Once upon a nightmare 1

[AbuHossam]

It was during the holiday season.



Dad had gone on his usual business trip, while mom and I were left in our old big mansion. That very day I was bored, and I was going to each and every room in our house, where I got to a room. Mum had warned me not to go there. But I was curious.

It was filled with unopened boxes, gifts that had not been opened for years, stacked upon each other. I browsed through the room quickly and was about to leave when I saw a pretty doll staring at me. It was still in its nylon and had not been opened; it was lying on one of the boxes. It was so pretty, I couldn’t resist its beauty. I tried jumping up to pick the doll, but I couldn’t reach it. There was a chair in the room, so I dragged the chair and climbed on it. I picked the toy and took it to my room.

On getting there, I hurriedly tore its nylon open, and its pale blue animated eyes stared back at me. It has pretty pale skin, blonde wavy hair, and realistic features. It was putting on a pretty silky pink dress with white lace sewn around its wrist region. It has a switch located on its abdomen's phonograph compartment. I switched it on. And it sang.

Ayy, ayy

I am your little butterfly.

I held it close to my chest and liked it immediately. I didn’t show Mummy because she had warned me not to go near that particular room. I named it Lily.

It became my companion, and we do almost everything together, eating, playing, and sleeping on the same bed.

But things started getting strange.

Sometimes, I would look for the doll, and it would be found somewhere else. But I didn’t take notice.

One fateful night, I was fast asleep when I heard a blood-curdling scream and something moving. I woke up, but the doll was not by my side. It was lying helplessly on the floor. I took it because I thought I had carelessly knocked it over when I was sleeping. I kissed it.* And slept off.

The following day I took the doll and played with it as I usually did when mom was not watching.

But that night, I heard an unusual sound that woke me up.

Lily was standing on my bed, and its animated eyes came to life; its eyelid fluttered.

And it sang.

Ayy, ayy

I'm your little butterfly.

"Hi Anita,* "I love playing games, and my favorite games are sword fighting and stabbing, and you?"

To be continued.