A/N: So yeah, I'm noticing a depressing lack of Sandy and I have decided to rectify that situation. I'm thinking of doing this as a drabble series and may expand it or may not depending on whether or not anyone cares. So I hope you do. XD Reviews are always welcome and I promise I respond. I also take ideas, so feel free to ask away. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!


Sandy had a lot of work to do in one night; and even when one time zone was finished, night was coming to the next and he had to move on. So while it was perfectly understandable that one child might somehow go unnoticed in all that, it still bothered the Guardian and he refused to let it happen.

He was sailing gently over the Midwest United States when it first occurred to him that something was off. There was a gap, a window his dream sand didn't go through. Now that he thought back, he couldn't even remember the last time the sand had gone through that particular window.

Intrigued, he floated down and peered in at the occupant. It was clearly a child, but by all appearances the child was asleep- so why hadn't the dream sand gone through its window? Sandy frowned in confusion and sent a small tendril of dream sand in the child's direction. As the soft golden light filled the room, the child's eyes opened.

Ah, that was it, Sandy realized- the child hadn't been asleep. Just making herself look like she was. Now that she had sat up, Sandy could see that she was a little girl, no older than five, with pale blonde hair and green eyes that widened to twice their size when she saw the dream sand floating through the air.

She reached up tentatively and touched it; a picture formed in the air of a waterfall and a cliff, golden sand particles floating off gently like mist at the bottom. She giggled and grinned widely, her gaze tracking back until she saw Sandy peering in through her window. She blinked a couple of times, seemed to realize that she wasn't dreaming, and then gave him a wide smile.

He smiled back just as broadly and waved to her. She returned the gesture and rolled out of the bed, going over to the window. She stood high on her tiptoes and pushed it open to let Sandy come in. He floated in, careful not to startle her.

"Hi," she whispered. "What's your name?" Sandy flashed an image of someone sleeping over his head, followed by a pile of sand and a man. The girl knitted her eyebrows but then caught his meaning. "Oh, you're the Sandman, aren't you?" He smiled again and nodded. Then an arrow pointed at the girl next to a question mark.

"My name's Samantha McGinnis," she responded. She moved closer to the small Guardian, examining him in the moonlight. Sandy could see that she was extremely small for her age, and thin as a reed. Her nightshirt consisted of an old t-shirt that must have been a men's size large. It gaped at the neck so much it threatened to fall off her shoulders and reached down to her shins.

Sandy made another message over his head, a clock and a sleeping girl. Why aren't you asleep? She shrugged. "I don't get to sleep very much. My brain doesn't like letting me so it keeps me awake a lot." Sandy frowned. He'd seen plenty of insomniacs in his time but he'd never before met one so young. Her eyes were ringed with blue and purple that stood out against her pale skin; it was obvious that she needed sleep and wasn't trying to stay up.

Sandy decided to try something. He herded Samantha back to her bed and she climbed in confusedly. "What are you doing?" Sandy made an arrow over his head that pointed to her and then a little form with its eyes closed. "Are you going to put me to sleep?" He nodded, gesturing for her to lie down. She wrapped herself back up in the blanket, green eyes staring attentively at the dream spirit.

Sandy pulled some dream sand out, making it into the most powerful handful he could, and then sprinkled it over Samantha's head. Even with its extra power, it still took her a couple minutes to fall asleep rather than the usual couple of seconds. Sandy smiled and floated back towards the window when a small voice called out behind him,

"Sandy?" He turned and raised his eyebrows. "Will you come back tomorrow night?" He smiled gently at her and nodded. Her eyes finally closed as he shut the window behind him.