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

Behind Closed Doors

Hanna was winding through the crowd, searching Casita from top to bottom. But everywhere she looked, she couldn't find Camilo. Merely a few minutes ago, she was dancing with him, having the best time of her life, and then all of a sudden he was her! At first, she was in complete shock, and then she remembered the painful look on his face before he ran away. She felt horrible for her reaction. There was more to the Encanto than meets the eye. The house was magical, after all. Were there magical people too? And then she remembered when she came to this house for the first time. Antonio had shown her his friendly toucan and told her, 'He said you can pet him.' At the time she thought he was just being an adorable, little kid making up speech for the bird. Now she thought, 'Can he really communicate with animals?' Hanna was thinking all of this as she sprinted through the house, looking around. She still couldn't find him. It was as if he had disappeared. Hanna clenched her hands into fists. 'How could I be so stupid?' she thought, sadly. She made her way to the front door and walked out of the house into the night. She sighed as she looked up into the stars. 'Where could he be?' she wondered. But then she noticed someone there in front of her. It was a little boy, with his face hidden in his arms, crouched down in the grass. Hanna studied this lonely-looking boy, wondering if she should say something. 'Wait,' she thought. She could've sworn that she had just seen that same boy walking around all happy and twitchy-eyed with a coffee cup in his hand. Where was his cup now? She slowly approached the boy from behind.

"Camilo?" she asked.

The boy looked up and saw Hanna standing over him. "Wait!" she shouted with her hand outstretched, for he was just about to run away again. But then he froze with his back towards her.

"Please! Don't go," Hanna said. "I'm really sorry about what happened."

The little boy lifted his head. Hanna gaped as he shape-shifted back into himself before her very eyes. Camilo then turned around to look at her.

"No," he said in surprise. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry. I scared you!"

"Well, it was a bit of a shock, to say the least," Hanna said. "But...I'm okay, now. In fact-," She started walking slowly towards him as she spoke. "I'm very, very curious."

When she was right in front of him, she asked, "If this house is magical, are the people in it magic too?"

Camilo paused before he answered her. "Yes," he said.

Hanna gasped, excitedly. "I was right!" she exclaimed. "But how come Agustín hasn't said anything about the magical people?"

"I...think...Tío did plan on telling you and your family," Camilo said. "He wanted to wait until he felt it was...safe? We don't get many outsiders visiting the Encanto. Your family is probably one of the first in a long time. We want to see if it's safe for us to be more open to the world we've been cut off from for 50 years."

"50 years!?" Hanna said in surprise. "Are you-?" she began to ask.

"Oh, no!" Camilo said, holding up his hands in front of him. "We're not immortal or anything like that. But Abuela received the miracle back then."

"The miracle?" Hanna asked. Her eyes brimming with curiosity.

Camilo ran a hand through his hair. "It's kind of a long story," he said.

Hanna stood there silently, waiting for him to say more. Camilo eventually began to tell her everything. He told her about Alma and Pedro getting married and having to evacuate from danger after Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno had just been born. He told of Abuelo Pedro's sacrifice which then turned into a miracle in the form of a magic candle. The candle created the Encanto, Casita, and blessed the three children, each with a Gift, which then got passed down to their children. He listed off everyone's special Gifts. How Mirabel, despite not receiving a Gift herself, was able to restore the magic when it had once been lost. Hanna listened to all of it in amazement. It was like listening to a fairy tale. She got chills as she listened with rapt attention. "You've seen the doors to our rooms," Camilo said.