Chapter Text
Mirabel sighed as she stepped back to look at her makeshift shelter. she'd left Casita a few days after her 18th birthday, tired of her familia ignoring her and left into the woods. now she was closer to the mountains, close enough to see the line where nature cut from dirt to stone at the bottom of the mountains in the close distance.
She'd been living out in the woods by herself for a week and she was already running out of food and water.
The shed was pitiful and small, just big enough to crouch in. it looked like it could collapse at any moment.
Just when she thought that, the sticks and planks collapsed into itself, turning into a heap of wood and a few leaves on the grass.
She groaned in frustration.
"I'm starting to think leaving Casita was a bad idea" Mirabel muttered.
Suddenly, the ground shook under her feet.
Mirabel looked in the distance where she could barely spot the blob that was Casita away from the mountains.
When Mirabel looked back at the pile of wood, her breath hitched for a moment.
She stood frozen for a moment before the window shutter of the house in front of her waved her hello.
"Hola Casita" Mirabel greeted nervously.
Standing in front of her was Casita, except she was bigger by a full storey and the dining room was extended to make a flat roof with a railing and ladder.
Casita signaled with her front tiles for Mirabel to come inside, opening her doors as she did so.
Mirabel walked around the pile of wood that was still there and walked into Casita.
She was amazed by what she saw.
The courtyard was larger and lanterns were hung by the ceilings, clearly meant to light the living house at night. A net was hung at the 2nd floor to stop anyone from jumping from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor.
There were no doors but 1 on the second floor in place of Abuelas. Mirabels. She had a door.
Mirabel felt tears in her eyes as she realized she wouldn't be here alone.
"Gracias Casita" Mirabel breathed out.
Casita replied by moving the tiles under her feet to bring her into the kitchen where a plate of fresh arepas were already on the counter.
Having had to skip breakfast to save food, Mirabel happily took an arepa and began munching on it as she began exploring, starting with the kitchen.
Her fingers brushed against the counter as she looked around.
It looked the same as before but the wall of butterflies only had one square cut out in the shape of a butterfly right in the center, the rest being cut with circles. Everything was neatly stacked away with the knives being put up high on the top shelf across from the butterfly wall instead of plates, which were stacked neatly on the bottom shelf. A few herbs grew on the middle shelf.
There was only one table in the middle of the room that had a simple tea set, plastic to avoid any future kids in the house breaking them. A tray of pots was under the table and a stool was put next to it.
A basket of strawberries rested next to the kettle in the corner of the counter. The tap had a tea towel draped over it and a pot in the sink, for some reason. Cups were on the shelf above the stove.
"This is cozy" Mirabel commented.
Casita flipped the counter tiles to a redder shade to imitate blushing.
Mirabel laughed at the gesture before roaming into the dining room.
The dining table was blank. A dozen chairs were set at either side, one at each end. On the wall behind the head chair was a painting resembling the family portrait in the original Casita. Except the painting was empty except for Mirabels portrait at the top, bowing slightly in an outfit Mirabel didn't recognize.
In the painting Mirabel was wearing a dark cyan dress with a white cloth tied around her waist and a bright cyan shawl hung on her shoulders. Her hair was longer and tied in a high bun, a few strands framing her face, which wore a gentle expression.
Besides the painting and dining table the room was empty except for a high chair in the corner, clearly meant for any future kids just like the plastic of the tea set.
"Did you design this place?" Mirabel asked.
The wall tiles rattled in a way she somehow knew meant 'no, the miracle did'.
"Well the miracle did a very good job, you look lovely" Mirabel replied.
She walked out of the dining room and roamed into the living room area. It looked the same except there was a fluffy rug on the floor, the couches looked extra cozy and a hammock was hung in the corner.
"Does the rug mean I have to take my shoes off when I come inside?" Mirabel remarked, finishing her arepa.
The wall tiles rattled with laughter.
"Still not going to step on it with shoes on either way" Mirabel shrugged before walking past the storage area, which was filled with folded boxes.
She opened the bathroom door and entered. The sink counter was bare except for a cup containing a toothbrush and a roll of toothpaste laying next to it. The bathtub was empty, the shelf above it had a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. The shower curtain had embroidery of Casita, her new version, on it. it looked like a regular bathroom.
Mirabel left the bathroom and walked across the courtyard to the stairs and went up, intending to check out her room.
When she got to the door, she took a deep breath before reaching out to open it.
Before she could touch the doorknob, Casita got impatient and swung it open for her.
Inside the room was large yet cozy. Lanterns lit the room from the ceiling timber beams and shelves filled by bookshelves and house plants lined the walls. A hammock was hung by the ceiling a few feet off the floor across the room from where the floor went up to create a smaller section that looked to be a small library accessed by a staircase next to a bathroom door and kept safe by low railing. The canopy bed was across from the door with the pale yellow curtains hiding the neatly tidied blanket & pillows. Overall the room had an amber brown, soothing gold & pale blue color scheme with accents of cool orange, gentle purple & dark green.
"Wow" Mirabel breathed out.
"It looks so cozy" she finally commented after a few moments.
the tiles outside the room rattled in agreement.
Mirabel walked farther into the room to see there were a few bean bags in the library area.
she turned around to see that there was actually a nursery door across the hall.
Mirabel walked back to the door, noticing the second nursery door on the third floor.
She walked across the hall, Casita helping her, to the first nursery, which had its door painted a soft cyan.
The living house opened the door for the 18-year-old to see.
The nursery was similar to Mirabels old room. A cupboard in the corner across from a desk. A crib was next to the desk and a toddler bed was next to the cupboard. The walls were bare except for a shelf over the toddler bed, making room for future poorly drawn pictures done by children. A bedside table was next to the toddler bed that had a small stack of toddler books. The window had a small railing in front of the open shutters to stop kids from falling out of it.
She left the room and went to the staircase in place of the banned area of the original body of Casita. The staircase stopped at a platform that had another bathroom door before bending to continue the steps.
Mirabel didn't enter the bathroom, her interest caught by the nurseries, but instead continued up the stairs.
She got to the second nursery, which had a soft teal door.
Casita again opened the door for her. the room was the same as the first nursery, except there was a jaguar plushie on the bedside table instead of the books in the first nursery. In the first nursery the toddler bed & crib had cyan sheets but in the second they had teal sheets.
"These look very nice" Mirabel commented.
"Now I'm gonna test the kitchen. its almost lunchtime" she continued, walking out of the nursery and heading to the stairs.
---
A few hours Mirabel was sitting at the head of the dining table eating dinner with no one but Casita as company.
"It's gonna be a long while until I'm not the only one living here huh?" she thought aloud.
When she was done with her meal, Mirabel quickly washed the few dishes and put them to dry in the dish rack.
She went to her room on the 2nd floor.
Before getting ready for bed she checked out the small library.
it had a wall lined with books, her favorites from the town library. across from the bean bags near the ladder was a pushed in part of the wall forming a shelf where there was a lantern lighting the section.
After an hour of reading her favorite novel, Mirabel finally decided to get ready for bed.
For the first time in a week she slept peacefully in a cozy bed with a stomach full of fresh food.