I sat silently on my bed, cup of hot cocoa warming my hands. I sat there, gazing wistfully out of my window. I glanced at the clock and sighed. The numbers 10:02 glowed back at me. If I wasn't asleep yet, then I was going to be awake all night. Ah, insomnia was not something I enjoyed. Then again, neither was sleep.
I shuddered at the memories of the bad dreams I've been having. Not nightmares just unpleasant dreams. I took a sip off my cup, the taste lingering in my mouth. I glanced down at the book beside me. 'Dream Journal: Sandman Given Memories'. I scoffed at the cover. Sandman, yeah right. He would have put me to sleep by now, right? I set my cup aside and swung my feet down. I stood gracefully and sidled up to my large window. I crossed my arms and peeked down. At twenty stories high the top room was the best, and only the best.
I sighed wearily, placing a hand flat against the cold glass. My family deserved the best, or that's what they keep telling me at least. But can the best get me to sleep? No. That was something I was painfully aware of. The cold of the outside world traveled up my arm. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation sink in.
Flashes of a face, smiling, crying, laughing filled my head and I yanked away from the window, eyes snapping open. My heart was in pain. I breathed deeply, steady, until my heart stopped hurting. The images, I've been seeing them continuously, anytime I became cold. And the pain. There was always the pain.
Who was this person? When I tried to think about them I got only fragments and my head...it couldn't focus. It ached and everything became dizzy. That was usually all I remembered before waking up on the floor.
I shook my head, determined on not having that reaction tonight. I kept my mind away from the face, and stared out at the city below. My eyebrows creased together. I leaned my forehead against the window. "Sandman, let me sleep..." I whispered, then pulled away before the cold could send the images again.
My eyes met an amazing sight. Gold tendrils hung in the air, spiraling everywhere. All ended in a window is what it seemed. I followed one close to my window up, up, up. It ended in a gold cloud. I stared incredulously, then bolted to my door; I grabbed my big fluffy, robe on the way. I silently made my way through the grand apartment, careful not to wake my family, and slipped out into the hallway. I raced to the door at the end of the corridor and flung it open, scaling the stairs behind it.
At the top was another door. I burst through it and hit cold air. I stood on the roof. I ran to the edge of the building and leaned out, attempting to get a better view.
A golden stream swam by me and I got the look I had wanted. It was sand. I turned my attention to the cloud that was emanating the sand. I had no doubt that it too was made of the gilded rock particles. But I was not interested in the gravity defying sand. What interested me that the bobbing figure in the middle. At this height I was able to get a good look at it.
It appeared to be...a man. A golden, little man was riding the sand cloud and directing the flowing sand streams. I stared, agape, and leaned in just a bit more, trying to process what I saw. I stood, balancing on my tiptoes.
A pigeon became startled and took off behind me. I instinctively ducked forward, and slipped.
I was plummeting to the very far away ground. I screamed. Just one, loud scream. Then I clamped my mouth shut and spun around, not wanting to see my doom coming. My body instantly curled up on itself and I shut my eyes.
I was going to die.
(Narrator's POV)
Sanderson was making his rounds like he did every night, passing through America at the moment. He was cheerily spreading his dream sand through a relatively quiet city when he heard the scream. He swung around, peering off of his sand cloud and spied the figure quickly breaking through air and falling toward the ground.
An '!' appeared over his head and he twisted his arms, then twisted them back and began spinning, propelled by his sand. He sped towards the falling girl as fast as his sand would push him. The ground was getting closer and closer and the girl appeared unresponsive. Sanderson gritted his teeth and put any extra push into his sand as he could.
He reached out his arms and straightened his body, pointed his feet downward, effectively halting his descent. The girl landed in his arms and his cloud formed again. It began to steadily ascend. He smiled down at the girl, relieved. This girl, however, wasn't exactly a girl, but a young woman no older that 25.
The woman carefully opened her eyes and looked up at Sanderson. Her eyes huge, green, and filled with such childlike wonder stared into his gold ones. Then, without a sound she wrapped her arms around him tightly and squeezed. Her trembling was visible, yet she stayed completely silent, simply holding onto her savior.
Sanderson kept her in his arms and rubbed his small hand against her back. He frowned at her reaction. Other children would have acted different. Then again, she is not a child. Her log, long brown hair sailed in the slight breeze and he continued to rub her back comfortingly.
The young woman's mind was whirling with so many thoughts and such confusion. However she was locked onto one thing in her mind. The man was made of sand. She could feel it under her skin, the sandy feel. She was so confused. She never felt sand so...solid and warm. I'd expect it to feel like sandpaper but his skin is...soft and smooth. She thought. A man made of sand...sand...man...Sandman...SANDMAN!?
The girl shot back quickly and exclaimed, "You're the Sandman! Aren't you?"
Sanderson chuckled silently and a thumbs up appeared over his head. The female stared in amazement at the sand response. Then her face went angry. "If you're the Sandman...then why haven't you put me to sleep yet tonight?"
Sanderson stared blankly at the girl. He had swept the whole building she had fallen from with his dream sand, he was certain. He tipped his head to the side and shrugged.
The girl frowned. "I'm an insomniac mister, and I haven't gotten a decent nights sleep in two weeks. Where have you been?" Sanderson's mouth pulled to the side and his eyebrows creased together. Earth appeared over his head and a sand trail wrapped around and around the small Earth until it was fully enveloped.
The girl crossed her arms. "Okay, so you've been everywhere...Why doesn't it work on me?"
