Building Monsters | WRITER'S AWARDS WINNER 2017

4. Peregrine

Second Chapter

  I LEAN OVER THE new item sitting atop a red wooden stand in my Dreamscape, contemplating. We're supposed to write in it every time we finish off a Sleeper, and we're supposed to write down everything. This would be the first time I've tried to write in it. The old man would be my first entry and his dream would be about death. How could I find reasoning from that? He's afraid of it, plain and simple. But that's not what they want to hear.

This is going to take a while.

The cover lifts easily and lets out a muted thud as it touches the other side of the stand it sits upon. Confusion sweeps over me as I stare at the emptiness of the book, shaking my head. How am I supposed to write if there are no pages?

A soft shimmering comes from the inner spine of the thin book, something coming into focus. A page, lit brightly by some angelic light, appears. Black ink begins to scrawl across it hastily but beautifully.

This is your Dream Journal, as we have ordered. As you can see, it is empty. Filling it requires your full attention and focus on the Sleeper's dream. Doing so will create pages to write their dreams on. Below is a list of things you should include in your notes.

At the top of the page, you should put the date you created that dream. Beneath that, describe the dream you created in your mind as best as you can, including the actions and reactions of your Sleeper. It can either be detailed or summarized, but detail is what we would like. In the next paragraph, talk about why you made the dream go in that specific direction. Write about what they are going through and how that connects to the dream's purpose. Lastly, write anything you'd like to touch on the next time they arrive in your Dreamscape, anything you could not get to in this last dream.

A new page will appear once you run out of room. Stay focused on the dream and your Sleeper, otherwise the page will not appear. Be of good heart when writing, or the pages will reflect it. Be careful if your intentions are impure.

Good luck, Dreamweavers, and may God be with you.

- the Subcouncil

The page disappears and I find myself staring at the inside of the back cover, my name scrawled across the interior. What is the bloody point of this senseless book? It'll be filled with nonsense from me trying to find purpose in every little thing I create or make happen. Sometimes it's not even me. Sometimes I let their monsters take over and I just sit back and watch, hoping nothing goes wrong. And that means, I have no idea what's going on inside their subconscious. Other times I twist something out of pure glee of seeing their terror, and that's not what the Subcouncil wants to hear.

I look around me, the shifting Shadows murmuring inacknowlegeable things to each other. Different Monsters living their own lives and impatiently waiting for their Sleeper to return stay in the darker parts of the Dreamscape, scared of the light. It's amazing how fear itself can still harness what it creates in others.