feel a terrible need to dispel his doubts and give him his confidence back. This was something that she felt frequently.
“Come on now, it won’t be that bad. Tell me, what makes you think that?”
“I don’t know... That is to say, many things.”
“What shall we focus on...”
“There’s this idea that’s starting to go round and round in my mind. It’s a stupid, hare-brained idea, I know... But... In all honesty, I’m finding it more and more logical every day.”
Marta was beginning to understand that she was facing a man who didn’t know whether or not to throw in the towel and give in to his own powerlessness over reality.
“And what idea is that?”
“I think that Laura really was being pursued... All of those drawings, her fears, her behaviour...”
“But you can’t seriously believe that... from Hell...”
“No, no, please. I need you to understand me; something real was trying to do something bad, and affected her mind.”
Carlos averted the psychologist’s gaze. He wasn’t really being completely honest, because he knew that it would be crazy if he were.
“That isn’t hare-brained. Have you thought about anything in particular?”
“Look, Marta... I haven’t really come to talk about my daughter.”
“I know.”
“The fact is, I need help. I can’t face this alone. Every day, I discover something new about Laura; it’s like a nightmare. A few days ago, I spoke to one of her school friends...”
Marta came over to Carlos and let her hand rest gently on his shoulder, in an effort to calm him.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see that together, we can overcome this. Don’t be afraid to talk to me.”
He felt defeated, like somebody desperately clinging to a tree and trying not to be carried off by a flood, but who, in the end, decides to let go, exhausted. And he burst into tears.
“The night before last, I had this terrible nightmare. That’s why I called you yesterday, because I just knew I wouldn’t be capable of facing what’s happening to me alone.”
“You’re not alone. Take support in the people who love you, and you can come and talk with me whenever you like.”
“The only person I have left is my dad. I’ve practically lived for my work, hardly contacting anybody, not even my own family.”
“Tell me about that nightmare. You should let it out into the open; you need to share your suffering.”
Carlos liked to look out of the window every now and then, towards the plants on the balcony, and up at the sky. In some way, it was like recovering his strength, like filling himself with a vague sense hope. Besides, Marta put him at ease.
“I dreamt that on the day of the accident my daughter was taken to Hell. I dreamt that she transformed into this terrifying creature, and that that was why my wife had the accident. My daughter was screaming for help, but with each scream, her voice was becoming stranger, different from her own, like that of some abhorrent being...”
Marta could not avoid noticing an expression of astonishment, almost fear, on his face. It was a fear of ensnaring her also in an all too sticky, all too dangerous web. It was the fear of his mind being unable to control everything that was happening, because of things that were starting to fit together, or at least beginning to fit together in his mind .
“I know, it’s just a bad dream,” he added, before she could say anything.
“No. Now it’s possible that what I’m about to show you won’t be of any help to you; perhaps I myself am beginning to play an active role in exacerbating the problem, but I think there’s something you should see. I hid it from you because the idea terrified even me... and I put it down to mere coincidence... But, with everything that you’ve told me...”
“Please, tell me what it is...”
She stood up, leaving him alone for a few seconds. She returned from one of the rooms off the lounge holding a red file.
“When your daughter died, I took her
“Come on now, it won’t be that bad. Tell me, what makes you think that?”
“I don’t know... That is to say, many things.”
“What shall we focus on...”
“There’s this idea that’s starting to go round and round in my mind. It’s a stupid, hare-brained idea, I know... But... In all honesty, I’m finding it more and more logical every day.”
Marta was beginning to understand that she was facing a man who didn’t know whether or not to throw in the towel and give in to his own powerlessness over reality.
“And what idea is that?”
“I think that Laura really was being pursued... All of those drawings, her fears, her behaviour...”
“But you can’t seriously believe that... from Hell...”
“No, no, please. I need you to understand me; something real was trying to do something bad, and affected her mind.”
Carlos averted the psychologist’s gaze. He wasn’t really being completely honest, because he knew that it would be crazy if he were.
“That isn’t hare-brained. Have you thought about anything in particular?”
“Look, Marta... I haven’t really come to talk about my daughter.”
“I know.”
“The fact is, I need help. I can’t face this alone. Every day, I discover something new about Laura; it’s like a nightmare. A few days ago, I spoke to one of her school friends...”
Marta came over to Carlos and let her hand rest gently on his shoulder, in an effort to calm him.
“Don’t worry, you’ll see that together, we can overcome this. Don’t be afraid to talk to me.”
He felt defeated, like somebody desperately clinging to a tree and trying not to be carried off by a flood, but who, in the end, decides to let go, exhausted. And he burst into tears.
“The night before last, I had this terrible nightmare. That’s why I called you yesterday, because I just knew I wouldn’t be capable of facing what’s happening to me alone.”
“You’re not alone. Take support in the people who love you, and you can come and talk with me whenever you like.”
“The only person I have left is my dad. I’ve practically lived for my work, hardly contacting anybody, not even my own family.”
“Tell me about that nightmare. You should let it out into the open; you need to share your suffering.”
Carlos liked to look out of the window every now and then, towards the plants on the balcony, and up at the sky. In some way, it was like recovering his strength, like filling himself with a vague sense hope. Besides, Marta put him at ease.
“I dreamt that on the day of the accident my daughter was taken to Hell. I dreamt that she transformed into this terrifying creature, and that that was why my wife had the accident. My daughter was screaming for help, but with each scream, her voice was becoming stranger, different from her own, like that of some abhorrent being...”
Marta could not avoid noticing an expression of astonishment, almost fear, on his face. It was a fear of ensnaring her also in an all too sticky, all too dangerous web. It was the fear of his mind being unable to control everything that was happening, because of things that were starting to fit together, or at least beginning to fit together in his mind .
“I know, it’s just a bad dream,” he added, before she could say anything.
“No. Now it’s possible that what I’m about to show you won’t be of any help to you; perhaps I myself am beginning to play an active role in exacerbating the problem, but I think there’s something you should see. I hid it from you because the idea terrified even me... and I put it down to mere coincidence... But, with everything that you’ve told me...”
“Please, tell me what it is...”
She stood up, leaving him alone for a few seconds. She returned from one of the rooms off the lounge holding a red file.
“When your daughter died, I took her
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