Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog

Chap 74: The Sandman Sleeps

Farmhouse midnight

"We need to have Muriel see a doctor." I whispered to Courage.

'Yeah, but could Dr. Vindaloo do? He isn't the best doctor around. Maybe one of your friends might know something.' He suggested while putting giant plugs into his ears.

"Maybe. I'll ask in the morning." I told him while gently rubbing Iris's arm.

Currently, Courage, Iris, and I are in my room. After a long day of working and helping Muriel around the house, we were ready to fall asleep. Especially me since Iris was staying the night allowed us to cuddle a bit. Something that we haven't been able to do in a long time. However, we were unable to fall asleep due to Muriel's snoring. While she always snored in the past, it never really bothered us. Until recently, when her snoring became so loud that we could hear it easily through the walls, even though we were also a floor above her.

'How is she asleep?' Courage asked, referring to Iris while also putting a fishbowl over his head. Only for Muriel's loud snoring to break it a second later.

"She was feeling a little ill. So I whipped her up an old recipe I knew. to help her feel better. The unfortunate part is that it will knock you out old after about a half-hour." I explained.

'You two love each other. At this point, even a blind and deaf person can easily tell how much you both love each other.' Courage teased with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at him while smiling as a comfortable silence fell upon us. Courage kept trying different ways to block out the sound of Muriel's snoring, yet each attempt failed. Chuckling, I turned to the sleeping form of Iris before leaning down and kissing her cheek. Knowing that I had to try and get some sleep, I laid down next to her before pulling the blankets over us. Comfy, I then wrapped my arms around before pulling her close and snuggling into her. Unfortunately, as soon as I closed my eyes to try and fall asleep, the sound of a window opening caught my attention.

'Did you hear that?' Courage asked.

"Yeah. Sounded like the downstairs window opening." I answered before getting out of bed. But as soon as I stood up, I turned around and made sure the blanket covered Iris. Smiling, I leaned down and gave her another kiss on her cheek.

'Come on, Romeo. Let's go and check what that sound was.' He smirked as we exited the room.

Closing the door gently, we made our way downstairs to Muriel's room. Getting there, we opened the door softly and looked around. Seeing the window open, we went over to it and closed it. However, before we did so, we looked outside to see if we could spot whatever opened it as we knew that this window is always closed at night. Seeing nothing, we went back into the room and closed the window. As soon as we did, however, we heard Muriel groaning. Turning around, we saw that she had woken up.

"Are you okay, Muriel?" I asked as we walked over to her.

"Fine dearies. But a cup of tea would be lovely, though." She answered.

"Okay, Muriel. We'll make some." I said before Courage, and I left her room.

'Did you see that?' He asked as soon as we closed the door.

"Not sure. But I think I saw some strange man in what looked like the clothes a wizard might wear." I answered.

'What do you think he could want from here?' He asked.

"I have no idea. But that is if we saw a wizard. We could simply be seeing things from how tired we are." I answered.

'Maybe. Either way, let's be ready if he comes back. But for right now, let's make Muriel her tea, then head to your room to try and get some sleep.' He said while fighting through a heavy yawn.

Nodding and yawning as well, we made our way down to the kitchen. After a few minutes, we finished making Muriel's tea. We then took her tea up to her, where she thanked us. Bidding her goodnight, we returned to my room to try and get some sleep. Getting into my bed, I snuggled up to Iris and got comfy.

'Night Jaune.' Courage said before falling asleep next to the bed.

"Night Courage." I replied before falling asleep myself.

Next Day

"How are you feeling, Muriel?" Iris asked.

"I can't understand it. I usually sleep so well." She answered, confused.

After waking up, we quickly brought Iris up to speed on what happened. Hearing this, she became concerned for Muriel; however, she thought it was nothing major like us. That is until we told her what we think we saw last night when we looked out the window.

'Oh, this can't be good.' Courage whined, worried.

"Don't worry, Courage. Tonight I'll have a good night's sleep." Muriel assured him before getting up and leaving the kitchen.

"Are you sure you saw a guy that looked liked a wizard?" Iris asked.

"Can't say for sure, honestly." I answered. "Do you know who it could be?"

"Probably. There are a couple of beings I know of that would dress like a wizard. However, most would stay away from mortals and prefer to remain in their domain, only leaving on essential matters that need their attention. However, there is one who made his home here amongst mortals. And that is the Sandman, also known as the King of Sleep." She answered.

"Why would the king of sleep come here?" I asked.

"Not sure. Maybe the Sandman was attracted to the deep sounds of Muriel's snoring and only wanted to see who was sleeping so soundly." She answered.

