Camilo picked up the book 'this must be a dream' with mirabel and 5 year old mirabel.
""Casita! Get me up there!"
Mirabel didn't think, she just ran to the window that held the candle while the cracks around the casita grew. She had to get to it, that was the only thought on her mind. As she sprinted, Casita began to move and help the teen reach the window. Around her, her sister and cousin raced towards the candle, only to fall back to the ground when their powers cut out.
Down below her, the teen could hear her mother shouting for her, but she blocked it out as best as she could. Hearing a crash, her eyes snapped to the side only to see her tío pulling himself off the ground with a bucket on his head. Mirabel let out a quick breath of relief that her uncle made it out safe.
Pulling herself up the windowsill to reach the now rolling candle, Mirabel struggled to reach the low flame, Casita giving her a small boost. However, as soon as her hands wrapped around the candle in a facsimile of how she had held it only once ten years previous, Bruno's tower collapsed and she started to fall. In fact, Mirabel could see the scene flicker in her vision like the candle flickered in her hands as she continued to fall. When the candle flickered out one last time, and stayed out, a burst of golden light exploded from the candle, and Mirabel was gone.
– –
Mirabel was confused. One moment, she was falling and the casita was collapsing around her, and the next, she was standing on solid ground and Casita was fine. The only common factor was the candle in her hands.
Wait.
She was holding the candle. Taking a quick glance around, she saw the casita decorated for a party. Judging by the decorations and the crowd gathered below, it looked like a gifting ceremony. Her gifting ceremony. Which explained the look Abuela was giving her. She had probably taken far too long to respond.
This must be a dream. She was knocked out in the fall, and now she was dreaming. Looking at Abuela once more, Mirabel quickly decided to just go with the flow of the dream. 2With wide eyes, she nodded firmly.
"I promise." Abuela took the candle away, and Mirabel acutely felt the loss of a warmth she hadn't even noticed. Nervously, she moved towards the golden glowing dorm already knowing exactly what's going to happen and not excited to watch it dissolve in front of her eyes again.
Looking up from reassurance from her parents, she was shocked to see her tío Bruno right there with them. She had forgotten that he was here for this. Makes sense though, he didn't disappear until later that night. Tío Bruno's encouraging smile gave her the courage she needed to reach out to the doorknob. As soon as her tiny hand wrapped around the doorknob, something went differently.
Sure, the door still failed to signal the coming of a gift, but before the golden light faded away, it shifted, giving vague impressions of a candle and butterflies. The light quickly faded away, and Mirabel was surprised to see the lack of the blank stretch of wall that had haunted her dreams for years. Instead, there was a plain brown door.
'Well,' she thought, 'at least I won't have to keep living in the nursery this time.' Mirabel looked up at her Abuela who was wearing the same look of disappointment that she had all those years ago. This time though, she could see the hidden fear in the elder woman's eyes. Embarrassingly, she began to tear up as the adults around her began to mutter between themselves. Even her family, with the exception of Bruno, were whispering together, eyeing her nervously. Bruno just looked at her with sadness in his eyes and held out a hand for her.
Glancing around at the adults, Mirabel ran into her tío's arms. Bruno scooped her up and placed the little girl onto his hip, her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried out of sight so no one could see the tears that continued to fall.
