The night was silent and warm and a content smile was splayed on the sandmans face. Gold ropes of his magic twisted and pulsed through the air as they delivered dreams full with wonderment and happiness. He stared at the skyline as contentment settled over him...his job done for another night.
An insistent tugging startled him out of his reveling in dreams as he shot across the sky to to place he was being summoned. His face twisted into a frown when a window on the hospital opened to let him in.
Sandy expected the caller to be sleeping when he crept in the room so he was surprised when the figure turned her head to look at him. She smiled when her eyes found the small man and she beckoned him to sit on her bed. When he came closer he noticed her distended stomach and stared at the tiny girl in confusion. When he sat she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach.
He smiled when he sensed the tiny life glowing inside begin to move and distorted thoughts about the outside world formed. Strange peaceful feelings at the so very familiar voice. Sadness at the shaking of his home and the sounds of sadness coming from the voice that was always with him. Eagerness to hug the voice that kept him company.
The sandman frowned. The girl smiled sadly as he pulled his hand away. She handed him a paper and he read the bold print Adoption on the top and he immediately understood her sadness. She giggled quietly as he touched her nose and images of things that made her happy danced in front of her eyes.
When the images came to a close she reached over and opened her bedside drawer to withdraw a small clear marble she handed it to him and made a twisting motion with her hands. He twisted the top and bottom of the marble and watched as it grew bigger and as soon as it was as big as his hand images formed and he saw himself grow tall and open his mouth to speak. He watched himself dance across the seasons and enjoy the noonday sun.
When the door started to open he made to leave before she shook her head violently and pointed to a stool in the corner. He sat there and watched as the doctor injected something into her IV that made her grimace in pain before in a flurry of movement her bottom half and belly were bared and she began to work towards a goal who's path was riddled with intense pain.
He watched as bit by bit the life he had listened to was revealed for what he was then freed from his mother and whisked away. When she was cleaned and left alone he stepped closer again questions whizzing through his head at what he had witnessed. She smiled sadly and he suddenly understood.
A pang of sadness hit him then, she would never see her child again after nine months of constant companionship and painful work to bring him out to the world. Now, it was all for someone else to enjoy. As he sat on her bed she leaned forward and cupped a small hand around his ear.
"It's not personal happiness that matters in the long run; it's how much happiness you can give to others." Came the soft papery whisper. He smiled as acts of kindness done for no reason flitted throughout in silvery wisps.
It was curious the wisps he saw that seemed to bend to the whim of the girl as was the marble. A soft sigh drew his attention back to her. He knew her name as he watched the color leave her face.
A tired smile played on her lips as she stroked Sandy's round face.
"Time to go," she breathed out. The words nothing more than shaped air.
'Sleep well Ellera.' Sandy thought as he let his sands cover her skin to send her home in comfort.
Her lips parted as she breathed out one last time before becoming only a shell.
Looking sadly at her face one last time Sandy twisted the marble back down to small and tucked it in his robe. Glancing at the gray room he crept out the window just as the too late doctors rushed in.