A Cure for Hiccups

Chapter 9: Sand Castle

"You've seen it in your dreams, haven't you?" (Joyce, William. The Sandman and the War of Dreams. Atheneum Books, 2013.)

~🌟~

As the two neared the castle-like building which Sandman called home. Sandman landed Onyx the Nightmare close to the entrance.

The dreamsand castle was where all Sandman's power originated from. The shooting star that crashed into Earth that fateful night had spread out into the island with all of it's long, spiral tendrils if land.

Sandman remembered his first day on Earth he had to levitate himself out of the steep dunes he had been made in the crash. He had been alone.

Sandman got off the Onyx after petting her. The Nightmare neighed a cheerful response as he levitated himself to the ground. Sandman held out his hand as if offering it to the man dressed in black. Pitch didn't take the short man's hand and instead got off the horse by himself. He didn't need help. Sandman shrugged at the action and started to walk towards the castle. Pitch followed suit.

Pitch's plan was simple. He was the king of nightmares and thus he had certain powers over fear and nightmares. One of those powers was called Nightmare Inducement. Pitch could corrupt any dream and turn it into a nightmare. First, Sandman would fall asleep. Then, Pitch would use his Nightmare Inducement on Sandman's dream to turn it into a nightmare. Pitch would then know what Sandman's greatest fear was and scare him with it–successfully curing Sandman's hiccups.

Sandman walked through his castle walking through the castle's winding ramp. It went to the left then back to the right where it finally ended at the tallest tower where Sandman's bedroom lay. Sandman's bedroom was quite simple on the furniture side. There was only a single king-sized bed. The bed itself was golden with its legs curved inwards like a crescent moon. The bed was decorated with swirls and was a perfect fit for the guardian of dreams. There was also a thick blank and multiple pillows neatly placed on the bed.

When Pitch stepped into the room, a question dawned on him, Does the gaudridan of dreams, dream? Does he sleep? Surely he would sleep because of the bed, but using the limited knowledge Pitch had on how Sandman's job worked, he didn't know if the man himself could dream. Where do dreams come from?

"Can you dream?" Pitch asked cautiously, walking further in Sandman's bedroom. To the left and right were pillars of twisting sand holding up the room. Behind and between each pillar were small windows allowing the moonlight to shine through. It reminded Pitch of a lighthouse.

Sandman turned around to look at Pitch. A question mark popped above his head. Pitch frowned. "Why do you have a bed if you cannot sleep?" The question mark disappeared as Sandman began to sign words. He took his right hand and put it in front of his face. His fingers were spread apart. Bringing his hand down across his face he closed his eyes. Finally finishing off the sign for 'sleep', Sandman brought his fingers together close to his chin. Sandman pointed to himself with his pointer finger then brought both of his hands and made them into fist then dropped both of them together stopping them near his hips. Those were the signs for 'I' and 'can'.

Sandman paused. Two dreamsand cogs manifested above his head as he thought of the answer to the question about his ability to dream. The guardian of dreams then did the sign for 'dream', 'I' and 'cannot'. (or maybe, 'I don't know')