Camilo Madrigal

For the Best

*Mirabel's gift ceremony flashback*
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"Whew," you say to yourself, "At least my powers aren't gone."

Cecelia looks up at you, "What are you talking about."

Casita is breaking, a voice inside your head blurts out, "Nothing, everything's fine," you say instead. You hated lying, but it was for the best.

She raises an eyebrow and shrugs the suspicious situation off. You suggest, "How about I bring you to play with some of the kids in town?" She nods her head in agreement.

You and Cecelia start walking towards a group of probably about five or almost six year olds. But as soon as the distance between you and the group was about 15-20 feet, you hear a voice call out "C'mon Cecelia, it's time for lunch," it was her mother's voice.

"Well, it's time for you to go with your mom," you say very relieved. This news meant you could investigate and find more about what happened to Mirabel and where she was that whole time. Maybe you could also ask why she left in the first place.

You wave goodbye to Cecelia's family, and begin walking towards Casita. You jump, startled as you hear and see some thunder and lightning. You rush inside to help your mama.

"It's okay Mami, deep breath in, deep breath out," you begin to say, offering her a cup of tea. Your hair becomes staticky as if you were about to get struck by your mom's lightning. Boom! And it happened. You begin to uncontrollably shift into random people in your family Felix, Abuela, Augustín, then finally yourself again as the entire tea pot came tumbling down on your bottom. And just like that, you were back to your tío Augustín.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry mí hijo!" Pepa apologized. You could tell your mother felt bad even if she didn't say that.

"It's okay, calm down," you say while trying to wipe the rest of the tea off of your pants. But then you realize that you were still your tío, so you shifted back into yourself (you think), and the sensation (or feel) of the hot, burning tea faded away almost immediately.

You exited your mom's room after you had finally cleared her skies, and decided to head up to the nursery to ask Mirabel what was happening to the candle and it's magic.

Once you made it to her door, you knocked on it and said, "Mirabel? You in there?"

No answer or reply from inside the room.

After a few tries knocking, you decide to just open her door. You notice a glowing shard that you saw a day or two ago on the floor, like it had been left behind. You check everywhere: behind the door, under her bed, and even in the drawers for anything suspicious. But when you were just about to leave the room, you hear muttering coming from inside Mirabel's wardrobe. My hearing may not be as good as Dolores', but I definitely heard that.

Sure enough, you see a green light coming from the bottom of it, and once the door has been fully opened, you see two human figures. One seemed to look like Mirabel, and the other, your guess was maybe it was your tío Bruno.

"Ah, great job 'milo, you got us. Now please get out," your cousin said very seriously, eyes wide open.

You hesitated, and began walking towards the door. But at that moment, you were reminded of why you came in that room for the first place; to ask about the candle, and where Mirabel (and Bruno) was all this time.

"Hold on," you begin to say, "What's happening to the magic?"

Your cousin opens her mouth to speak, but in the process, you hear the house breaking again, and an alarming scream coming from downstairs.