yes quite often we like to start our day with much joy, normally it begins when one of the Madrigals begins singing then everyone joins in" the lady said, " who's the Madrigals?" Asked Jose, " you don't know the Madrigals, you know what, now that I think about it I haven't seen you around here before, you're new to town aren't you" " your correct, I was just passing by when I heard the music and the people, I couldn't help myself" " well allow me to welcome you to Encanto and to the people that live in it. I would love to introduce you to the Madrigals but I have many chores to do today, but don't worry they love people and you can find them throughout the town. you can spot them by seeing them use their gifts, you can't miss them" with that the lady leaves to begin her day. Jose leaves the courtyard and as he walks down one of the streets he notices a beautiful Dahlia hanging from a crack in a house, as he drifts his hand down its stem the plant seems to perk up a bit. Jose gives a soft chuckle as it does, " there you go my friend no need to be sad" he says softly. he begins walking again then *SMACK* Jose was hit hard in the the face by a homemade soccer ball leaving a dark black spot on his eye, "HIJO DE UN CASCANUECES" he yells as four boys run up to him, " we're so sorry sir" one of the boys says as they reach him, " Antonio why did you hit the ball so hard" another ones says towards the youngest boy who had darker skin and big black bushy hair, " but I didn't kick it Canguro did" Antonio said pointing towards a kangaroo. Antonio gets closer to Jose who was rubbing his black eye, " don't worry sir I know who can heal your eye" Jose lets out a light chuckle, " don't worry little guy I'll be ok, I just need to find a place alone" " no really, my tía can heal you really fast with her food" Jose just stares at Antonio, " alright, Antonio was it, you peaked my interest" as Antonio says goodbye to his friends and the boys finished apologizing to Jose Antonio leads Jose back to the courtyard with the church and takes him to a older lady with a blue apron and dark hair tied up in a high bun, " Tía Julieta can you heal this guy, Canguro accidentally hit him with a ball while he was walking" Julieta turned to face Jose, " oh you poor thing, here eat this Concha" as Jose puts the Concha in his mouth and swallows he feels the pain go away, " wow nice pastry, I gotta get the recipe" Julieta gives a small chuckle, " it's wasn't the Concha that healed you, but my gift" Jose's eyes go wide and says with some Concha still in his mouth, " your a Madrigal" " yes I am and so is my little Sobrino Antonio" Julieta says as she rubs Antonio's head, " so the townspeople weren't kidding when they said y'all have gifts" "I take it you are new to town" " indeed I'm Jose and I was just passing by, but I was told that I should meet the Madrigal family before I left" Jose says finishing his pastry, " well you only meet two members of the family there are many more of us, as a way for apologizing why don't you come have dinner with us" Julieta says, " oh I would love too but I really must be going" " please my Tía is the best cook" Antonio says yanking at Jose's arm, " I would really love too little Antonio, but I have nowhere to stay for the night" Jose said with a soft chuckle, " then you'll stay the night at our Casita" said Julieta with a smile, " we love opening our Casita to others and inviting them into our family, even if it is only for a night" Jose sighs and agrees, " but I want to work for my stay if you don't mind" Julieta still smiling, " I believe that is a fair trade" with that, the two Madrigals lead Jose to their house to meet the others enjoy food and to have a restful night sleep on their way to the house Julieta explains what happened to Encanto and how her youngest daughter Maribal saved the miracle as the three reach the house it waves at them and opens its doors wow Jose thinks to himself when they enter the house Julieta tells Antonio to introduce Jose to the family as she goes into the kitchen and begins to cook dinner, " come on follow me Jose" Antonio says as he holds Jose's hand leading him up stairs we're he sees ten glowing doors with beautiful engravings on them, " I think my cousin Lisa is over here" Antonio says leading Jose around the corner pass a door with the name Lisa engraved in the top and a tall buff women holding up a dumb bell above her head as they come around the corner Jose and Antonio see a large women with a blues skirt and a white shirt swinging on a hammock in front of a window watching the sunset as the two approach the large women notices them and stands up, " Lisa this is Jose he'll be having dinner with us and will be staying the night" said Antonio standing next to Jose, " hola my name is Jose" Jose said reaching his hand out for a shake, " nice to meet you Jose I'm Lisa," Lisa said as she shakes Jose's hand as the two finish greeting Antonio asked if Lisa knows where everyone else is at, " well Isabella, Dolores, Maribel, and your mom are still in town but I think you dad and brother are down stairs setting the table" Lisa said sitting back down on her hammock, " come on the dining room is this way Jose" Antonio said waving Jose to follow follow him with a wave goodbye Jose follows Antonio down the stairs and threw a corridor leading to the dining room where a short man with hair like Antonio's but with a white streak going threw the top and wearing a yellow shirt and pants with a younger boy that is wearing a yellow poncho with white clothing underneath setting the table, " papa