When a Butterfly Flaps its Wings | Encanto Fanfic

Bruno

Early that morning -after he had given up on sleeping- Bruno had conspired with Casita. Casita had promised to let him know when he was alone in the house. Now all he had to do was wait for the signal.

Bruno stared blankly at the door as he waited. After thirty minutes, his leg started bouncing.

An hour later, he found himself pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Another hour passed, and Bruno started counting how many sand grains he had stuck to his sleeve.

By hour three, he glared at the ceiling as he sprawled on the floor.

Hour four, and he started making sand angels.

Hour five passed, and he found a bucket.

Now, Bruno dumped a bucket of water onto the sand. He filled the now-empty pail with damp sand and dragged it back to the door.

He had already made a sand replica of Casita and had given his best attempt at sculpting a capybara. He flipped the bucket upside down and started a new sculpture. He froze as he unconsciously started sculpting a rat.

He swallowed down the lump in his throat. A year ago- no, thirty-six years ago- he had found an injured rat. He had brought it back to his room and nursed it back to health. It had taken two months to fully heal - Julieta's food had never really worked that well for animals.

When he had tried releasing it, the rat had refused to go. So he had kept it. He never told his sisters, for fear that his mother would find out and make Bruno get rid of it.

No one would have known to feed Chiquita when he disappeared. And even if they had known, rats didn't live long lives. Chiquita was long dead.

He decided to sculpt a jaguar instead.

He was putting the final touches on the jaguar when he finally heard Casita clicking tiles outside his door.

Bruno cracked his door open, quietly slipping through the empty house.

He knew he couldn't avoid his family forever, but the idea of talking to these virtual strangers filled him with dread. He would much rather stay in his room. Away from all the reminders of the life he had been robbed of.

He snuck into the kitchen, prepared to steal some leftovers. Julieta always made tons of extra food, in case of an emergency. He froze at the sight of a plate of food innocently waiting on the table. He grabbed the note beside it. On it, he could recognize Julieta's curly writing. It was addressed to him.

Sorry we had to go Bruno. Pepa and I will be back soon. I left you some breakfast, just in case. It's your favourite. Love, Julietta.

Oh.

On the plate were two arepas with huevos pericos. His favourite. Bruno bit his lip to keep himself from crying.

He ate quietly, carefully stuffing the note in his pocket. He couldn't bring himself to throw it away.

Without warning, his eyes burned, and his sight was stolen by his gift activating. He gripped the table tightly as the world swirled around him.

He saw a familiar girl with green glasses - his niece?- walking into Casita. The vision felt close. If he stayed here he would be caught.