I see you, Bruno

Chapter One

It was a windy day when Bruno decided it was time for a walk. His sister Pepa was a bit through the wind, which is why his poncho swirled around his arms and ankles as he stepped out of the family casita. As far as Bruno had noticed, Pepa was so excited because a young lad named Félix Marin had smiled at her.

Julieta, Bruno's other sister, tried to calm her down because she feared that the wind might degenerate into a small storm. Honestly, Julieta wasn't the only one who feared that, because Alma, Bruno's Mamá, had always looked anxiously at the sky, while Pepa couldn't get a grip on herself in the background.

Bruno didn't know what to do. Julieta didn't need his help, she was fully focused on Pepa and wouldn't appreciate it if someone got in her way. In addition, it just shot through Bruno's head that it could also happen that Pepa came up with the idea that Bruno could predict the future for her to find out what role this Félix would play in her life. But with Bruno's luck, it would hardly be an exhilarating prospect and then Pepa's mood would be in the basement and a hurricane would rage over Encanto for the next few days.
No, it would be better if Bruno was not in the house for the next few hours.

Despite the wind, the sun shone brightly over the village. Bruno could see the many people who went about their lives. He liked the view that the town gave; it looked so peaceful, so beautiful. He couldn't find words to describe the beauty of Encanto.

When he arrived, he was greeted by the residents, albeit sort of stiff. He didn't let himself be noticed, but internally it still left its mark. Mamá had already instilled in Bruno and his sisters with the milk that they should use their gifts for the good of all, which they had been doing since the age of five – well, maybe not so early, because they had to fathom their gifts themselves and get used to them. The triplets of the madrigals had not received simple gifts; Pepa, who was able to control the weather according to her whims, had great difficulty controlling her feelings. She always had to keep her composure and was never allowed to collapse otherwise, there could be an immense flood or thunderstorm.
Julieta, who was able to heal injuries through her prepared food, had been convinced for quite a while that she had not been given a gift at all. It wasn't until she helped Mamá in the kitchen and Bruno came into the kitchen with a bleeding finger that she became aware of it. Bruno wanted to make friends with some rats, but he was still a stranger to them, so they did not react as openly and friendly as he had hoped. Instead, one of them had bitten. When Julieta saw Bruno's wound, she wanted to comfort him with a piece of her homemade bread, but to everyone's amazement, Bruno's bleeding finger healed completely.
Bruno, who could look to the future, had not even come up with the nature of his gift. It had been Julieta who gave the clue, for she had noticed the decorations of Bruno's door; she had seen the sand glass. Mamá knew immediately that it had to be an hourglass and from that day on she tried everything to bring Bruno's ability to light until she finally succeeded and Bruno saw his little confrontation with the already mentioned rats.

"Bruno!" someone suddenly called him and Bruno was startled. "Yes?" he asked uncertainly.

"Do you know when Pepa will come down? The fields need to be watered and I think we now know how to perfectly adjust her mood," said Andres, a farmer of Encantos.

"I'm - uhm - not so sure," Bruno said. "She doesn't feel so good at the moment."

Andres looked up at the cloudless sky. "But it doesn't look like that," he murmured.

"Yes, but don't you feel the wind? She tries to keep him under control," Bruno defended his sister. He didn't like it when you questioned his sister's emotional state just because the weather hadn't adapted accordingly. After all, she had done everything for all these years to ensure that such dropouts were not noticed.