The Mask I Wear

Through the Sand I See

            Mirabel once more followed her Tio Bruno through the darkness inside the walls of her beloved Casita, still hoping they would find a solution to the cracks that presented an unknown danger to La Familia Madrigal and potential destruction of their Casita. Together they peered out and tiptoed down the hallway towards his tower room.

There was barely any sound coming from the patio outside beyond a soft piano wafting through the air. Instinctively she knew this to be Mariano's playing as Abuela had Luisa set out a piano for him earlier as she sighed. It was almost like she was reminiscing. She had seemed happy to be pulling such a well mannered and talented man into the family at the time, and now Mirabel wondered if she still wore the scowl that seemed to always be in place whenever Mirabel was nearby. Knowing they would be occupied there for a little longer, the duo crept up the creaky, unused staircase into his sandy room.

Both weary and tired, not to mention malnourished in the case of Bruno, it took them a while to get all the way back up to the summoning circle. Mirabel looked worriedly at her Tio when they came to the crevasse. He didn't look up to the swing across. "I bet we can fix it." she murmured softly, almost without thinking as she noticed the wood was still attached to the hanging bridge. Bruno looked over at her curiously. "I can swing across and then we can pull up the ladder and put the posts back into their places." she explained, pointing to each piece. "The hole is still here and I'm willing to bet the other one is still there on that side too."

He looked contemplative, but with a heavy sigh and heave of his shoulders he gave in. "The only- only reason I'm going to-gonna say yes, is well, is that you already did it- did it one time today by - all by yourself. Hm-hm." He hummed as he finished his sentence and she was struck by how similar it was to Dolores.

Determined to be helpful, she gripped the rope as she had before, holding it tightly between her sweaty palms. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she sent out a prayer that this would hold for her a second time. As soon as her feet were on the sandy ground once more, having swung across safely, she felt a million times better already and she found herself letting out a breath she didn't even realize she'd been holding in.

Together they made quick work of the fence, easily pulling it up and inserting the wood posts back in their designated spots as Mirabel had said. Even as they had accomplished their task efficiently and she knew it should be safe, Mirabel still bit her lip, anxious, as her Tio Bruno slowly inched his way across. Mirabel grimaced upon entering as she realized she had left the tablets from the visions she investigated laying in a pile on the floor next to the shelves instead of putting them away. She waited for the barb of annoyance to hit her, but when she looked at her Tio Bruno, he had glazed right over them, as though he didn't even care. He shuffled forward through the sand, his actions exaggerated almost as he stepped into the circle..

Not wanting to be left behind, Mirabel lurched forward, telling herself she could worry about cleaning the tablet mess she'd made this morning after they tried to see his vision again. She mimicked his stance, kneeling in front of him, hands resting calmly on knees, taking deep breaths. "Ready? He asked, already looking a tad regretful to be doing this. "Are you sure you wanna see it? I- I mean it- it didn't exactly make sense- which way you know- it was going to go." he tries one last time to dissuade her from having this vision.

She swallows thickly, thinking of the fact that this vision made him hide in the walls for ten years, but then she steels herself and looks into his eyes. She has to do this. She needs to do this. "Ready." Bruno only nods in response before taking her hands and focussing on the future. When he reopens his eyes they have the same eerie green glow that the tablets do.

Sand begins to swirl in the air, and she squints at the shapes that began to take shape around them. They are like ghostly fog at first, ominous and haunting, faceless forms that look humanoid in shape. Slowly she sees what he sees. Casita cracking, falling to ruins, and at the center of it all? Mirabel. Her heart thudded in her ears and she wasn't sure if she was yelling or whispering. "We need to know how to fix it. Keep looking!" she urged even as her own eyes poured over every detail she could see. "There has to be something- there has to be!" Mirabel, with all her hope for finding a solution, almost keels over and cries when she can't seem to find anything amongst the shapes when suddenly she sees herself turning around and running into the arms of her family. She hugs Isabela tightly, sits and rubs Luisa's back encouragingly, runs and plays with Camilo and Antonio, teasing Dolores, hugging her Tia and Tios and her Mama and Papa tightly.

If that was meant to be the solution she was looking for, it confused Mirabel greatly. That was a lot of different things to be the solution. Perhaps what would happen if the cracks were fixed? She wasn't sure and when she looked her Tio Bruno in the eyes, she could see clearly that neither did he. What Dolores said earlier came rushing back. "His prophecies, they were hard to understand, even for him." It was like she was whispering it in her ear. He was no more likely to be able to interpret the exact minutia of what he saw, just like her.

All of this, even convincing Bruno to see the vision once more, all of it left both of the Madrigals with one very specific set of questions.

How do we save the magic? How do we save Casita? How do we help?