Storyteller (Encanto X OCish Reader)

CHAPTER 9 - One Story

You nodded in confirmation before starting the story.

"Once, there was this boy called Lyndon. He was 10," Lily snuggled up to your side and closed her eyes, already immersed in the story. "Lyndon lived with his parents until one day, he was told he was getting a sibling soon. He hadn't been so excited before and he was jumping and running around the house while yelling loudly out of happiness. That he did until his father shushed him and said that the baby could be disturbed because of the racket. Lyndon apologized guiltily and promised to be quieter from then on.

As the months passed, Lyndon grew from the rowdy boy he once was to a kind and quiet boy whose only desire was to be the best brother ever to his sibling who was to arrive soon. One day, only his father returned from work and Lyndon grew worried. But his father calmed him down, saying that Lyndon's mother would soon come home with his baby brother, William."

Camilo smiled at the mention of the name he said and him and the others leaned even closer, waiting for you to continue.

"For the first time in months, Lyndon grew ecstatic but he managed to conceal it and not run around. Instead, he settled for bouncing from one leg to another in his place.

After a few hours of waiting, during which Lyndon only grew more energetic while his father grew tired enough to sleep while standing, a knock on the door was heard. And both men in the room jumped up, the tiredness gone from the father's eyes and Lyndon's heart thumping fast with excitement although he tried to restrain himself from showing it through more than a huge smile.

The door opened and in came Lyndon's tired-looking mother who was carrying a tiny baby boy in her arms. Lyndon was by her side in a flash and made puppy eyes at his mother," you made your voice more childish for the next part. "Can I hold him? Pleeeease, Mamí?" The others chuckled at your voice as you let it back to normal, continuing to tell the story along with animated arm movements. "His mother let him but told him to be very careful. After showing Lyndon how to support tiny William's body and head both, she turned to her husband and hugged him.

Lyndon was mesmerized by the sleeping baby, he didn't think he had seen something so beautiful in his entire life! Then, the baby slowly opened his eyes, making Lyndon's smile only widen as he greeted his baby brother who he had sworn to devote his life to. He didn't regret the decision at all and never did.

Even when the years passed and he got more chores, he still found time in his day to play with William and make sure his brother felt loved. Of course, it got hard sometimes - shielding his brother from the world and making his life as easy as possible. But he was willing to do it. And their parents were proud of him for that. At first they had thought that Lyndon would get tired of playing with William all the time but they were wrong. Instead, through time, their bond only strengthened.

Then, one day-"

A knock was heard on the door and your father opened it. "Hey it's time to-," he sighed fondly, seeing all the kids in the room leaning towards you as if they were planning to meet the words even before they left your throat. "Alright. Finish the story. But that's it. Don't start another one."

"Thanks, Pa!" you called before he closed the door. You turned to the others. "So, one day, Lyndon took William to their usual playing place. It was near a waterfall on a steady cliff that was fenced by rocks so the boys' parents had deemed it safe enough. William was five now but even though they went to the place at least once a week, he was still astonished every time they got there because he was still young and tended to forget stuff quickly.

In the middle of a game of chase, a rumble went through the Earth and both of them stumbled, William falling to the fast river." Everyone gasped, worry going over their faces. You hid a smirk of accomplishment and continued. "Lyndon didn't hesitate to dive into the river after his brother. Luckily, the river wasn't too deep but it was still over William's head. In a few seconds, Lyndon managed to get both their heads above the surface but the waterfall was nearing too fast. He knew he couldn't possibly get them both out of there in time. So he mustered together all his strength and threw William to the riverbank just in time."

At this point, Isabela had covered her mouth and tears were prickling the others' eyes too. "William didn't realize what had happened at the time and neither did he realize why his parents started crying when he told them what happened. But as years passed, he started to understand and he began to feel guilty and had to remind himself daily that Lyndon wouldn't want him to blame himself. What Lyndon would want was living his best life and honoring the memory of his brother who did so much to him. And he did his best to do that.

But every now and then, even when he was a grown up, he would visit the waterfall and place a bundle of linden tree branches on the river, watching with a sad gaze as they, too, fell over the edge. The end."

Silence came in the room, Rose sniffled quietly. "What?" you asked with a grin, wiping your own tears away. "You wanted sad, Rosy."

"But- but I feel bad for Lyndon," she sniffled. "Is it my fault he died?"

"No," you laughed. "Of course not. I'm the storyteller here-"

"Then it's your fault!" Rose announced, getting angry at you.

"Wait, wait, wait," you said quickly before she hit you in the stomach. She was still rather weak. "Okay, I deserved that," you groaned. "But no more hitting."

"That was beautiful," Antonio mutterd.

"A well told story indeed," Isabela agreed, nodding along though her cheeks were still wet from the tears.

Dolores blinked rapidly before opening her mouth. "Do you have any more 'talents' that we should be aware of?"

"Hm," you frowned, "not really sure about- Well, I would say I play the piano rather well but that's not related to storytelling at all!" your eyes narrowed. "Or is it?... Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not really sure about myself. But these four are good at sneaking up to and scaring people so you have to look out for that."

"You taught us that!" Ethan said offendedly. "But I can still cook better than you."

The Madrigals looked at you. "That's true," you nodded, "Eddy does help in the kitchen more."

"How- how can you be so cheery after what you just told us?" Camilo stuttered.

"Because I simply knew it was coming. You didn't. We should go now, Pa said one story," you reminded. That earned nods and murmurs of agreement from the others and they followed you out the door.