Pitch Black

The golden dust drifted past him in a shimmery stream, making his eyes cross as he followed the steady flow of glittery powder. His curiosity piqued and he raised a finger to prod it.

The minute his finger made contact with the shining stream, it stained black and spread out in a darkened, poisoned patch of darkness. He cried out in shock and stumbled back.

I touched it. I touched it. I actually touched it.

His heart picked up pace and beat enthusiastically against his ribcage. Determined to find the source of the only thing that had proved to him his existence.

He began to run, his finger lightly skimming the surface of the powder as he followed it. The powder now blackened, coiled and wound itself around the air surrounding him.

The impact was so quick he didn't even have time to react.

He was thrown back a few feet and crashed painfully into the base of a large tree. Wincing, he cautiously opened his eyes and was greeted with the strange sight of a another boy with the same golden dust flying around him in an unearthly, undulating way, shifting into shapes and then back into some sort of suspension.

Before he could utter a word the boy raised his palm and a cloud of dust sped towards him, pinning him uncomfortably against the tree. For such a harmless looking powder it sure was very...heavy. The weight of it on his chest made it impossible to move as he struggled on the ground under the scrutiny of the strange golden boy.

"What did you do to the dreams?"

Huh.

Pitch was confused. What dreams.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He gasped, the dust was pressing on his chest and it made taking breaths laborious.

The boy gestured to the cloud of black sand which hovered a small distance away from the shimmering golden one. Sudden realization dawned upon Pitch. He was the one who changed it.

"I...I touched it."

The boy looked slightly troubled for a second and murmured something under his breath that sounded like the word nightmare.

A few agonizing seconds passed as Pitch squirmed in discomfort under the crushing weight of the shimmering sand.

The boy then seemed to remember he was there and in a quick flick of his hand, lifted the mound of dust and dispersed it around him. With a small glance at Pitch who laid sprawled on the grass in an ungainly manner, he raised a leg and the dust swirled and formed a solid looking shape under his feet. Watching in awe, Pitch slowly got up and stood facing the golden boy.

"Wait. You're the first person I've spoken to...who's actually seen me...since...since I ended up here. Don't go!"

The golden boy turned back to survey Pitch with that unfathomable gaze of his. Taking his silence and attention as a cue to continue speaking, Pitch exclaimed, "I don't even know your name!"

The boy paused.

"Sandman."

And with that he turned back and mounted that pile of dust under his feet, slowly, he was lifted into the sky in a haze of gold.

"No...don't go. I'm confused!"

But the boy was too far to hear anything and Pitch's cries were left unheard.

Dejected, he let out a slow sigh and turned around only to see a small cloud of black dust floating in the air in front of him. Smirking, he thought to himself, 'Heh. He left behind some.'

Slowly he raised his hand and as if by magic, the cloud swirled around his finger tips in a shimmering shadow.

An odd feeling welled up in his chest.

A feeling of companionship.

I'm not alone anymore.

Finally, I have something to call my own.

Satisfied with the dust which he sifted through with his fingers, he laughed loudly, his entire body shaking.

Why was he feeling happy?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't actually know.