A Monarch's Life

Once Upon a Time

Everything in a great circle of life has its place. You might not know this, but the things you have now, many of them came from something very small when they began. The trees that bear the delicious fruits you like to eat... the ones that grow those apples your grandma uses to make delicious apple pies, or that tree in your yard or local park to love to climb or swing from, and all the bushes and stalks that grow the berries, flowers, and vegetables, they all started out as tiny seeds.

But, those tiny seeds needed many things to grow. Water, sunlight, and of course love. But one essential ingredient for all plants to continue to thrive even after they are full grown is a little process called pollination, most commonly known to be done by bees, who also make the honey that sweetens up your tea and helps a sore throat feel better. But, it is also done by lots of other bugs. Beetles, hoverflies, moths, and butterflies are included in that list.

Bugs may look small, and many can be easy killed by one step of a shoe or whacking with a rolled up magazine, but they play a big part in how a planet sustaining life stays healthy, and thus they require protection too.

But just like bugs are helpful to the environment, there are those that if you are not careful, they can leave a mark, or even kill someone much larger than them. Some spiders have venom that's enough to kill a wookie in a matter of one or two days, and mosquitoes can transmit diseases that may go unnoticed until it's too late to save the victim.

Either way, bugs and their many abilities serve as proof that it is not the size of the warrior in the fight, but the size of the fight in the warrior.

People face similar treatment sometimes. Many times, people face those crowds who say they need to be like everyone else to fit in, rather than be different in any way even if what makes them different happens to be a special ability that could prove useful.

Sometimes, a young Milagro "Mila" Madrigal faced this when she came up with new inventions.

Mila was a little ahead of her time, which was often the case with inventors. She didn't let that be a reason to stop though. No matter how many times her inventions fell apart, malfunctioned, or even exploded, she kept on going. Mila knew she was granted incredible smarts for a reason, so she was determined to ensure her gift from above was not in vain.

Today, Mila was working on a brand new invention to present to some investors. Since she and Tech started their own business together, it became really easy for Mila to earn credits in this other world, as well as constantly come up with new ideas to help the Encanto. Even though her cousin Mirabel wasn't being shunned for not having a magical gift anymore, there was still a lot of pressure to being the new queen of the casita. Mirabel wasn't sure if she would find a husband any time soon to give her heirs of her own, but she was at least happy for Mila and Dolores each finding a man they loved.

Mila could hardly wait to marry Tech. Her love for him and eagerness to have a family with him became motivation to work on lots of new inventions to help take care of their future kids. Mostly, she was coming up with toys because as helpful as it would be to create an invention that could rock the baby if she or he cried in the middle of the night, change the baby's diapers, or feed the baby, Mila knew the baby would grow up much happier and healthier being in the care of a living, breathing mother and father. A mom and dad's love and affection was something no amount of science could ever replace, this Mila knew.

"There we are," said Mila, finishing the design for her newest invention. "Now to go put it together before everyone arrives."

And what was everyone arriving for, you might be asking?
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It was winter time in the Encanto, and the Madrigals were having a party at their house, and everyone was having fun warming up by the fire place, lighting up candles and enjoying hot cocoa and telling stories.