Colours danced in front of him as his mother bent down to pick him up. The pinks and greens of her dress seemed to grow out of the scent of roses that she wore. He surrendered himself to being lifted, grateful for the rest and comfort. His chubby little knees needing the kiss better he was sure she would plant on them.
Arturo had never felt such bliss, his mothers love surrounding him with coos of safety and love.
Only this woman wasn't really Arturo's mother, and her love was meant for another. Arturo had crept in and stolen the sleeping child's dream. Leaving one of his most terrifying nightmares in it's place.
Arturo had never had a mother, never been cuddled by a rose scented woman swathed in pretty colours. He had grown up in the orphanage where the stench of antiseptic stung his nose as it stung his skin and the nuns were an unsmiling monochrome wall.
He had hated it there, his chubby legs only ever received sharp slaps and though he'd never known different he couldn't help feeling that his life wasn't right. He didn't know what he did that deserved so much punishment, and, as he grew older he decided he must just be a naturally bad person. Maybe the devil had snuck into his soul before the nuns had taken him in from the step. Or maybe he'd always been there and that was why his mother had abandoned him.
Even the abandoned aren't alone though and Arturo had the twins Gian-Paulo and Marco. The three of them couldn't have looked more different, Atruro had been a barrel of a child and now he was a bear of a man. The twins had been like twigs as boys and were still as skinny as striplings. His black hair was thickly luxuriant, but the twins seemed to have grown so tall that their pointy skulls had risen through the mouse coloured strands that had once coated them, leaving just a few remnants behind.
But no matter how different they were physically the three of them shared a common purpose, to steal the love they'd never been given and leave sharp shards of their pain in it's place.
It had begun years ago when someone had donated a long length of cloth to the orphanage. It was the most remarkable thing they'd ever seen. A shimmering sky of twilight blue embroidered with silvery pillows of clouds.
The nuns would have normally sold such a treasure, but Sister Angelica had suggested they use it to create a division in dormitory. Shielding the rest of the boys from the end where the troublesome trio slept. It was thought that maybe it would help them all sleep better.
And it did, well, that is it helped Arturo, Gian-Paulo and Marco sleep better. The first night it was hung in the dormitory they had huddled behind it running their greedy fingers over the soft fabric. It has to be said that they were somewhat disgruntled to have the darker, rougher side facing them whilst the other boys could see it's true beauty. Then Arturo noticed that it had been hemmed quite thickly and taking his knife cut a long scrap from along it.
Now they all had a section they could hold in their hands and look at whenever they wished. No matter how grey and dismal life in the orphanage got, they had a little blue sky to keep them going.
And they needed it. For as much as the nuns had labelled them the troublesome trio it was truer to call them troubled. They'd been bullied by the other boys every single day of their lives but the nuns only ever caught them when they were fighting back and of course would always blame them for starting it. They endured it all, scheming and planning their revenge all day but reliving the horrors every night.
They discovered the true power of the cloth within just a few days. Massimo was taunting them just before bed as usual and Arturo launched himself at him. Pushing his hands over the smug face he forgot he was holding his piece of cloth. Massimo fell onto his bed snoring deeply and as Arturo blinked in confusion he saw the other boys dreams playing in front of his eyes. He backed away, watching as Massimo started to toss and whimper the way they teased him for.
Retreating behind the curtain he told the twins what had happened. They started to experiment, finding that holding the cloth near the mouth of a sleeper as they exhaled collected a dream in it's entirety which they could then inhale. They had no idea how their nightmares were left in it's place but they didn't really care. All that mattered was that finally some portion of their days could be better.
But the dreams of their fellow orphans weren't so much better than their own so it wasn't long before they started sneaking into the nuns cells and stealing their dreams. Some of these were filled with the sweet milk of the love of God but some were more terrifying in their sadistic schemes than any of theirs.
When they left the orphanage they took they curtain with them, and the habit of thievery. They would creep through windows or jimmy open doors, steal what they could then find the children and steal their dreams too. Glorying in the happiness of these innocent dreams.
But tonight they'd stolen a thing too far. Curled up at the bottom of the boys bed had been a little black kitten. There was something about it's warm purring body that Arturo couldn't resist and he'd scooped it up before thinking.
The twins had just shrugged, after all Arturo could never be quite as close to them as they were to each other, it was only fair he have a companion too. But the kitten wouldn't settle; wriggling in Arturo's arms so his slumber was disturbed. The twin's snores drowned out the mother of his dreams words of comfort. It was their backs he could feel next to his, not the loving arms of a mother.
He awoke with a yelp as the kittens claws scratched deep into his arms as it finally pulled itself free. Then with a leap it landed on their curtain, pulling it open and exposing the dream stealers for anyone to see.
Arturo struggled to rise, desperate to close the curtain and keep them all safe. But before he could his eyes were filled with a different shade of blue. A bruising, bulging blue spreading out from hard form of the police officer in front of him. And he knew the only dreams he'd be able to steal in the future would be as bad as his own.
