Outside the Encanto

Overthink, Overprepare

"Wait, you're leaving? Already?" Camilo gasps, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I have to. The Encanto can't wait any longer, and who knows how long this will take?" You avoid eye contact, kicking a pebble down the street.

You had realized you couldn't wait, even if you had no desire to see your mother. Who knows how long until the Encanto falls completely?

"Well, I'm coming with you." Camilo shrugs, walking faster towards the forestry.

You slow down, stopping entirely. "No, Camilo, you don't understand."

"I understand just fine! You want to go, alone, into the jungle, walk over a hundred miles, with jaguars and caimans and tigers-"

"Pretty sure there's no tigers-"

"Doesn't matter. It's dangerous and you have no supplies, and no help. Give it a week, collect supplies, and we'll go together." Camilo pleads, his eyes shining.

You stare into his eyes, angry, but know he's right.

"Fine! You have two days to collect everything we'll need, and then we'll bounce." You pout, turning around and storming off.

Camilo runs up to you, and begins walking backwards. "You know, you're cute when you're mad. Your nostrils flare up and your face scrunches tight." He laughs.

"Shut up."
....................................................................................

"Wait, you're going with Camilo and not bringing me along?" Mirabel gasps, betrayal splattered all over her face.

"Mira, it's dangerous. Who knows what lies out there. I'd just be dragging you into unknown hell." You say calmly, packing up some of the clothes you'd been donated.

"Well, I'm coming. If Camilo gets to go, so do I. Besides, I've only ever been here, I want to explore Colombia." Mirabel grins, thinking of the possibilities.

"It's not gonna be some hiking trip, we're not sightseers." You roll your eyes, carefully folding some pants.

"Why are you bringing those? Aren't pants for men?" Mirabel questions, looking at her own skirt.

"Traditionally yes, sure. However, when we hike in the woods, it'll be the skirts that get caught on branches and trip you running from jaguars." You explain, leaving out one pair for when you start the journey.

"Interesting. I wonder what I'd look like in pants." Mirabel speculates, trying to picture herself in anything other than a dress or skirt.

"We're women, we'd look good in anything. And even if we didn't, we're confident, so nobody would question us." You remind her, putting a couple pills in the bag as well. Red ones are for fever, blue are for respiratory illnesses, and green for infections.

Filipe peers down at you from top bunk, munching on one of your brownies. He's just awoken, clearly still tired. Crusty yellow stuff coats his eyes, signaling a good nap.

"I had an awesome dream! There was this huge battle between Jack Frost and this other girl who controlled fire! It was awesome! And then it kinda switched to me being able to fly and jumping off a building and skydiving in and out of the clouds!" Filipe giggled, pretending to fly and then falling back onto the mattress.

"Sounds like someone was visited by the Sandman." You stroke his hair, holding on to the only sort of innocence that might be left in your world.

"Yeah. It was cool. Anyways, you can borrow some or my pants if you'd like! It gets really hot here, so if you cut the pant legs off and use the fabric to make the waist wider, you could fasten yourself a nice pair of shorts." Filipe offers, making both you and Mirabel look at him in confusion.

"My mom made all my clothes. We couldn't afford new ones, so she did it herself. My aunt helped, she sold yarns and fabrics, but I think she's dead now."

Ouch. That hurts. It stings that he's so used to his family being dead. The woman you'd seen thrown into flames.. how young could she have been? She looked like a teenager, although she obviously couldn't have been.

Once Camilo brings supplies over, you realize Felipe's gonna be alone. He has no family, and you can't bring him to the Madrigals. Julieta would know, so would Alma. You're aware of the fact that you can't bring him with you, either. He'd slow you down before he helped you.

You could turn him in. Let him die, then make sure he's alive in the wish you'll ask of the deity.

What. The. Hell.

You will not turn him. In, you will not let him die. You're sickened to your stomach just for thinking that.

Then what are you going to do? You'd trust Alejandro of course, but his brother works for the tents. If he catches a mere glimpse of him, the kid's dead.

There's just no way you can bring Filipe along.

A sharp knock at the door makes you jump, interrupting your thoughts. You recognize Camilo's eye and curly hair peeking through the doorway, to which you make eye contact.

Camilo swiftly opens and shuts the door, then takes a look into your bag. "I've got some things here, but you'll need to give me a list."

You rummage through the bag Camilo brought, to find stuff such as matches, water canteens, soap, toilet paper, a compass, and a first aid kit that you'll have to put the medicines you have in. You're impressed, but surprised at the toilet paper. It's not something you think about on a regular basis.

"Well done. We still need food though, along with some weapons like knives, machetes, hatchets, things that can be used for hunting or making a path. Don't forget foods, water, rope, wire, oh, and maybe a blank map. We can track our progress until we get there, then use the map to head back. Well, if we need to head back." You shrug, still unsure of how the deity works. The only magic you've ever known turned into a curse.

"Uhm.. I can find that. Where the hell am I gonna get weapons..?" Camilo frowns, contemplating. "Okay, split this up evenly, I've got some searching to do."

He kisses you on the cheek before departing.

God, you love that boy.

A/n: SO sorry for the time it took to update! I've been extremely busy with my personal life at the moment, but I'm so happy I could update!

Make sure to check out my new book as well, Short Stories to Entertain the Intricate Human Mind.

Also, I'd like to change the book cover, but I had little to no artistic skills. I'd love to have my readers design a cover, and send it in. Depending on how many people send in designs, I'll have my top 3 or top 5 voted on!
My online email is IcePhoenixEmail@Gmail.com

Love you all! Have a wonderful rest of your day/night.