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The Sandman The Doll's House |
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The Sandman Library
Preludes & Nocturnes |
KAI'CKUL: Never has one loved me enough to seek me out...
Tales in the Sand ... Nada was deathly afraid, for though she loved him, she knew this was not meant to be, and she could not countenance his destruction, and hers. For love is no part of the dreamworld. Love belongs to Desire, and Desire is always cruel. Tales in the Sand There is only one thing to see in the twilight realm of Desire. It is called The Threshold. The fortress of Desire. Desire has always live on the edge. The Threshold is larger than you can easily imagine. It is a statue of Desire, Him - Her- or It-self. The Thershold is a portrait of Desire complete in all details, built out of blood and flesh, and bone, and skin. And, like every true citadel since time began, the Threshold is inhabited. There is only one occupant, at this time. Desire of the Endless. The Threshold is far too large for just one person. It contains two eardrums larger than a dozen marble ballrooms. And empty, echoing veins, like tunnels. You will walk them until you grow old and die without once retracing your steps. Given Desire's temperament, however, there was only one place in the cathedral of its body to make its home. Desire lives in the heart. The Doll's House Is there something you crave? Something sexual? Something precious? Someone special? Anything? Then you have felt it. It's here -- in the longing, in the lust: the breath of Desire, the caress of the Threshold. The Doll's House MORPHEUS: Found him. How DARE they? HOW DARE THEY? Brute and Blob: Brute the strength and base cunning. This has their stink about it, Lucien. HOW DARE THEY? They severed this child from the True Dreaming. The are living in his mind, Lucien. They know the law. My law. And they have wantonly defied it. Did they think they could hide form me? I do not know what game they are playing. But I know this. I am angry, Lucien. And it's my move. Moving In MORPHEUS: I am coming through the barriers you have erected in this mind. I am coming, though the way be ardous and strange. Nothing will stop me. As I travel, I admire the craftsmanship in the construction of this maze, admire the traps and pitfalls they have wrought. You have learned well, my servants. To force the child to construct these barriers insides its mind, in its effort to escape the physical world; to build an island of dream alone and untouched by the true Dreaming... This takes skill. My admiration does not lessen my anger. I am dream. I am coming. Playing House MORPHEUS: I see my servants have a servant of their own... Little ghost, Little ghost get out of my way. Playing House MORPHEUS: Ohhh, humanity, I love you. You never cease to amaze me. This has been amusing, little ghost, and that was not something I expected. But every playtime must come to an end. This dream is over. Playing House MORPHEUS: A delegation of faerie came to me, last night. They are talking about abandoning this plane for ever. Men of Good Fortune MORPHEUS: Death will not touch you, Hob Gadling, unless you truly desire it. Men of Good Fortune GILBERT: The red hood was an invention of Charles Perrault, who tidied up the folk tales of France for popular consumption in the eighteenth century. Other changes -- such as the happy ending, are later additions. I will tell you an original version. A little girl was told to bring bread and milk to her grandmother. As she was walking through the wood, a wolf came up to her and asked her where she was going. "To Grandmother's house." The wolf ran off and arrived first at the house. He killed the grandmother, poured her blood into a bottle and sliced her flesh onto a plate. Then he got into her nightclothes and waited in the bed. Knock, knock. "Come in, my dear." "I've brought you some bread and milk, Grandmother." "Have something yourself, my darling. There is meat and wine in the pantry." The little girl ate what was offered. And as she did, a little cat said, "Slut! To eat the flesh and drink the blood of your grandmother!" Then the wolf said, "Undress and get into bed with me." "Where shall I put my skirt?" "Throw it on the fire; you won't need it any more.' For each garment, petticoat, bodice, and stockings, the girl asked the same question, and the wolf replied, "Throw it on the fire; you won't need it any more." When the girl got into bed she said, "Grandmother -- how hairy you are." "It keeps me warmer, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what long nails you have." "They are for scratching myself, my dear." "Oh Grandmother, what big teeth you have." "They are for eating you, my dear." Collectors MORPHEUS: You disappoint me, Corinthian... You were my masterpiece, or so I thought. A nightmare created to be the darkness, and the fear of darkness in every human heart. A black mirror, made to reflect everything about itself that humanity will not confront. But look at you. Collectors ROSE: Say, whoever you are. Do you know what Freud said about dreams of flying? It means you're really dreaming about having sex. MORPHEUS: Indeed? Tell me, then, what does it mean when you dream about having sex? Into The Night MORPHEUS: Once is every era, there is a vortex. Even I do not know why... A mortal, who, briefly, becomes... the centre... of the dreaming. The vortex, by its nature, destroys the barriers between dreaming minds; destroys the ordered chaos of the Dreaming... Until the myriad dreamers are caugh in one huge dream... Until all the dreams are one. Then the vortex collapses in upon itself. And then it is gone. It take the minds of the dreamers with it, it damages the Dreaming beyond repair. It leaves nothing but darkness. It is one of my functions to prevent this from occurring again. It happened once... A world was lost, Rose Walker. Aeons ago, and half a universe away. I... failed in my duty. A whole world perished. It will never happen again. Into The Night FIDDLER'S GREEN: Life as a human contains substances I never dreamed of in the dreaming, Lord. The little victories, and the tiny defeats. Into The Night ROSE: If it was true, my dream, then... then... Then nothing makes any sense. If my dream was true, then everything we know, everything we think we know is a lie. It means the world's about as solid and as reliable as a layer of scum on the top of a well of black water which goes down forever, and there are things in the depths that I don't even want to think about. It means more than that. It means that we're just dolls. We don't have a clue what's really going down, we just kid ourselves that we're in control of our lives while a paper's thickness away things that would drive us mad if we thought about them for too long play with us, and move us around from room to room, and put us away at night when they're tired, or bored. Lost Hearts ROSE: I've been brooding on that night for too long now. Six months. And I've decided. My dream. My weird dream. It was just a dream. That's all. Just a dream. You know, I always hated stories that ended like that. I always felt cheated. Lost Hearts ROSE: Six months is long enough to feel sorry for yourself. Isn't it? Lost Hearts MORPHEUS: Desire, if you were not of my kin... DESIRE: But I am. MORPHEUS: Yes, you are. Desire, listen to me carefully. Remember this. We of the endless are the servants of the living -- we are NOT their masters. We exist because they know, deep in their hearts, that we exist. When the last living things has left this universe, then our task will be done. And we do not manipulate them. If anything, they manipulate us. We are their toys. Their dolls, if you will. And you -- and Despair, and even poor Delirium -- should remember that. DESIRE: I -- I don't understand. MORPHEUS: I am afraid that you don't. Very well. I shall tell you something that you will understand, sister-brother. Mess with me or mine again, and I will forget that you are family, Desire. Do you believ yourself strong enough to stand against me? Against Death? Against Destiny? Remember that, sibling, the next time you feel inspired to interfere in my affairs. Just remember. Lost Hearts |
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