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- prologue: the man in the meadow -
𝖂hen I was young, I couldn't imagine a time without my dream friend.
He had suddenly appeared one night, in my dream, nearly scaring the wits out of my six year old self. His pale, gangly body had stood lifelessly in the meadow where I had been playing with some of animals I had made friends with. He was nearly naked, only covered by what tree he hid behind.
You see, this meadow was one I had grown to know very well. The grass was always long and luscious, with brightly colored wildflowers poking up in between the green foliage. On the western edge was a river with a small beach made out of a strange grey-ish sand and on the eastern was large forest, with thickly packed trees which reached high into the sky. One of ny favroite things to do in this dream was to climb up them and pretend I could touch the clouds. If you hiked far enough back in this forest, you would find a small lake with a long, cascading waterfall which hid a small cave behind it.
"Do not be afraid," he had whispered. I was a curious child, that of course didn't stop me from being afraid of the strange man hiding in my dream.
"Who- Who are you?" I asked, my high pitched voice wavering in terror.
"No one who wishes harm upon you," he had replied, giving a small, conforting smile. His face looked gaunt, as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. I took a wary step towards him, noticing how desperatly he clinged to the tree.
"Are you- are you hurt?" I had asked curiously, tilting my head slightly to the side.
"Yes I suppose I am," he began looking down at himself, "I may be able to heal myself if you could bring me some of that sand."
I looked towards the beach, at the sand which laid on the embankment. I looked back up at the sickly man who gave me another comforting smile, before I began to walk towards it. I reached down grabbing a handful of sand, before running back to where the man stood on the other side of the meadow. He reached out
In a swirl of sand, the man was suddenly revealed to be fully clothed, dressed comfortably in an all black ensemble which astounded young me.
"How did you do that!?" I had asked excitedly, walking up to the man.
"This is a dream," his deep voice was calming as he spoke. "I can create anything I wish here, as long as I have sand." I looked over at the beach once more, my nose schrunched in a quizzical expression.
"What's your name young one?" He asked, leaning down to my level.
"I'm Rose Sunshine Francis-O'Malley." I finished it off with a big, toothless grin. He chuckled a little at my reaction.
"Well Rose Francis-O'Malley, I am Morpheus, King of Dreams."
"You are the king of dreams?" he nodded, amused by my enthusiasm. "That's so cool!"
