The Sandman and the War of Dreams by William Joyce

Author:William Joyce [Joyce, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 2013-11-04T15:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Do Be Afraid of the Dark

KATHERINE WAS SURROUNDED BY total darkness. She could see nothing. She couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or shut. She tried to blink but wasn’t even sure if she’d succeeded—in such darkness, it was impossible to tell. She then attempted to flash her hands back and forth in front of her eyes, but she realized she couldn’t move. Her brain was telling them to move, but they didn’t budge. And then she realized that nothing would move—not her legs, not her toes, not her smile. She tried to cry out, but nothing happened.

Strangely enough, she didn’t feel afraid . . . yet.

Then she began to hear voices . . . low murmurs of speech . . . a little louder than whispers . . . She couldn’t make out any of the words. . . . It was just an unnerving babble . . . of wordlike sounds. The voices were deep and menacing . . . mocking . . . as if amused by her being trapped—

It hit her. She was trapped. But where? By what?

The voices came closer. She still couldn’t grasp what they were saying. But then she recognized a different sound. Crying. It was a girl crying. The other voices were becoming quieter, and she could hear the crying more clearly. . . .

Then Katherine became afraid.

That was her voice crying. But it was the strangest sensation—the crying was somehow separate from herself, as if behind a wall. Then she heard an actual door opening. Light, white with brightness, began to shine in front of her. It was coming from the opening doorway, and she could see the room inside. It was so bright. Almost blinding. Then she began to make out a shape sitting on the floor. It was a girl.

It was her!

But she looked older. How can this be? This older Katherine’s crying continued. It sounded like a young woman’s.

Her clothes were faded and nearly rags. Why?!

And in her hands was . . . Mr. Qwerty! Good!!

She saw herself start to turn the pages, one by one by one, from the beginning. This Katherine was reading the book very intently, but as she finished a page, a dark hand reached out and tore the pages from the book. She glimpsed her entire history as it was taken away. There was one set of drawings that she could clearly make out. The images she had made for North for his city of the future. She watched her older self close the book and close her eyes. She was going to sleep. She looked unspeakably sad. Tears escaped from her closed eyes.

Then the sounds of the murmuring voices grew louder. . . . They came closer to Katherine, and closer, till it seemed as if they were inches from her . . . just next to her ears . . . They mumbled on and on . . . then began to laugh . . . She could feel breath against her ears and cheeks .

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