So this is how it goes. I am a mummy. With the rags, the bandages which lay down to the floor, making me always, always trip on the ground. Many would think of the dude on the movie but nooo. I wish I could be such a good looking. Not that I hadn’t been a good looking in my lifetime, but that’s another story.

In fact, the job I am currently doing is quite disappointing. Not only I didn’t travel to the Valley of the Pharaohs, when I died, but I was sent back to live, trapped into my rotting excuse of a body, with only one condition; I had to put children to sleep as also showing them nice dreams, if they were goods kids, or bad ones, if they were not. It was a punishment for not being merciful with my closest people.

After I managed to escape my pyramid, which was really shiny, the desert's sand engulfed my body, making me look more…solid, like a sculpture of sand but under it, the dead body, wrapped in linen white scraps of cloth remained. That night I realized what I had become. So I played a little trick, revenge if you could call it. All the children in Egypt screamed as I threw soft sand dust in their eyes, making them sleep, and showed them the worst of their fears.

I know, I was wrong but it helped to calm my nerves.

And then, my journey began. I traveled all over the world! I saw how people and Kings changed and how the Gods of the past were forgotten and new ones were born. But I knew, I knew that at some point I had to get free from the creepy curse. Night after night I had to slip into houses, careful not to be noticed, and pour some of my golden shining dust on the children’s eyelids, making them see the dreams they wanted to.

But currently, I am hanging around the land called Great Britain. Since I can travel with light speed, a term I myself came up with, there is no rush to go to work early. The living have also appointed years and so in their rules, it’s currently 1853.

Flying above London, with my only companions the night and the moon, I get this eerie feeling. People tend to be close to each other, yet their hearts stray away from each other. How much the world has changed! Although I saw many wonders, I also witnessed how cruel people can be, ruled many times by their tempers and not by their minds or hearts.

As the time for the children to fall asleep was drawing near, I decided to fly to the closest mansion that was on my way. A mansion, white marble and decorated with vast gardens on the perimeter around it.

“Flashy decoration.” I murmured and headed towards one of the windows.

I didn’t need to search for the child who lived in this home; I already knew where it stayed like jackal knows where to find its prey.

Slowly, I flew with the help of the sand and leaned closer to the window. The light was still on; the child hadn’t fallen asleep.

“But Mom!”

“No buts Rose. You will sleep, now.” A stern voice was heard which was followed by a complaining groan.

I moved a little closer, trying to peek through the curtains. One part of the window was not entirely covered from it, so it was easy to see.

A little girl was lying on her bed with her white fluffy sleeves of her nightgown making her look like a cotton candy. Her hair was golden like the sand which covered me, while her hazel eyes reminded me of the jewelry my royal crown used to be decorated with.

An older woman, who resembled the girl a lot was sitting on her bed’s edge holding book in her hands.

“Please Mom, just one more story! I promise I will go to sleep after that.”

The mother of the girl named Rose looked at her and then sighed.

“Just one.”

The girl smiled gratefully and fell back to the soft white pillows. Her mother opened the book and began reading with a steady voice the story of “Sandman”. Well, that was me of course only there was a tiny difference; I wasn’t a happy merry-go-round man, neither was I stepping in the houses on the tiptoes, wearing socks.

I hated socks!

“And if you are a good child, the Sandman will give you the best dreams of the night, since Sandman loves children and cares about them.”

Misinformation! Who would like to nanny children?

“But Mom, doesn’t Sandman ever get tired of his job?”

Oh, that’s a good kid.

“I get he does sometimes, but he loves his work.”

Yeah, since the Gods made me do it!

“Sleep now, Rose. Tomorrow you have piano lessons as also having tea with Mrs. Willson.”

I heard her snort and pull the blankets up to her head. Her mother kissed her softly and left the room, closing the doors behind her.

Ok, it was time for work. Using the sand, I created a shiny golden sand-hand, which was already to the other side of the room, ready to turn the knock and open the window. Slowly, the window opened and I got in.

Rose’s room was big with a wooden white wardrobe on the one side of her room, a study with a vanity mirror hanged near it and of course the bed. Big and wide it looked like it could swallow the girl whole. But she was there, sleeping peacefully under the covers.

I could hear her breathing flutter like a small bird’s and slowly I leaned closer to her, ready to throw some of my golden sand into her eyes. Although small, her face was round, with white fair skin and pink lips like the roses. Now I knew why they had named her like that. She was around ten years old but her figure looked small, fragile.

Well, she wasn’t the only kid. I had to put the while globe to sleep, so I loosened my fingers, ready to cover her eyes with her dust. Suddenly, she turned to the other side, making me miss her closed eyes.

I flew to the other side of the bed and tried again. Rose shifted in her sleep and her head was completely covered by her hair as she nuzzled her head in the pillow.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”