Black Dreams

In a land far away from here of a time untold, the daughter of a king was haunted by a series of dreams that changed her life forever.

Particles of cotton fly across a room as a ray of sun visits through the window. Beige colonial curtains hang from the ceilings. The decor resembles a castle from the early 1900s. Mammalia, the daughter of the king, sleeps soundly as she shifts in bed and starts to dream...

In her dream she comes in contact with a figure named Topo, a long and slender Mole that tells the girl to go after the money prize. She tells Topo that she has no need for money and continues through her dream, but Topo catches up with her and insists, “Go after the money prize...”. Suddenly Mammalia wakes up.

The following night as Mammalia sleeps, the breeze comes in and out of the window, making the curtains dance. The girl tosses her body during her sleep and suddenly, starts to dream again... In her second dream Mammalia walks through the gardens of the castle, where a gigantic Lotus flower sprouts from the water-fountain to tell the girl about the money prize. The Lotus flower throws a velvet fur at the girl, who uses it to wrap herself. All of a sudden the girl wakes up, wrapped in a white blanket.

The third night Mammalia is sleeping through a thunderstorm as she slowly starts to dream again. This time she walks across a hallway full of doors and meets a golden figure. The figure points to the only door that happens to be held ajar with a black book and tells the girl to go inside. The girl walks inside the door, picks up the black book and just like that, a strong thunder wakes her up. Not knowing what to do with these dreams, Mammalia decided to write. She pulled out a black book from a book shelf and started to document every single one of her dreams.

Day after day Mammalia woke up from bed, remembered what she dreamt about and spent the day writing. Being the daughter of a rich king gave Mammalia the luxury to spend all the time she wanted writing. For one entire year she kept dreaming and documenting her dreams. The pile of stories continued to fill up the blank pages of the book as the questions continued to arise in her head; why were these fictional characters telling her to go after a money prize? How could she even find the path towards the money? Despite all the questions she had, all she did was write. During those two years of dreaming and writing an unfortunate event also happened. The kingdom was attacked by a hostile nation and the family had lost everything they had. From refined meals, a bevy of servants and a luxurious lifestyle, the family became completely broke. Rice and potatoes were all they could afford, the decor of the castle was pawned, and the servants were fired and sent home. Just like that Mammalia became responsible for the well-being of her family and, in the midst of all this chaos, one day she woke up to never dream again. Defeated, with no more dreams and with no other choice, she closed the black book and stored it in a drawer, and for 10 years she never thought about it again.

For the entire decade Mammalia tried so hard to maintain a normal life, to feed her family and to work hard for the broken kingdom. She was on the verge of giving up. It was her 33rd birthday and no celebration had been planned. That morning Mammalia was sewing some clothes to sell when an unexpected knock on the castle's door was heard. Wearing all black and carrying two black bags, an older man walked inside. He was an old family friend who happened to be on a business trip and decided to pay a visit to the king. Despite the critical conditions of the castle, the man stayed the night. The man told Mammalia of his adventures and voyages, and then he asked her about her life. She told him about her passion for helping people and also explained to him the difficult situation that her family had been going through for the last decade. She also said that she didn't have an exciting event to share with him but then, she did mention one last thing; the black book. She told the man that the stories in the notebook were a series of dreams she had had in the past, stories about finding a prize that she didn't understand.

“Can I read it?" the man asked. “Yes”, Mammalia replied.

One entire month went by before the man finished the book. One morning the man told Mammalia: “I finished... I want to buy it”.

Unsure of what to say, Mammalia replied: “I never thought of selling the book...”

“Well... whether you know it or not, you found the path. How much money do you want?” the man asked.

“I don't know...” she replied.

“How about 20 thousand?” the man suggested.

“20 thousand what?” Mammalia asked.

“20 thousand dollars”, he replied. Then he opened one of his black bags and took 20 thousand dollars out. He put the money on top of the kitchen table and without taking his eyes off of her, left. With the black book in one hand and his two bags on his shoulder, the man walked away to be never seen again.

Mammalia stood there, as rich as she had ever been. Now in the condition to help her family. And for once in a very long time, she felt accomplished. Her dreams had finally made sense and paid off, the prize had become real and following her instincts had changed her entire destiny.

From that night now, Mammalia started dreaming again...

- Andres Mejia Vallejo -