"Hopefully, it's just that and nothing else." I hoped.

'Should we keep watch in case the sandman comes back?' Courage asked.

"That is if he was here in the first place. And I seriously doubt it, to be honest." I answered.

"Maybe we could wait outside her room until she falls asleep. And once she does, we head outside to keep guard in case the Sandman does come back." Iris suggested.

'That could work. If nothing else, it would put our concerns at ease.' Courage agreed.

"All right. We'll keep guard outside her room." I said before getting up. "But right now, how about I make some chocolate chip pancakes?"

"YES!" Courage and Iris cheered, causing me to chuckle.

9:00 Pm

"Ah, this is going to be a goodnight's sleep. I can feel it." Muriel said as she fluffed her pillow.

'I hope so.' Courage whined, still unsure about the whole thing.

"Well, goodnight Muriel." Iris told her.

"We'll be right outside if you need anything." I added.

"Thanks, dearies." She said, smiling before lying down and closing her eyes. Turning around, we headed outside the room before gently closing the door. Grabbing some chairs, we placed them down next to the door before sitting down.

'Hopefully, Muriel manages to get to sleep.' I thought as I took out my scroll to pass the time.

Unfortunately, despite saying we would stay awake until Muriel fell asleep, we fell asleep after about two hours. In the morning, we discovered that Muriel had failed to get any sleep. We decided to try again, yet the same result happened. This continued for the next few days, with Muriel being unable to fall asleep.

A Few Days Later

"Oh." Muriel moaned as she made breakfast for Eustace.

"This is getting bad." Iris whispered to me.

"Muriel. Where's my breakfast?!" Eustace demanded.

"Just a minute, Eustace." She answered.

"I got it, Muriel." I told her as I came up to her and took the frying pan from her.

"Why don't you rest? How about some tea?" Iris asked as she guided Muriel to sit at the table.

"That would be lovely." She answered.

"Courage. Care to help me?" Iris asked him.

'Sure.' He answered before they got to work on making Muriel her tea. Smiling, I returned to the counter before setting plating Eustace's food before bringing it to him.

"Thanks." He muttered before asking. "Where's my toast?"

"Oh, right. Toast." Muriel said before getting up.

"Mom. I got it." I told her. Unfortunately, she was too tired to register what I told her as she returned, not with toast but a bowling ball. "Toast."

"AAAAHHHHH!" Eustace screamed in pain as Muriel dropped the bowling ball on his foot.

'That's got to hurt.' I thought while wincing in pain.

'AAAHHHH!' Courage gasped, worried at what he just saw.

"Oh, right." Muriel said before going over to the cabinets, taking out some dog food, and grabbing Courage's bowl. "Food."

"Let's get you back to bed, Muriel." I told her before going over to her and bringing her back to her room. 'Something is wrong here.'

9:00 Pm

'Good thing I still have this.' Courage said as he played a lullaby on the piano he brought with him.

"And that the coffee shop was still open." I agreed before taking a sip of my double espresso coffee.

We were in Muriel's room, trying to help her fall asleep. After what happened this morning, we decided to be more active in trying to help her fall asleep. However, we have had no luck so far, and Muriel is still wide awake. We tried lullaby on various instruments to reading her stories, and even hypnosis. Unfortunately, they did not affect her and only made us nearly fall asleep. We were fresh out of ideas on what to do next; luckily, Muriel had an idea.

"You know, when I was a wee lass who couldn't sleep, my father would take me out for a drive." She told us.

'Oh.' Courage whined.

"You know, I just remembered something." Iris suddenly said.

"What is it?" I asked as I helped Muriel get up from her bed.

"The Sandman owes me a few favors. Maybe I could cash one in so he could help us." She answered.

"That could work. But we would still need to find him." I reminded.

"That won't be a problem. I know where he is. He doesn't live that far from here. About an hour's drive, If I remember correctly." She explained.

'Let's pay a visit to the Sandman then. I'll get Muriel's chair.' Courage said excitedly.

Fifty Minutes Later

"It is a nice night, at least." Iris said as we drove down the road.

"It sure is." I agreed as I quickly looked up to the sky and saw the beautiful stars in the sky.

'Wait. I think Muriel fell asleep.' Courage suddenly told us with his left ear raised. Nodding, I slowed down the truck to a stop before shifting the gear to park. Getting out, we went to the back to check on Muriel. Unfortunately, she was still awake.

"Well, that didn't work." She said tiredly.

'I could have sworn I heard her snore.' Courage said as he climbed onto the truck. But as soon as he did, we all heard the snoring this time. Looking back to Muriel, we saw that it was not coming from her.

"Mommy, sing me the one about the dancing donkey." She said, delirious from lack of sleep.

