Blue Flames and Black Candles

Don't Waste A Nice Sunny Day!!

Orange juice could only do so much to combat exhaustion. Mirabel had been eyeing her tio's cup of coffee since she had sat at the breakfast table. Tas was sitting across the table with his head resting on his hand, slowly dozing off and risking falling into the porridge that Adella had made. Adella was eating her porridge happily and Bruno was slowly slipping some to his favorite pet rat, Tiana.

Mirabel had been slowly sliding her hand towards the glorious cup of coffee that sat a few taunting feet away when a small yellow blur knocked her out of her chair. Antonio sat on her, rambling excitedly, with Camilo, Dolores, and Luiza not far behind. The four were excited to see the infamous cottage that Antonio had told them about.

"This place is awesome! Can we stay sometime?"

"Have you children eaten breakfast?" Adella had stood up to wash her bowl and received a chorus of 'yes's from the others. "Well, there's not much to do today, so how about you all just go have some fun and relax. No working and no helping around the village today."

The children didn't have a chance to refuse as they were shoved outside by a persistent mother. They stood their shell shocked for a minute before moving back into the yard. Mirabel and Tas were the most disgruntled, having not slept nearly enough. Tas being the person he is, moved to a patch of sunlight and plopped down, hoping for a nap.

"Hey Mira! I got you something!" Antonio hopped forward, hands behind his back with a mischievous grin that definitely showed that he was related to Camilo. He pulled Bruno's coffee mug out from behind his back. "Here you go! You seemed a little tired, so I may have stolen Tio Bruno's coffee."

Mirabel grabbed the cup from him before hugging him. Moving over to Tas, she sipped at the coffee contentedly, ignoring the grumblings and attempts to grab the mug. Finally she had mercy and gave him the rest, only about a fourth of the cup. The two sat quietly for a bit longer, ignoring the restlessness of the others. The two hauled themselves up, placed the empty mug on the window sill, and moved to stand with the others.

"Since we're stuck outside, let's play a game!"

"What kinda game?"

"How about Hide N' Seek?"

"Yeah! Let's play!"

The children realized very quickly that they had to choose who would be it first. Instead of being rational or playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, the children decided to wrestle to see. Luiza won nearly instantly, throwing all of them off of her with ease. Camilo was also quickly safe when he shape-shifted into Luiza. Antonio used a passing deer to knock the others off him. Dolores cheated and hid behind Luiza. It came down to Mirabel and Tas, both of whom were stubborn and refused to give in.

The two were wrestling, getting completely covered in dust and dirt. Mira swiped Tas's feet out from under him and tried to pin him down. Tas flipped her off of him easily before trying to scramble back to his feet. She jumped onto his back, knocking them both down again. With a swift kick to the ribs, Mirabel was up and victorious!

"Ha! You're it!"

The children scattered, trying to find the best hiding spot. Of course being in the middle of the forest made it difficult to find a place. Luiza hid behind a large rock, Dolores and Mirabel were hiding in a tree having given each other a boost up, Camilo was sitting in the bucket halfway down the well, and Antonio was on the roof of the cottage.

Tas counted to thirty before beginning his search. He found Camilo, who almost fell out of the bucket, and Antonio, he was having a lovely conversation with some birds. Next he found Dolores and Mira because they fell out of their tree. Meaning Luiza had won the first round, of which she was extremely proud.

Round two had Camilo seeking; finding Dolores first, she had tried to sneak inside. Then he got Luiza, who was slowly sliding out of a tree. Next was Tas, who had been hiding behind the tree Luiza was in. Now, try as he might, he couldn't find Mira or Antonio. After ten minutes he had to admit defeat and allow both of them to win. They were laying down in the vegetable garden behind the house.

They had gotten somewhat bored of the game by then and decided to play tag. Well, it wasn't really decided as Camilo slammed into Tas before taking off running. Tas tagged Dolores, who tagged Mira, who had caught Antonio, who tripped and tagged Camilo. Luiza was doing marvelously at keeping away from the others; despite her muscular frame she was quite quick on her feet.

At some point Bruno had walked outside to call them all in for lunch. He was, of course, quickly tackled and dog-piled on. He had to be saved by Adella, who came looking to see if they were coming inside. She was pounced on by Tas and Mira before she could speak, but eventually managed to herd the group to the dining room. They had small sandwiches for lunch before moving to the living room.

"Tio Bruno! Did you have another episode of Rato Del Encanto done? I would always listen to the stories before you came back!" Dolores asked, excitedly.

"I do! I finally decided what should happen next!" All of the children sat on the floor in front of Bruno as he spun the newest episode.

"Carlos, please! I love you more than life itself, but I cannot marry you! Not after Juanita!"

"Mi Vida! She meant nothing to me! I thought you had been killed in the accident! I was only with her due to my blinding grief!"

"You Liar! You said you loved me!" Juanita yelled, tears pouring down her face as she confronted the two lovers. "You asked me to marry you!"

"No! Maria, do not listen to her! I love only you. I swear!"

"How could I possibly trust you after this Carlos?"

"It doesn't matter if you will not trust him. You'll both be too dead to care!" Juanita whipped out the knife she had hidden in her skirt, brandishing it at the two. She lunged at Maria before she could be stopped and stabbed into her chest! Carlos ripped the two apart, trying to save Maria as blood poured out of the wound. "This is what you deserve, Carlos!"

"And with that, this season of Rato Del Encanto concludes!" Bruno took a bow, ignoring the outraged shouts of the children. "Are you not happy with the ending?"

"Of course not! You killed Maria and then left us on a cliffhanger!" It was Adella who was arguing with the man, fully intent on shaking the answers out of him. "Does Maria live? Does Juanita kill Carlos too?"

"Yeah! That ending sucked, tio!"

The children had decided to change the ending of the season when it became clear that Bruno was going to refuse to answer. They were assigned roles to play by Antonio; Dolores was Juanita, Tas was Carlos, and Mira was Maria. To add some spice, Luiza was playing the adopted mother and Camilo was Carlos's evil twin! They spent the rest of the afternoon regaling the two adults with their own version of the season finale.