Camilo this is Jose he'll be having dinner with us and will be staying the night" as Antonio introduced Nose the two stop and walk over shaking his hand, " hola Jose I am Fèlix Dolores Camilo and Antonio's father" " and I'm Camilo" as the four finish introduction Julieta enters the dining room, " Jose since you wanted to earn your meal and bed how about you help me in the kitchen do you know how to cook" " sì Mrs. Julieta I do" Jose thanks Antonio for introducing him and goes with Julieta Into the kitchen as the two prepares ingredients the door to the kitchen bursts open, " deliver" says I women wearing a blue skirt with beautiful patterns and what seems to be a white shirt with the same patterns holding a box that covers her top half of her body as the women puts down the box she notices Jose, " oh uh hola" she says awkwardly Julieta steps in, " Maribel this is Jose he'll be having dinner with us and will be staying the night here" " oh well it's really nice to meet you Jose" Maribel says with her hand stretched out Jose shakes it, " you as well Maribel" as Maribel unpacks the box full of ingredients Jose and Julieta begin cooking, " you are quite the cook Jose where did you learn it from" said Julieta watching Jose perfectly rolls up bread, " I learned it from my mama, when my father passed away she had to get a job so i picked up the house chores since she didn't have the time for them" " I'm so sorry Jose you're a good son for doing that" " thank you Mrs. Julieta" as the two finished preparing the food Jose went to go sit at the table we're most of the family was already sitting as he sat down at the end of the table next to Antonio he notice that five of the people sitting at the table he hadn't meet yet when all the food was placed on the table everyone sat down while an older lady stood up and introduced herself, " welcome to our home Jose, we are blessed to have you here. I am Abulea, I guided this family here many years ago with the help of our miracle ( she gestures to a beautiful candle glowing brightly on a window seal) with that ever burning candle my family was given gifts to help our community grow. Allow me to introduce the family you have not met, this is Pepa, my daughter ( she gestures to a tall redhead woman with gray streaks through her hair, she is wearing a yellow dress) and her daughter Dolores ( she is wearing a white top and a red skirt with her hair up in a neat bun wrapped with a red handkerchief) and Julieta's husband and second oldest daughter, Agustín ( who has a pencil mustache with a white shirt covered by a blue vest and blue pants) and Isabelle ( who has black hair with a colored hair streak and a black dress with splashes of color) and my son Bruno ( he has long black curly hair with a green poncho with a dark shirt underneath and white pants) now that everyone is introduced we shall eat." As the enjoy the delicious meal and enjoy each other's company Jose leans over to Antonio and says in a whisper, " man you sure do got a big family" Antonio giggles, " yeah there's a lot of us but that's what I love about this family, your never alone" Jose's heart drops a little after hearing that, he leans back in his chair never alone, huh Mirabel notices Jose's change in attitude and clears her throat, " so Jose why don't you share a little about yourself" Jose snaps out of his deep thought, " oh um.." Julieta chimes in, " he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to" " oh no I don't mind" Jose says as he straightens himself out, " uh well I'll start at the beginning, I was born in a small barn and growing up we didn't have much of anything. My father worked everyday, he was a carpenter, and I never really saw him all that much. Then one day he was able to get a big job building a large building, they needed someone to build the beams and all that, it was very dangerous but it paid very well. About two weeks into the project my mother and I were told the building collapsed and my father was inside, he died instantly. Mother had to get work and because of that I had to leave school and learn how to cook and clean. My mother would always come home late, she barely had enough energy to eat. It wasn't long till she got terribly sick, it took awhile for her to get better and she did, but only for a little bit. She died two years later, I sold everything we had and went on the road, getting work where I can. But that was three years ago, I've done my mourning and I'm fine now." He paused for a minute thinking about what he said. He then realized everyone stopped eating and were focusing hard on him with sadden looks, " oh my I'm so sorry I didn't mean for it to be sad, I'm really sorry I hope I didn't put away anybody's appetite" there was a pause the Juletia not saying a word gets up from her chair and walks over to Jose. She bends down to eye level with him, she places her hand on his cheek and with a shaky voice she says, " you've been alone for three years? Oh you poor child" and she embraces Jose in a way only a mother can. Jose chokes up a bit but holds himself together and accepts the hug oh right, I'm just a kid Juletia releases Jose and returns to her seat. " you are not alone anymore Jose, you are here in Encanto and here you have family" Abulea says with confidence and care, " alright Jose you can stay in the nursery and Mirabel can move in with Luisa for the night" Abulea continues, " oh no please don't move anyone out of their rooms for me, I can sleep anywhere it doesn't matter" Jose says in haste, " I don't mind Jose" Mirabel says, " yeah we've never done any