The Skerries of the Dreaming

Dream of the Endless and his sister Delirium left the castle and headed down a path that appeared to lead nowhere. Delirium skipped ahead, every once in awhile dissolving into some odd form - first a small flock of birds, then a school of flying fish, then pulling herself back together.

Dream often worried about Del. He knew her "job". His little sister was the anthropomorphic personification of the state of delirium. A mere touch from her could confuse and bewilder. A thought from her could drive a mortal insane. Dream had no doubt she was capable of making even one of the Endless insane. Delirium seemed incapable of any rational thought or knowledge, yet Dream had no doubt that she was the one Endless that knew ALL the secrets the family harbored, and even the secrets none of them knew. In fact, Dream believed it was this knowledge that caused her to change from Delight to Delirium all those ages ago. There are some things that one is just better off not knowing, but Delirium never had a choice. The knowledge was part of who she was. And the knowledge would undoubtedly cause the next change she was to undergo. The price of being Endless was a constant state of flux for Delirium.

"Hey Dream?" asked Delirium, after coming back together from being a small herd of multi colored spotted cows that floated on the wind.

"Yeah, Del?"

"Where's that funny bird been?"

"Matthew?"

"Yeah, the big black talking one who saw the Dalmatium movie."

"Dalmatians, Del."

"I thought his name was Matthew?"

"It is."

"Then why'd you call him Dalmatian?"

Dream shook his head. "Neve mind, Del. His name is Matthew."

"Told you so."

Dream smiled. "Yes, Del, you did."

"You know something, Dream? I hardly remember the you that you used to be before you died and you took over."

"You know what's frightening?" said Dream.

"That little nightmare over there?" replied Del, pointing at a small nightmare sitting on a rock at the side of the path.

"No. That I actually follow your conversations."

Del looked shocked and concerned. "Wow." she said, "That IS frightening. Where are we going?"

"To one of my many skerries."

"What's a scary?" queried Del, stopping to make a miniature man out of air and send him aloft in a little balloon.

"SKERRY," corrected Dream, "It's a little island. A place where certain dreams and nightmares reside."

"Ah...OK. Gotcha. I follow you..."

They stopped at an expanse of water. Del looked at the dream sea, then at her brother.

"Are we supposed to swim?" she asked, "Because I don't think I ever really learned. Desire said I was too dumb to come in out of the rain and that I'd drown there so I really don't think I could swim here."

"No, no swimming."said Dream. He closed his eyes for a moment, and a small boat appeared on the shore.

"Ooooh, that was cool." said Del, hopping into the boat and jumping up and down.

"Del, please sit still in the boat." admonished Dream.

Delirium pouted, but sat still. The boat sailed on it's own volition over the dream sea, making land on a rocky island. The island appeared uninhabited and barren, save for a run down cottage on a bluff. Dream looked around as though he expected something or someone.

"What are you looking for?" asked Delirium.

"Mervyn." replied Dream, "He was supposed to be fixing this skerry up."

"Oh. Can I go look for him? I promise I won't touch anything, I'll just look around and won't break anything, honestly I won't. And I'm sorry about the little dog statue I broke in your castle. It sorta kinda fell on it's own after I tried to look into it's eyes..."

"Go. Explore. And you can touch anything you want here." interrupted Dream.

Delirium skipped off down the rocky beach.

Dream sat on the beach and watched the dream waves lap on the shore. He looked around at the skerry, almost shocked by how barren it appeared. He had a trace memory of what it looked like when it was dreamed into existence. A waterfall cascaded to the sea from a nearby saltwater river. Trees of every shape and color grew. The sand was a soft lavender hue. And there were all sorts of strange and wonderful creatures. But the dreamer grew up and the skerry was no longer needed. Amanda was now a married woman with a daughter of her own. And her daughter, Tricia, had begun creating a vivid dream world of her own. Dream had commissioned his handyman, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, to complete the razing of this skerry so that Dream could begin to weave Tricia's world into the fabric of the Dreaming, into this very skerry. The dreams of happy children made for easy work for the Lord of Dreams. And Tricia was a happy child, as had been her mother before her.

Dream took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and entered into Tricia's dream. Ahhh yes, the fairy tale base. Predictable, but easy enough. Tricia fancied herself a princess. Dream smiled. They so often chose royalty. He breathed in and out, and with each breath, the landscape changed slightly. A patch of wildflowers sprung up near the cottage. A cooling stream ran its course further inland. The skerry itself expanded. A grove of apple trees appeared...

"Hey. Couldja watch those watertraps, boss?" shouted a voice from up on the bluff, which had become a softly rolling hillside.

Dream opened his eyes, leaving Tricia's reverie. He shielded his eyes from the brightening sun and saw his handyman, Mervyn. Mervyn was an interesting creature of sorts. A walking, talking scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head. Dream got up and walked the distance to the hill. Mervyn met him halfway. Dream noticed that his ragged clothing was wet and he didn't look very pleased.

"For cryin' out loud, I was workin' over there when all of a sudden I ended up in a rushing stream of water." complained the gourd.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were still here."

"Yeah, well, you coulda let a guy know you were making an appearance here. Dontja usually do that dreamweaving crapola from the sanctity of your castle?"

"My sister and I are visiting some of the skerries."

"The foxy goth chick?"

"No, my younger sister.

"Ah, yeah, the freaky one."

"Mervyn..."

"Yeah, I know. Don't mock the boss's family. Especially not to the boss's face. Loosh has told me that enough. But you're forever walkin' in on me sayin' stuff."

Dream smiled. "Well, if you didn't say anything, I'd have nothing to walk in on, now, would I?"

Mervyn snickered and lit up a cigarette. He took a drag and looked around the skerry. "This is sure gonna be a nice place, boss."

"Yeah, it is. I think I'll let the dream create itself for awhile. You might want to get back to the mainland before you end up trapped in a tower or something. This dream has the fairy tale motif."

"Thanks for the warnin' boss. I'm gettin' while the gettin's good. See you back at the castle." Mervyn flicked his spent cigarette on the grass and tamped it out with his foot. He headeck uck up the hill to gather his things.

Dream looked around again. He was pleased that this skerry would be coming back to life. So many of them never did. He wondered how his sister would take to a visit with one of his nightmares. He spied her heading up the beach toward him, kicking a multicolored beach ball.

"Hey Del? Do you mind if we take a trip to visit a nightmare?"

"Nope, it's getting all springy here, though, and kinda happy and pretty. I'm afraid I'll make it confuzzly if I stay much longer. Is this a very scary nightmare you wanna see?"

"Actually, yes."

"Does it have a name?"

Dream looked at his sister, "Yes, it does," he replied, "The Corinthian."

"Sounds like car seat leather stuff. Let's go!"