Sanderson didn't respond for a while, then shrugged his shoulders. The girl Ahmed. The sand cloud was slowly reaching the top of the building the female had fallen from. Sanderson intended to drop her off there and move along.
Suddenly a question occurred to him. An image of the girl appeared over his head. The figure stood on a sand ledge then, quite obviously, jumped from the ledge. Then it was all replaced by a question mark.
The girl seemed to ponder the charade for a moment before mumbling, "Did I...jump?" The Sandman nodded.
The girl scoffed with an irritated and disgruntled expression and quickly exclaimed, "No! I have WAY too much to live for." Hands appeared above Sanderson's head and pushed toward her in an 'Okay, okay, sorry' way.
The girl twisted suddenly, an act that almost resulted in Sanderson dropping her, and pointed to a window. "OH! There, that's my room!"
Sanderson changed his course and instead headed for the closed window. He stopped in front of the barrier and frowned.
"Oh...I forgot to open it." The girl murmured. An open window and another question mark appeared over the Sandman's head. The girl nodded. "I open it at night, just in case anyone wants to visit me." Sanderson gave a confused look, but made no more pictures. Instead he silently guided a stream of sand to the glass. It easily slipped through the cracks and formed in the female's room. It moved to the lock and unlatched it. The window opened and Sanderson drifted in happily.
The girl turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Do that often?" Sanderson shifted a shoulder in an 'eh' manner, yet the smile on his face gave it all away.
Sanderson floated awkwardly in the room for a moment before the girl realized this was her cue to get down. She did and Sanderson began floating back towards the window when a hand grasped his. He stopped and turned back, eyebrows raised.
"Wait...I...Can you...put me to sleep? I'm really tired, but I have bad dreams...can...can you do anything about that?" The girl refused to make eye-contact, and stared at the ground as she spoke.
Sanderson nodded with a smile.
Soon she was all tucked in with Sanderson standing by her bedside. Sandy began to form a dream sand ball in his hands when the girl placed her hand over his. "Wait...Will, you stay here, at least for a little bit? To make sure my dreams stay good." Sanderson nodded gently, pondering over how child-like this young woman was.
The girl closed her eyes gingerly and hugged her stuffed giraffe close to her. "Do you have a name other than Sandman?" The question was so quiet that Sanderson had almost missed it. He waited for her eyes to flutter open again before nodding and spelling out his full name above his head.
Sanderson Mansnoozie
The girl smiled and chuckled. "Sanderson Mansnoozie. What a cute name." Sanderson became aware of how glad he was that it was dark in the room, for it masked his blushing cheeks. "Ever go by Sandy?" Sandy gave her a thumbs up.
She closed her eyes again and a big ball of sand appeared in his hands. He gently dropped it over the girl's head and she yawned suddenly. Her head sunk into the pillow, but then suddenly shot up, her eyes drooping and half asleep already. She smiled drowsily and spoke. "Oh, by the way, my name is Jasmine. Jasmine Moore."
Then her head dropped back onto the pillow, and after a moment her breathing settled and a golden sand dream appeared over her head.
Sanderson turned away from the dream and instead focused on Jasmine. He never watched anyone's dreams, he felt like he was invading their personal wishes. Because, as we all know, every wish begins with a dream. He smiled wistfully. She was most certainly a young adult by now, and yet she could see me. He thought. She believes in the Sandman. And she didn't even question my existence, or the fact that I am made of sand and alive.
He chuckled silently and his eyes drifted. They landed on a book with an interesting title. 'Dream Journal: Sandman Given Memories'. His hand grazed the cover and he smiled. Humans were such interesting creatures.
Sanderson's attention was grabbed my a strangled moan produced my Jasmine. He turned back to her and spied her dream sand. It was slowly losing it's gold shine and a deep frown cracked her face. He rushed over to the sleeping girl and stared at the dream sand. It didn't turn black like he had been expecting. Instead, it simply lost its sheen.
Sanderson contemplated this oddity, then sprinkled some more sand over the dull dream. It regained its livelihood and Jasmine's frown disappeared. Sanderson gave a contented sigh and wandered the room again.
Unbeknownst to him a small feathered creature whizzed by the window to Jasmine's room, then zipped back and looked into the large room. It squeaked happily and flew in to nuzzle against the Sandman's cheek. Sanderson's face lit up and he pet the fairy happily. He then quietly places a finger to his mouth and pointed at the sleeping figure. Baby Tooth nodded and squeaked again, softly this time. The two proceeded in a long conversation that contained many confusing chirps and rapid charades only the two could understand.
Sanderson had apparently convinced the little fairy to go back to the Tooth Palace and ask another hummingbird-nosed fairy to come back and watch over Jasmine while Sanderson completed his rounds. Then he would be back to relieve the pixie.
The pixie complied, hitching the rope belt that held a tooth up on her hips, and zipped back out into the night air. Sanderson turned back to the dreamer in the room to wait patiently. Soon, even his eyelids fluttered shut. Ten minutes later, Sandy was woken by a tiny Tooth Fairy. He thanked the winged immortal and poured some dream sand into a ceramic, purple turtle he had noticed in her room earlier, just in case her dream turned bronze again.
Then, Sanderson Mansnoozie departed, continuing his job of spreading dreams across the world.
(A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing with this, and that is my first time with a story, but I think I'll just roll with it. Stay with me folks, because this will indeed go SOMEWHERE. Also, Jack will be in the next chapter. Bye guys!)