kind of sleep over thing before" Luisa says cheerfully, " it'll be fun" Jose relaxes a bit " well if y'all don't mind" " then it is decided, casa make sure the nursery is ready for our guess" Abulea says, the house creaks and a noise begins in the direction of the rooms. With dinner cleaned up and the nursery made, everyone says goodnight and heads to bed, all except Jose. Jose climbs up to the top of the roof and stares towards the moon going into deep thought, he sighs heavily then he hears Mirabel's voice, " can't sleep either?" Jose chuckles a little, " yeah" Mirabel sits next to him, " yeah Luisa snores pretty loudly" " I'm sorry Mirbel, please you can take back your room I don't mind sleeping outside" Jose says forgetting what he was thinking about. Mirabel giggles, " you're very sweet Jose, but I'm fine really. Why don't you tell what's keeping you up" Jose sighs again when he's thoughts come back, " talking about my parents made me miss them is all, I've had nights like this before I'll be ok" " I'm really sorry Jose if we've known we wouldn't have asked" Mirbel says scooting a little closer " no it's fine I chose to talk about them" Jose says laying his head on his hands. Mirbel and Jose stare at the stars and moon for a little bit, without looking away Mirbel asks, " what were they like?" Jose smiles a little at the thought of his parents before their death, " my father was very stoic but I saw the love and care he had for us, when he was working on that house he was able to be home more. That's when he taught me everything he knew about carpentry. I like to make wooden flowers and place them along the road for other travelers in his memory. Because even though my father grew up poor and lived poor, he gave so much to our community he always gave more than what he had. My mother was just as caring, she always put others before herself. She taught me how to um....she taught me how to sing and dance a little" Mirbel's eye widen, Jose noticing this blushes a little and gets flustered, " yeah she taught me the song she use to sing to me to calm me down as a baby, when I'm sad or upset I'll sing it. Sometimes when I sing the song, it feels like she's right there with me singing along" Jose smiles at the thought of his mother and father and the sweet memories. Mirbel nudges Jose's shoulder and smiles, " can you sing it for me" Jose blushes harder and hides his face in his arms and legs and mumbles "no". Mirbel gets lower and nudges him again, " come on it'll make you feel better" Jose lifts his head slowly still red and flustered, " alright but you better not saying anything" " I promise I'll just listen" Jose swallows, clears his throat and closes his eyes and begins to sing the song. His voice was like soothing butter while he sang the song. As Jose continued singing the song Mirabel notice a bright light shining behind them, as she turned around she noticed the candle on the window seal burning even brighter and the doors with the engravings on them were glowing brighter as well. Mirbel stares at the candle, completely transfixed, as Jose says the final lyrics of the song " My little Miracle giver" the candle and door subside back to their normal burn and glow. Jose opens his eyes and notices Mirabel standing and staring at the candle, " is everything ok, was I that bad?" He says sheepishly. Mirabel turns around instantly, snapping out of the chrance, " oh no, the song was beautiful and you have a wonderful voice. It's just that when you started to sing the candle and the doors became brighter" Jose stands up and looks at them both, not noticing a difference, " I'm sorry I don't see any difference, they seem the same to me" Mirabel sighs, turns to Jose and smiles, " I'm sure I was imaging it, it is pretty late we should go to bed" " yeah, I think I can fall asleep now, thank you" Mirabel and Jose say good night but before Jose enters the nursery he looks towards Mirabel who was about to enter Luisa's room, smiles and enters the room never alone huh. As the morning sun rose over the horizon, the Madrigals and Jose gathered together outside to enjoy breakfast with one another. " how did you sleep last night Jose?" Abulea asked, " it took me a minute, but after a while I feel asleep( Jose gives a side glance towards Mirabel) it's been some time since the last time I slept in a proper bed. I normally just camp on the ground under the stars while I travel from town to town" " well I've been thinking about that and I feel that it would be best if you stay here in Encanto, we can help find somewhere to stay, so you won't be alone any more" Abuela said, Jose putting down his fork and knife, " I don't know, it's been so long since I stayed somewhere, it's hard to call a place your home when you have no family" Abuela thinks for a minute, " why don't you think about it, you can help Mirabel with her chores around town and we'll discuss it further during dinner" Jose agrees. Everyone finishes their breakfasts and begins their days. Mirabel and Jose begin walking through Encanto saying good morning to the townsfolk, Mirabel bumps into Jose, who was in deep thought, " what are you thinking about?" She asked, Jose perks up, breaking thought, " oh, just what Abuela said. It would be nice to stay somewhere but it would be really hard to call it home" Mirabel gets in front of Jose stopping them, she grabs his hands and guides him through the street towards the courtyard, " let's get you out of this slump, you said you knew how to dance" she said as she pulls him into the middle of the courtyard. Jose gets a bit