This story is inspired by: despairful.encounter on TikTok, book credit goes to them!
What if Mirabele was never found? This story is an Alternate Ending to the Disney movie Encanto. Please watch the movie before reading to understand!
Mirabel woke up refreshed, turns out sleeping on a comfortable couch instead of the hard and cold ground of a forest really makes a difference! Mirabel was the only one up, her tío Bruno was still asleep, and Catalina and her husband probably were as well, Mirabel didn't want to snoop around in a house that wasn't hers, it would've been disrespectful.
So she laid there, only accompanied by the sound of her tío's Bruno quiet snoring and bird's singing, would they get mad if I looked around? It's not like I'll take anything.. Mirabel sat up, stretched her arms above her head, and rubbed her eyes. She grabbed her glasses and put them on, she looked at Bruno who was sleeping peacefully, how could abuela call him a bad guy? He's just a regular guy who likes rats-
She stood up, and walked around the living room, looking at pictures of Catalina's family, Mirabel kept on wondering around until she heard footsteps coming towards the living room. Mirabel panicked and tried to rush to the couch before whoever was coming closer saw her, unfortunately, she didn't make it in time, but, it was just Catalina. "Oh, your up! Good morning." Catalina said when she saw Mirabel.
"Good morning. Thank you again for letting me and my tío stay here for the night, we really appreciated it."
"No worries míja, I'm sure you two needed it." Catalina's voice was sweet and calming, she spoke with so much warmth, it reminded Mirabel of home, (her mothers voice was warm like hers..) Mirabel spoke up "I'm going to go get my tío so we can hurry and leave." Mira was going to turn around before Catalina stopped her and spoke,
"You both are leaving so fast? Would you two like something to eat before you go?" Mirabel shook her head "No no, we wouldn't want to out stay our welcome!"
"Nonsense! It's fine, you two must be starving! I could show you around town as well if you'd two would like."
Mirabel thought long and hard about what to do, "I'll ask my tío what he thinks first.." Catalina nodded and Mirabel walked back to her sleeping tío, she shook him and he opened his eyes "What is it Mira?" his voice was groggy, "Catalina wants to know if we'd like to have breakfast and get shown around the village.." Bruno sat up and rubbed his eyes before answering "If you want to stay then we can Mira." he looked into his nieces eyes, Mirabel softly smiled, nodded and got back up to talk to Catalina.
"My tío said it's okay." Mirabel said softly, not wanting to wake up anyone else that may be in the house.
"That's great! I'll start making breakfast and then we can go around the village." Catalina walked into the small kitchen and got out some bowls, cornmeal, cheese, butter and some salt. Everything you need to make Mirabel's favorite food, arepas de queso.
"Do you and your tío like arepas míja?" Catalina asked, already combining the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, Mirabel nodded with a smile on her face, "Would you like to help me make some?" Catalina looked at Mirabel with a kind smile on her face, Mirabel nodded and joined Catalina in the kitchen.
They worked in silence, occasionally saying sorry when they bumped into each other. Catalina broke the silence by asking a question "What were you and your tío doing sleeping outside?" Mirabel paused for a second, well you know me and my tío ran away from our village after our families magic died out and our house broke! Just the usual!! she tried to think of an answer,
"You don't have to answer if it's a sensitive topic for you."
Mirabel snapped back to reality and answered "No no it's fine! Um, me and my tío Bruno left after our house was destroyed..we had nowhere else to go." her voice was quieter at the end, feeling a bit guilty for lying it's not really lying if it's half of the truth.. Catalina stopped kneading the mixture and stared at Mirabel with a saddened looked on her face, "I'm so sorry about that..That's horrible.." her voice was sympathetic and calming.
Mirabel shook her head and reassured Catalina that it was fine. The two ladies chatted for sometime while making the arepa's. They rolled the dough into balls and flattened them before placing them in a pan.
"You can go sit while I finish the arepas míja. Go get your tío and you two can eat before I show you both around town." Catalina flipped the arepas and dusted off her hands.
Mirabel walked over to her tío who was now looking around the living room, "Tío, Catalina made arepas, come on, I'm hungry." she spoke in a soft voice, with a kind smile on her face, Bruno smiled back, got up and followed his niece back to the small kitchen.
Catalina had six arepas fully made, she grabbed three plates from a cabinet, and placed two arepas on each plate.
She walked over and placed them in front of Bruno and Mirabel, who were practically salivating at the thought of homemade, warm food.
Catalina sat down, and started eating her own food, while her two guests inhaled the food in a way that read 'I've never touched food a day in my life.'
She ignored it and continued eating, the three of them finished eating fast, it wasn't a big breakfast after all.
"Since we're all done, I'll go get ready and show you around the village!" Catalina got up, and walked to her room, not before putting the dirty dishes in the sink to be cleaned later.
Bruno and Mirabel waited patiently while the kind woman changed in the other room. The younger of the two spoke quietly,
"Tío Bruno?.."
"Yes Mirabel?"
"Do you think they miss us?"
Bruno was silent, thinking of what to say, words quickly came to him, "They definitely miss you Mira, I don't think they miss me though. That's fine with me." The older man looked at his niece with sad eyes and a kind smile, Mirabel laid her head on his shoulder and Bruno patted her back.
Catalina came out wearing a beautiful green dress, it had long sleeves and ruffles
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"That's a very pretty dress." Mirabel said in awe, Catalina thanked her and they headed into the village.
The village was beautiful, the green life was lush and vibrant, there were lanterns that gave off a warm hue, it was just beautiful.
Catalina showed them the market, church, hospital, and the school. Bruno noticed the looks he and his niece got, as well as hearing the whispers
Who are they?
Where are they from?
I thought there was no other village for miles-?
He shrunk, whispers and odd looks are nothing new to him. At least this whispers and looks were not that of judgment or resentment.
Mirabel, on the other hand, payed no attention to the glances thrown her way, or the questions about her or her tío. She was to busy admiring the scenery.
"This village is beautiful!" She exclaimed, eyes full of wonder and joy, almost as much as a child on Christmas Day.
