"AMARILLO" (A Camilo Madrigal Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: The Gift

It was a bright and early morning in Encanto. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and there was a rainbow over casa Madrigal. A mouth-watering aroma filled the air, calling everyone at the breakfast table.

Julieta Madrigal was busy finishing her last batch of arepas with the help of her husband, Agustin, and brother, Bruno.

Little Luisa just finished transferring the dining table outside of the house where they could enjoy the outdoors while having a pleasant breakfast.

The rest of the children came running and giggling as they raced to the table, finding their seats.

And just as when everyone else was seated, their Abuela - Alma Madrigal - came outside of the house, walking proudly with her chin up. Casita quickly places a chair for her to sit on.

She looks around and saw how everybody else was happy as they were interacting. She let out a small smile and cleared her throat, calling everybody's attention to her. They all stopped and turned to her, waiting for her to speak.

She raises her chin higher as she speaks with a proud smile "Today, we're going to figure out how Camilo's gift could be of help to the community." She looks down at her grandson who was smiling brightly at her. "You are going to be an amazing Madrigal, Camilito."

Camilo proudly smiles and turns to everyone else in the family, feeling great about what his grandmother told him while feeling a sense of importance to the family and the community.

Breakfast was great and satisfying as usual. Julieta makes the best of the best after all. Coming from the kitchen, Camilo licked a few crumbs off his hand, and wiped them on his little yellow ruana. He slowly makes his way to the door, lined up with the rest of his family. Abuela opens the door, and out the Madrigals went.

Everyone's faces lit up as most of them stared at the Madrigals passing by with proud smiles on their faces. They were overthrown with the feeling of awe and wonder. One by one, they all split up to perform their daily tasks.

Julieta puts the food she made at a table near the center of the village with her husband and brother to feed all of the injured. Pepa goes to the fields with her husband to take care of the crops. Luisa strolled through town to take on everybody's request for her. Carrying donkeys, transferring buildings, and helping with house construction. Dolores simply sits and listens to everybody else. Isabella makes flowers bloom everywhere with poise and grace, along with everybody's cheers of admiration in the background. Camilo was still following his Abuela around with his cousin, Mirabel.

He watched everybody else in the family fulfill their duties. He looks up to his Abuela and tugs on her skirt. "What can I do, Abuela?"

Abuela looks down to meet his eyes, then looks at the village, wondering "What could he do to help everybody else?"

She kept on looking around, still unable to answer her grandson's question. Camilo was just waiting for her response and watching her closely for any sign of an answer.

Abuela was broken from her thoughts when a villager came rushing toward her. It was their widowed neighbor who had trouble making her baby calm down. She looked weak and pale. Her eyes had rings of dark shades of brown around them, indicating her lack of sleep.

"Abuela, Abuela!" She stops to catch her breath and face Abuela. "I haven't had enough sleep for days! I tried to get a babysitter, but it makes things worse for my boy. He doesn't seem to want anybody else but me. But I'm too exhausted. Maybe Camilo could help."

Abuela's eyebrows raised. She was suddenly struck with the idea of making Camilo babysit children instead. She was speechless at first, still staring at their neighbor. Then she turned to look at Camilo and said, "Are you up for this responsibility?"