flustered, " I said only a little" Mirabel similes, " a little is better than none, Cusà gives us some music please" as she said that a man tuning his guitar smiles and starts playing, nudging a women with her accordion who starts playing. She then gives a man adjusting his conga a look who then starts following the music. With music playing Maribel led Jose in a fast paced dance filled with twirls of skirts, claps and shuffling of feet. As the music gets faster and cheery they begin to pick up in pace, with the music coming to a close Jose ends the dance with dipping Maribel. As they hold the pose panting and smiling the crowd that formed began to clap and cheer making the two blush. As the crowd disapants Isabela walks up to the two clapping, " As beautiful of a dance that was, you guys are supposed to be doing chores not dancing" Jose standing up, rubs the back of his head, " oh right sorry, I got a bit carried away towards the end" Mirabel laughs, " it was my idea, but I had so much fun and don't worry Isabela we're about to start, Jose was just looking a little stressed from this morning" Isabela sighed, " well anyway, the donkeys got out again and Luisa and Antonio are busy with other things, do y'all mind handling that" they both agreed and went off to the location of the donkeys. When they arrived there Mirabel pulled a piece of grass from the ground and tried to get a donkey to follower her, " come on donkey right this way" but as she waved the grass the donkey paid now mind to her, she throws the grass away, " alright fine then I'll move you myself" she gets behind the donkey and begins to push, but as hard as she pushed the donkey didn't move. She slid down on the ground in defeat. Jose chuckles slightly and places his hand on the back end of the donkey and slowly glides it across the donkey's back, it's head perked up as his hand reached it. Jose puts his hand under the donkey's chin and while looking it in it's eyes he says, " come on buddy let's get you home" with that Jose starts walking towards the barn and the donkey begins to follow. After a little bit Jose turns around facing the other donkeys and yells, " COME ON, LET'S GET YOU ALL HOME" and all the donkeys perked up and began following Jose. Mirabel begins following as well, confused on how Jose did that so easily. As they reach the barn Jose directs the donkeys to their pins, he closes the barn doors and wipes his hands. He notices Mirabel standing behind him staring, " what?" Jose asked taken aback, Mirabel snaps out of it, " what do you mean what, how did you do that" " do what" " how did you get the donkeys to listen to you so easily" Jose chuckles, " oh that, I don't know, animals always liked me. I guess being born in a barn has its perks" Jose chuckles again and begins walking, Mirabel catches up and the two begin walking back to town. Before the two reached town, they noticed an elder lady tending to her garden ( that wasn't looking to healthy) Mirabel walks up to her and asks solemnly, " no luck this year either Mrs. Maria" Mrs. Maria gets up from the vegetable bed and sighs, " no, I really wanted to make a healthy garden on my own, but I guess I don't have a good enough green thumb" Jose smiles and gets on his knees in front of the vegetable bed. He places his hand on the soil, which looked dried and malnourished, " it doesn't take much to have a beautiful garden filled with flowers and vegetables, all it takes is good soil, water, sun, and lots of love. We can't forget that plants are alive, encouragement can go a long way. He rubs a light green, squishy watermelon and says, " you can do this, just dig deep and find your place in this land" as he finished talking the watermelon slowly began to turn dark green and harder. Jose stood up as Mrs. Maria's garden began flourishing, the soil turned a dark brown while her plants became more healthy looking. Jose smiles while Mrs. Maria thanked him for saving her garden. As Mirabel and Jose left Mrs. Maria's, Mirabel shoved Jose into a small pocket in the street. " what, did you grow up talking to plants too" Mirabel says getting close to Jose's face, Jose getting flustered, " I don't follow" " you just brought Mrs. Maria's garden back to life and let's not forget about the donkeys that followed you on your demand. I'm starting to think the candles and doors were growing brighter last night." Jose puts his hands on Mirabel's shoulders and moves her back a bit, " Mirabel, look if you really think something is happening here then let's go to the candle and figure this out mhm." Mirabel nods, " alright follow me" the two make their way up to Casita and into the room where the candle is being held. As the two come up to the candle Mirabel faces Jose, " alright now sing the song. Jose steps back a bit, " I can't" " what, why not" " because it's different, last night it was just you and me and that was hard on it's own. I can't do it with other people around." " Jose they can't hear you in hear" Jose begins leaving the room, " I'm sorry I can't, maybe we can try tonight" Mirabel grabs Jose hands and lead him back to the candle, facing him she says gently, " Don't worry Jose, it's just you and me right here right now. Just like last night, you can do this, I believe in you" Jose, staring into Mirabel's deep brown eyes, begins to blush and feel a happiness he hasn't felt since his parents died. The candle begins to burn brighter, but neither of them noticed as they both were transfixed on each other. With Mirabel's words going through Jose's mind he closes his eyes again and begins singing the song.