Creepypasta Magic ☽☉☾

How To Beat The Sandman

Having difficulty staying awake there? Trying to study for some big exam, finish some last-minute assignment that you put off all weekend, and it's now three in the morning and you are absolutely exhausted? Or perhaps you were in a similar state recently, and are looking for help on what to do. Well, friend, I have just the prescription to ease your weary mind. All you need to do is win a game.

Setting up the game is relatively simple. All you need is an hourglass, a candle, and a marker. Let me make one thing specifically clear: you need an HOUR-glass, not one of those rinky-dink 30-second pieces of junk you get out of a cereal box or board game. Before playing the game, test your hourglass to make sure that it takes an hour or slightly longer to drain out all of the sand from one section to the other - having it take slightly longer will help, but too long or too short and you'll run into complications during the game. You must also be completely alone in the room while playing.

When you are ready to play, choose any room that can be sealed, simply meaning that all doorways and windows can be closed. Any other form of time-keeping device or alarm must be taken out of the room prior, or the game will not begin. The hourglass will be your only time tracking tool, hence why having an accurate hourglass is important. Anything with an electronic display should also be removed - this includes TVs, cell phones, computer monitors, anything. Leaving them in the room during the game will put you at a massive disadvantage.

You may begin the game at 8 PM. Make sure the room is sealed, drawing the curtains to block any outside light, then draw a simplistic hourglass shape on the back of one of your hands. Make sure to remember well which hand it was since you'll mostly be in the dark for this game. Take the candle and light it, then turn off the lights, and sit down on the floor with the three previously mentioned objects close together, and flip the hourglass so the sand begins to fall into an empty half. The only source of light should be your candle.

Now, yell something along the lines of: "I'm not tired, and I refuse to go to sleep." Close your eyes to the count of ten, and open them again. You won't be entirely sure, but somewhere in the room, you'll think you can see the shadowy outline of a man. You have now begun the game, and your opponent is none other than the master of sleep himself, the Sandman. Do not provoke him, and don't speak to him either. You've challenged him, and in a way insulted him about his profession, so he's not in the best of moods, to say the least.

Now comes the game. Your task is to stay awake as long as possible, to a maximum of eight hours, which will take you to 4 AM. Every hour, you must flip the hourglass to reset it and keep the game going. Each time you flip the hourglass, you may take the marker and draw a tally mark on your arm. The specifics of which arm you mark will be explained later. And don't think you can just flip the hourglass eight times really quickly, or just draw eight lines on your arm; the hour needs to pass in order for the "magic" to work. If you fail to flip the hourglass before the very last grain of sand falls, or should you succumb to sleep, you will lose.

During this time, the Sandman will be deploying as many tricks as possible to get you to fall asleep or to give in. See, the bottom half of your hourglass, at any time, represents his power; the more sand in it, the stronger his influence will be. Almost immediately upon starting, you'll begin to feel drowsy. This is merely his presence - if you can't last against this, stop playing immediately. During the first hour, he won't do a lot. He may walk around the room, but he won't touch you or speak to you. Even if you try to talk to the being, which is something you should really avoid doing, there will be no response.

Also, don't move from your spot to approach him; the closer you get, the more drowsy you will become, and if you're not near your candle, he may put it out so you can go to sleep. Do not distract yourself during this time; you may easily lose track of time, and forget to flip the hourglass on time. The Sandman can also skew your perception of how much time has passed, but he cannot affect the hourglass, so keeping your focus on that is your best chance of winning. Side note: if you try to leave the room, you will find that the doors are all locked, and the windows reveal nothing but unyielding darkness as far as you can see.