"Wait a minute. I know who snores like that. The Sandman. We're close." Iris said, smiling.

"We better follow it before it stops." I said as we quickly got back into the truck.

Shifting the gear back into drive, we quickly drove in the direction the snoring was coming. Though, it became a bit hard to hear the snoring as we had to go through a dense forest. Luckily, Courage still could hear the snoring clearly and guided us to it. After about five minutes, we reached the end of the forest and came upon a gigantic castle.

"Wow." Courage and I said, amazed as the castle.

"Is that castle made out of sand?" I asked, curious.

"Yup. The home or residence of beings like myself or the Sandman typically resembles the position they have. In this case, the castle is made out of sand because the Sandman is the king of dreams." Iris explained.

"Makes sense." I said after thinking it over.

'Now, we just need to find a way to get in there.' Courage reminded as he looked around for an answer.

"Don't worry. I have that covered." Iris said, giggling a bit before summoning a cloud for us to ride on. Smiling, we got onto the cloud as it slowly floated to the open window in one of the castle's towers. Reaching the window, we hopped into the castle before looking around as Iris dispersed her cloud.

"That's the Sandman?" I asked while pointing to the figure sleeping on a giant bed.

"Correct. Though, I'm surprised that he is sleeping soundly." Iris answered.

'How so?' Courage asked, confused as he climbed onto the bed.

"Despite being the King of Sleep, he has trouble falling asleep. Ironic, right?" She explained.

"That just sucks." I said, amazed at the irony. Being called the king of sleep yet cannot fall asleep himself.

'It does. But we need to wake him up so he can help us.' Courage reminded us as he reached the Sandman.

"Help you with what?" The Sandman suddenly asked, waking up.

'AAAHHHHH!' Courage screamed, scared.

"Silly doggy." The Sandman said as he got up from his bed. He then noticed the rest of us. More specifically, Iris. "Oh, hello, Storm Goddess. What brings you and these mortals to my home?"

"Hey, Sandman. We need your help, and I'm cashing in one of my favors for your help." She answered.

"Very well. The Sandman. At your service." He said before giving a light bow. "What do you all need help with?"

"We need your help in getting my mother to fall asleep." I answered while pointing out the window.

"Let me have a look." He said while walking up the window. Looking out, we saw Muriel still in the truck. Unfortunately, her lack of sleep seems to be taking a heavy toll on her as she is starting to lose her mind.

"Sorry, but I'm not giving it back. This is the best sleep I had in years. Good night." He said before walking over to the bed.

'NO!' Courage screamed as he dove towards the bed to prevent him from getting on.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused and annoyed that he wouldn't help.

"Everyone has special sand inside of them that allows them to sleep. I merely took your mother's dust away from her and gave it to myself." He explained.

"Why?" I asked, horrified.

"Because is am so tired of everyone else getting some sleep, yet I could not share it with them." He answered, sounding annoyed.

"What if we help you fall asleep." Iris stated more than asked through clenched teeth.

"Then I would gladly return the sand to your mother." He answered.

"Deal." I said as we shook hands. However, before we could do anything else, Courage got our attention.

'Hey, what's this?' He asked. Turning to him, we saw that he had wormed himself in under the mattress of the bed.

"Uh-uh. Time to get out of there." The Sandman said while clapping his hands.

"What are you looking for, Courage?" I asked, confused.

'Think I found why he can't sleep.' He answered as he came back out holding a stuffed teddy bear.

"TEDDY!" The Sandman exclaimed. "I was afraid I lost you forever. No wonder I couldn't sleep."

"Well, that was quick." Iris said, surprised.

"It was. But a deal is a deal. Here." The Sandman said before chanting something in a foreign tongue. After a second, some weird sand came out of his forehead.

"How do we give it back to her?" I asked as he handed me the sand.

"All you have to do is throw it at her face, and it will do the rest." He answered before letting out a yawn. "Now, if you will excuse me. I have some much-needed sleep to get to."

'Yes.' Courage cheered.

One Hour Later

"Okay. I'm ready for it." Muriel told us as she laid down on her bed.

"Here it comes." I said as I gently tossed the sand at her face. The sand exploded as soon as it hit her face; however, instead of harming her, she fell asleep instantly.

"Well, today was a long day. How about we get some sleep ourselves." I suggested through a yawn.

"That sounds great." Iris answered.

'You said it.' Courage agreed as he put giant plugs into his ears. We just chuckled before going back to my room to catch some sleep.

Note:

Following Chapters: (1) Beaver Tale with Weiss and Winter. (2) Nutcracker with Ruby, Weiss, and Iris.