One True Love

Prologue

Love is important and magical, and it's all over the world. But everyone in Bahía de Rosa, Magdalena, Colombia, knew what true love was, and they also knew where the true magic was: love, music, art, anything they can just about name.

Ramiro and Lydia Flores were very much in love, and they also enjoyed their jobs. Ramiro worked hard as a police officer, and Lydia was a passionate painter and known as the Frida Kahlo of Colombia.

Nobody loved art more than Ramiro and Lydia's little daughter, Mirabela. She filled her parents' lives with joy, color, and love. She was rather smart when it came to art, and it was all because her mother taught her. She learned a lot, from the Color Wheel to putting passion into her work, because there was no point in painting without love. Every night, at bedtime, Lydia would sing "Something There" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast in Spanish to her daughter as a lullaby, mostly the bridge.

Es nuevo y exitante

Como imaginar que fuera así

No es un gallardo principe

Pero algo hay en él que antes no lo vi

Ah, yes, the family loved each other very much, and they took every opportunity to show it. It was a magical time—the pure joy of art, love, and color filled life in Bahía de Rosa. But even the brightest, most colorful days can be darkened and grayed out by an unseen tempest.

It was July 2003, just a couple of weeks after Lydia's birthday. It was late at night, and the family was asleep when the smoke alarm in the basement went off—a ruthless soldier had broken into the basement and thrown a lit-blown torch into the furnace, causing a poisonous gas leak in the house. Once Lydia and Ramiro found out what was happening, Ramiro escaped to report this to his workers at the station. But as Lydia was about to escape herself, she realized that 8-year-old Mirabela was still in bed, so she ran back inside to save her daughter—and they both wound up breathing in the poisonous gas. The soldier who threw the torch into the furnace fell sick, too, and he died immediately. To be fair, he put the family in danger in the first place, so to say that he deserved that was an understatement. Fortunately, the firefighters and the other officers came fast, and the fire was put out. Apparently, the basement had seen better days, but otherwise, the casita survived.

But as for the family, Mirabela recovered, but her mother wasn't so lucky. The doctors fought for Lydia's life, but the poisonous gas made her lungs too weak. That was it—Lydia had died, leaving Ramiro devastated and their little daughter with no mother. Mirabela looked just like her mother, which is why Ramiro treasured her so much. After that, he worked hard to make sure his daughter had what she needed, and he still made time for her.