"Leave me alone," said the groggy dream.
"But it is your time and I have already sprinkled you with sand," said the sandman.
"I mustn't," said the dream.
"Mustn't what," asked the sandman.
"Wake up," said the dream. "I must stay asleep. Forever."
"But why," asked the sandman, perplexed and concerned.
"I'm afraid," said the dream.
"Afraid of what," asked the sandman.
"Afraid that I might become – a nightmare," said the dream.
The sandman said to the dream, with a warm and comforting smile, "Do not be afraid, little dream. It is not your place to decide to be a horror or a delight; to be joy or sorrow. You will become only that which your creator needs you to be. Thus, if it is your purpose to become a brilliant rainbow, or the sweetness of a lover's kiss, then so shall you be. If it is your purpose to become a hungry werewolf, or a hollow-eyed ghost with glowing tendrils, then so shall you be. That is the nature of dreams."
"B-b-but what about what I want," asked the dream, on the verge of tears.
"Unfortunately, little one, what you want is not relevant," said the sandman. "What you need to be is all that matters. It is the way of things since time immemorial. And neither you nor I can change the way of things.
"Now, my reluctant little dream friend, it is time for you to fulfill your destiny. Rise and become the story that will be remembered long into tomorrow, and possibly for a lifetime."
The End
About
Why do some dreams linger well into the daylight, while others are forgotten moments after breakfast?
This vignette has nothing to do with DC Comics' Sandman series.
© Copyright 2012 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.
This text composition is a work of fiction. Names, places, institutions, events, incidents, characters, persons, locations, and/or organizations either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Full Creative Writing Disclaimer.