The Forgotten Musician

The kiss tipped her head && Imelda found herself almost unwilling to let her daughter go. But, as Héctor chided softly in a mix of Spanish && English, her gaze followed him in the dark. A smile pressing a single dimple into the pit of her round cheek.

It’s been weeks   (not months)   since she’d come, yet Héctor was such a natural with Coco in his arms. Imelda felt almost out-done, albeit proud. It hadn’t quite been in her to doubt her husband’s conviction, but she’d worried from the moment she’d told him she was pregnant. It almost felt like a natural state of being— to WORRY so much.

A wrinkle of her nose in reply to his tease found Imelda standing at last. Heaving her figure out of the rocking chair to cross her arms against her waist. Crossing the floor in a sleepy shuffle to sidle up beside him, her temple found the arc of his shoulder with a sigh. Eyes of heady chestnut fell closed once more behind a thick lash line.

     “ Ay mi—! Estoy muy cansada. . . I think I’ll be tired the rest of my life. “

It mattered little whether Imelda was dressed to the nines or in the state she was now, ragged and disheveled from long hours of caring for their mija; she was still absolutely stunning in his eyes. However, as beautiful and lovely as she might have been, there was another that had quickly come to rival as much. Another that constantly stole his attention. Gaze soon enough turning away from his wife to look at the beautiful child that rested against his chest, Héctor couldn’t stop the wide grin that stretched over his lips, slow rocking arms pausing for only a moment. Fingers were soft and gentle as they brushed through Coco’s soft hair, a whispered coo escaping the father.

The quiet approach of his wife nearly went unnoticed until her weight lightly rested against his frame. He spared her only the briefest of glances, a humming chuckle gently shaking his shoulders. “Los disparates!” he exclaimed in a hushed voice that could barely qualify as a whisper. “See? She’s already being a perfect princesa. You’ll be tired only for a few weeks, mi amor.”

@pureiimagination

“Ay… I-it’s just a scratch. I’ll be okay, papá!” Socorro offered a slight smile up at Héctor, ignoring the blood that was slowly dropping down her arm. An unfortunate tumble that took her by surprise had sent her falling to the ground and scraping her arm on the stones. She’s had worse, however.

The reassurances offered by the child were simply brushed off by the skeleton, concern etched into his features as his gangly form knelt down to her level. Bony digits were soft and careful as he took her arm into his grasp, observing the small scrape that marred her skin. “Ay, mija, you have to be careful.” Héctor gently reprimanded, though there wasn’t a hint of scolding in his tone.

@silencedsongs liked

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” The little girl hops up and down with excitement. “Play that one again! I love that one!”

    OH BOY, he’s pretty sure he’s heard of this guy before. A few times on his hapless meandering through this realm which he called home, the untamed beast – this wild alebrije, who had gone without a companion for DECADES now – had sometimes found himself near the gates of the upward-sprawling city. Fewer times had he been around these parts during THE DAY OF THE DEAD.

    But, he had heard the rumors. From what he could understand, there was a skeleton that once drove one of man’s crazy inventions into the bridge and sunk it into the sea below. It had been one of MANY attempts, apparently.

      This was that skeleton? He wasn’t sure – after all he was only a horse, he didn’t know how ALL of these things worked. There were so many of the dead living here that he could hardly tell them apart. The alebrije’s eyes STEELED, and he snorted through his nose and whipped through his tail, wondering, waiting, to see if the ragged skeleton would dare approach. // @pureiimagination / @silencedsongs

Another Dia de los Muertos, another failed attempt. Another year he wouldn’t be able to see his daughter. Shoulders slumped forward as he angrily brushed off the churro sugar after trying to hide in one of their carts to cross the bridge, the yellowing spirit uselessly kicked at the ground, bone sharply scraping against the hard stone. It was a gesture of pure frustration, fueled only when his foot, when catching the edge of an uplifted corner of stone, popped up, leaving him stumbling forward.

A single step was taken on his lopsided limb, arms flailing in an attempt to catch himself as the foot that was left behind twitched and hopped about. “ Oh, por el amor de Dios!” Héctor sharply huffed out, brow pinching at the center and teeth lightly grinding against one another in his building frustration. He looked ridiculous hopping around on a single foot! No doubt it had others staring in his direction, but it wouldn’t be the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Footless limb extending forward, it took little more than a moment for the stray foot to reattach itself to him, ankle bones rattling back into place.

A heavy sigh slipped through pursed jawbones as he stood steady, bony digits pulling lightly at the front of his vest as though settling it back into place before he turned. The colorful being in his line of sight, however, stopped him. Brown gaze stared at the alebrije that seemed to only return the gesture, the frown on his features prior returning.

    HE VERY QUICKLY SETTLED DOWN. It’s hard to keep Kubo surprised for very long these days. ( The fact that his paper birds, now flat sheets, managed to drift onto the corpse’s worn little hat actually entertained him a bit, even. ) The youth gives a dry expression, mouth flat and stoic-like. Yes, he knows it wasn’t the skeleton…him.

    “ YOU’RE A SKELETON. “ Kubo pointed out matter-of-factly. Last he recalled, skeletons weren’t supposed to talk, or walk, or even have their jaws fused to their skulls. The only exception that he knew of was the GASHADOKURO, which was at least thirty times his height and then some. What kind of spirit was this?

    Brow furrowed over his lonely eye, Kubo strums and calls back the sheets of paper that had fallen astray. Every single one, even those that had fallen out of his sight, lift up off the ground and flutter into his pack. Once each one had returned to him, the young bard gives a curious STARE ; cocking his head slightly to the side and pursing his lips in a crooked frown. He’s silently asking a question: ‘what are you doing here?’

Hands slowly came to rest at the peaks of his hip bone, inquiring expression remaining on his features even as a single hand changed its course, reaching up instead to grasp his hat. A single motion drew it off his head, the stray squares of paper fluttering off its straw surface, a few more shakes assuring that ever piece had joined the others upon the ground. What a mess! Héctor wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but he found it easier to question things when people were willing to answer them. Unlike the boy before him that didn’t help clarify anything he had asked.

Attention turning back to the boy as he spoke, a single brow rose up as weight was shifted to a single leg. “Good job, muchacho, and you’re a living boy. This esqueleto has a name, you know.” the man mused, a tone of laughter weaved between his words as a single hand reached out to the other. “Soy Héctor.”

There was a pause, however, as the boy plucks at the strings of the uniquely looking ‘guitar’ in his hands. A pause that quickly came to an end, snatching back his arm as the papers that had, until then, remained motionless seemed to come to life. A yelp accompanied his jerking motions, a single leg attempting to draw in close to his torso as though the papers would reach out to bite him as they passed him. It was only when the air around them was clear of the thin sheets that Héctor returned his gaze to the boy. “...Qué fue eso?”