Who You Are: Camilo's Story (After Encanto)

An Internal Struggle

It was the next morning in the Encanto with the town bustling to finish their morning chores as usual. The Madrigal family was waking up and hurrying down for breakfast. Dolores was just outside her door when she saw Camilo coming out of his own room next to hers. "Didn't get much sleep?" she asked with a disapproving voice. "I could hear you tossing and turning all night!" Camilo gave her a look of annoyance as she berated him, but she continued. "I told you not to...uh...Camilo? Your eyes! Look at your eyes!"

She handed him a tiny, jeweled pocket mirror so that he could look at himself. Still annoyed, he took her mirror in his hand and turned it over. He expected his eyes to be red from the lack of sleep. When he looked into his reflection, he saw that sure enough, circles were starting to appear under his eyes. But then he discovered that wasn't what Dolores was talking about. The color wasn't his. Instead of hazel-green eyes looking back at him, they were crystal blue. He let out a little gasp and clenched his eyes shut. When he opened them, they were back to normal. "Um...here," he said, awkwardly. He handed back the little mirror to his sister and walked off without another word. Dolores shook her head. "What was that about?" she wondered.

Everyone was sitting down at the long table in the morning sun. Alma sat at the head of the table while Mirabel sat on her right side, as was the norm these days. Dolores was watching Camilo like a hawk. She noticed how he was looking at his plate of food but was barely eating any of it. He didn't even try to steal seconds this time either. Now she grew worried. Something was wrong with him, for sure. 'But he can't be sick,' she thought to herself while twirling her spoon. 'Tía Julieta's cooking would've taken care of that in a heartbeat. He should be a bottomless pit by now, like always! What could possibly be upsetting him that Tía's cooking can't make better? Unless...it's not physical. Is it something...internal?' Dolores just couldn't understand it. The eye color from earlier was certainly unusual, but his mood concerned her more than anything. Camilo was always a happy kid who loved to make people laugh. But somehow, overnight, he became quiet, cold, and distant. It was truly unsettling to see her brother act so...lifeless. Not to mention, it was so sudden. Literally, right before the Engel family came to visit the Casita, he was perfectly fine...And then her mouth fell open slightly. It hit her like a ton of bricks. How did Dolores not notice it sooner? Not that long ago, she was behaving the exact same way when Mariano was betrothed to Isabela, and she thought her feelings would never be reciprocated. And now, Camilo had that same, dead-looking expression on his face. 'It can't be! Could it?' she thought. Camilo looked up to see Dolores staring at him and his eyes were back to that strange, bright blue color. Dolores gestured at her eyeballs. Camilo looked at himself in the back of his spoon, shook his head from side to side and his eyes reverted to hazel-green once more. The gears in Dolores's head were turning fast. She tried to think back. Which of the two daughters had eyes like that? She thought of the eldest one for a moment, but Dolores remembered vaguely that her eyes were brown. That left only one other option. Johanna was certainly a pretty girl. Dolores thought she looked like a doll. She was at least Camilo's age as well. 'It must be her!' she thought. Dolores now gave Camilo a smirk. 'Oh, you are so busted!'

Alma stood up and cleared her throat to address her family. Everyone's eyes were now on her.

"Mi Familia," she said lovingly. "Two months from now will mark the one-year anniversary of the day our beloved Casita was rebuilt, and our miracle restored. And it would never have been possible without the help from our wonderful community and of course, our sweet, brave, dear Mirabel. And as you know, it has been decided that such an occasion is deserving of a celebration in the form of a festival. I am happy to say that the preparations are coming quite nicely." Everyone murmured to each other in excitement. Alma chuckled at their enthusiasm. "And now, everyone, please give your full attention to Mirabel. She'll take over from here." As Alma sat back down, Mirabel stood up proudly and said, "This festival will be a definite change from the family traditions we've held in the past. Because we are not just focusing on the Madrigals, but anyone and everyone in the town can have a chance to shine. Because everyone has something about themselves worth celebrating. It is up to us to arrange the final and main event. Nothing too extravagant, but something simple. So everyone here is encouraged to share their own ideas with me and Abuela."