The Lights They Snuffed Out

🕯 Chapter 5 🕯

"Mirabel?"

Mirabel tilted her head up at her sister, who was already peering down at her, brow furrowed.

"Hm?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Luisa asked.

The teen strived to keep her face as neutral as possible as they reached the end of Casita's walkway.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I'd just noticed you didn't eat any of your breakfast." Luisa states.

Mirabel repositioned her satchel's strap on her shoulder. Pens, pencils, threads, needles, her notebook, measuring tape, everything she needed was inside. She tries to keep everything on hand, never knowing when she's going to come across someone needing a stitchin'. Not that anyone really comes up to her and requests, but if she's approached, she was going to be prepared.

"Oh well, I just wasn't really hungry this morning,"

"Neither me nor Isa slept well last night." She means it in a playful tone, but it falls flat.

Her sister turned her gaze ahead of them. "Is it something you want to talk about?"

Luisa was aware of her nightmares. It was nothing unusual; everyone had bad dreams every once in a while. But she had no idea what they were about or how frequently she had been having them. And the teen intended to keep it that way. Her hermana made a joke at one point and told her it was because of all the fantasy books she had been reading, and Mirabel went with that.

"...not really,"

"But it was nothing too bad, I promise," she assures.

"So what happened to the Guzmán's workshop?" The teen asked, desperate to change the subject as the two came up at the plaza.

Antonio's playdate with his parents must have been going well. With no clouds looming overhead and the sun shining brightly, the marketplace was rather crowded. As soon as residents noticed them, though, most did their best to stay clear.

"Well, I'm not-"

Luisa let out a sudden, small grunt as her body shifted towards Mirabel. It was only slightly, but the teen still jumped back out of reflex, nearly tripping in the process.

Mirabel gazed up at Luisa in confusion, but her hermana's head was facing to her left, away from her. The girl stuck her head out to try and get a glimpse past Luisa's mountain frame.

Standing to her sister's side were two small boys. One was a few feet away, while the other was flopped down at Luisa's feet. The one who bumped into her hermana had a small stuffed dog in one of his hands. Mirabel didn't recognize them, but if she had to guess, given the near replica features, the two had to be brothers or just blood related in some way.

The teen gave the boys a small smile, but they paid no heed to her. Both sets of eyes were trained on Luisa. There was a great deal of enmity radiating from her sister, her entire body tense.

A growl erupted from her throat. "Watch it."

"Sorry!" The smallest boy squeaked while the boy with the dog scrambled to get up. But he moves too fast for his mind to catch up as he trips, his knees colliding with the hard tiles. With the weight of the impact, there was no way he wouldn't wake up without a mark there tomorrow morning.

Mirabel takes a step toward the boy, but he makes it up this time, snatching the other's hand, and they both scurry in the other direction.

Luisa didn't waste a second more on them as she began walking again. Mirabel quickly presumed so too, not failing to perceive the bitter expressions of some of the town's people as they strolled on by. A good bit of them didn't seem to be aimed at her, but they didn't rule out the ones that were.