The Tree of Blacks (English version)

Alya's Dreams

It was not a trivial fear of the dark. Alya was not afraid of what the night hid in its black mantle, but it was rather what it revealed. Dreams. This was what Alya feared most of all. Her dreams. Dreams that actually showed nothing monstrous.
Very often, the little girl did not even remember the plot of the dream. Yet when she woke up, an unpleasant sensation remained stuck to her skin, sometimes so persistent that it tormented her for a whole day.

Alya didn't remember the exact moment these dreams had begun. They were probably part of her from birth. At first, this phenomenon had manifested itself as a distant and vague impression. Alya hadn't been able to define that kind of feeling, so her first reaction was to ignore it. However, as he grew older, those strange dreams became more and more clear and real. Sometimes, while she was sleeping and dreaming, Alya reached such a load of tension that waking up even became painful.

It was like being trapped in her own body: the fear awakened during the nightmare activated a defense mechanism in Alya, which woke her up instantly. In this way, however, the body lagged behind the mind which, completely lucid, perceived things in an absolutely conscious way. The body, on the other hand, lay helpless in the bed, in a state of unconsciousness, as if part of it had been trapped inside the dream. Thus, Alya remained frozen: completely awake, but immobile, absolutely unable to move. And the more she realized she was paralyzed, the more terror grew inside her, feeling more and more in danger. Screaming and asking for help was impossible, jaws didn't obey the dictates of the mind, remaining firmly sealed.

It all lasted only a handful of seconds, but for Alya it was more than enough to be shocked.It was an atrocious feeling, the worst she had ever felt.

So Alya, once settled under the fresh sheets, turned off the light and plunged into the complete darkness of her bedroom. It was like being at the bottom of the ocean, where the light couldn't reach and the lines of things vanished, the sounds became muffled. Alya was alone and felt helpless. She was afraid of the inevitable moment when sleep would overwhelm her, capture her and throw her into the deepest dream abysses.

She wished she had one of her brothers there to share the room with her; she would feel much safer. It would have been fine with even that unpleasant Sirius, although he certainly would not have missed the opportunity to mock her, calling her a coward.

Alya tried to focus her thoughts on Sirius and Regulus, imagining them in their rooms, on the fourth floor, the top of the house, busy with their activities that preceded sleep.Regulus was most likely already asleep, snoring placidly in his comfortable bed. Sirius, on the other hand, took advantage of that moment of dark solitude to read undisturbed the books that Uncle Alphard had given him for his birthday. And, once again, Alya was envious of that much more compelling gift than the porcelain doll she had received. The same doll that now lay helpless under her bed.

And while the little girl's thoughts swirled around the blonde doll, Alya did not realize she was sliding inexorably towards the floating world of dreams she so feared.The image of the toy took shape in the child's mind. Alya watched it, scrutinizing its clear features.

Everything around Alya and the doll seemed to float in thick, dark waters. Then, Alya saw her surroundings change shape: the bed and floor disappeared, along with the rest of the room. The outlines of the walls and furniture lost their sharpness, fading into complete darkness. The only figures to have a little consistency were Alya and the doll, which in the meantime had moved on its own, rising from the ground, floating in that ink-black ocean: the blue velvet dress floated softly with all the lace, making the doll look like an elegant jellyfish with blonde curls. Its ice-blue eyes were fixed on Alya, devoid of any vital sparkle.

Alya returned that glazed look, shaken by a tinge of terror. The doll moved again, while its appearance was changing: the body lengthened, the hair, the arms and the legs shrunk until they disappeared completely. Only the one-piece torso remained, which had suddenly become slimy. The face lost all human features, giving way to triangular and serpentine ones. The pretty blue velvet dress also changed shape, the lace disappeared, turning into a greenish skin full of speckled scales.