The Dreamcatcher Tree

Matteo Trovato · 09-28-2011, 04:24 AM

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Pre-dated to the 25th, after Gemma gives birth but before Jaden dies. Matteo creates the Dreamcatcher Tree, a place to mourn the dead by hanging dreamcatchers in their honer. He goes all out, because Matteo isn't one to handle death very well, especially if it's someone close to him... and even more so if he witnessed it in the first place. So it's around midnight, 25th-26th. Also the night when Matteo gives up his Catholic faith forever. Ah yes, fair warning. I cried writing this so people may cry reading it. Hover for translations.

Word Count → 1065

He'd been working at this new project every night since the first he spent mourning his son and daughter. A circle of wood, a web of sweet, white silk and tiny blue beads. Another circle of wood, a web of black silk and tiny pink beads. In each one, he weaved their names; Ivory and Ebony. Dreamcatchers, crafted by hand and perfected in his sleepless nights. Memories and dreams that could never happen. A lost hope, and then another.

He'd finished something in the early morning, around four, and headed out into the cold autumn darkness with both dreamcatchers nested in a box he carried with him. His trek brought no further than the very beach it had all started at; the Serene Sands. There, an old tree, still clinging to life, hung over the sandy beach, allowing shade, though not very much of it. He climbed the dangerous rockface to reach the branches of the old tree and tucked up underneath.

He'd dressed in black. The pack hadn't actually bothered with the news of the deceased pups. Afterall, women miscarried all the time in America. The life was a dangerous one and mistakes were bound to happen. He didn't blame them.

But he had his own Traditions to abide by. Though there were no bodies, no caskets, no ceremony, the boy had climbed that tree for a reason. Carefully, he hung each dreamcatched on a thick branch, whispering words for each one.

As he placed Ivory's dreamcatcher, he whispered softly for the son he'd never had the chance to meet.

A mio figlio, io addio. Che gli dei siano con voi nella vita al di là di questo, un luogo di nessuna sofferenza e nessuna paura. Anche se ho appena incontrato, tu sei mio figlio, il mio orgoglio, il mio onore. Rimasi a riposo, un sonno tranquillo, Ivory Trovato, figlio mio.

As he placed Ebony's dreamcatcher, he choked back a sob and whispered softly for the daughter he wished he'd been able to spoil.

Per mia figlia, io lodo il Signore. Una ragazza bella come scuro come una notte di luna nuova, ma brillante come una stella splendente. Anche se non abbiamo mai avuto la possibilità di essere, mi hai fatto fiero ... Caro, dolce, Ebano, principessa del mio sangue, vi saluto e buona fortuna nel mondo di là. Tuo fratello vi guiderà attraverso la tua nuova vita e un giorno saremo di nuovo una famiglia. Ti amo, mia figlia, Trovato Ebony.

He took a deep breath as he leaned back from the tree, now decorated in the two dreamcatchers. He reached into his pocket, not quite done, and pulled out a pair of wooden crosses.

As he hung the first, he mumured words of praise to the first daughter of his brother, a nameless pup that had died without knowing the love of a father or the forgiveness of a mother. For that, he mourned.

Dormire, angioletto. Sogni d'oro a voi. Anche se dimenticato da altri, sarai ricordato da me. Io ti concedo un angelo di guidarvi sulla vostra strada. Mia madre veglia sul figlio perduto di Giuseppe. Guidarla in pace al di là dove sappiamo.

The second he held on to a moment longer, debating. After a few seconds of careful consideration, he placed the second cross on a higher branch of the tree, but not before kissing it gently.

Questo dono non è quello di piangere i morti. Ho posto questo simbolo sotto ed auguri per il figlio primogenito di Giuseppe Trovato, mio fratello. Jaden Lucifero Trovato. In un momento in cui ha lasciato senza parenti, sarà benedetto. Dei gli conceda la forza di riprendersi dalla malattia che ferisce il suo spirito e concedere la madre un bambino a chiamare suo. Mando una preghiera di speranza per Jaden Trovato. Vorrei che mai di appendere la sua croce in segno di lutto per i morti.

The last cross didn't hang by the string but was lodged carefully by each arm on a branch, the string looped around the branch above in case it fell from the wind. Once the last cross was hung, he sighed and stepped back away from the tree, kneeling down and bowing his head, his hands folded infront of him. Silently, he sat there, as if praying... though he knew better than to think there was a God anymore. Still, there had to be something, someone, out there that had been the creator of all of this. He sent a prayer to them, begging for Jaden's health and having one last night to mourn those they'd lost.

When he felt praying anymore would do no better, he lowered his arms and looked up at the tree. No words came to him, no thoughts as to how to make Jaden's chances any better than they were now. No ideas came to him. So instead, he closed his eyes and relaxed his chest, having been holding it back since the pups had died.

He howled. Long, loud, mourning and by far a chilling sound, like a ghost or an echo. As lowered his head, out of breath and out of voice, the sound carried on. He wouldn't leave this spot tonight. Not if hell itself came down upon him. He looked up at the dreamcatchers, the crosses, and imagined what could've been; four happy, bouncing bundles, growing up side-by-side in one pack, learning to live a life their parents hadn't been able to manage themselves. Surely such innocent creatures hadn't deserved to die so quickly?

That night, Matteo fell asleep under the shadow of The Dreamcatcher Tree. He dreamt of Heaven, of meadows and lakes and forests unlike any he'd ever seen. He dreamt of running along side his pack, his family, all alive and healthy and there was no hate, no sickness, no pain, no hurt. Just full bellies and happy sounds, like a lullaby to send him to sleep.

That night, Matteo dreamed of a life that could never have been. Somewhere in the darkness, a shooting star, but an unheard prayer drifted on.

Come morning, Matteo Trovato would leave his religion, his faith, behind for something far more real than human-wrote books. The days of following a shameless, selfish God were behind him. Come morning, he'd never lose another family member to selfish ignorance ever again. Even if that meant he'd have to sin to ensue his family's safety.

Image courtesy of Dirk-Jan Kraan@Flickr; coding by the Mentors

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