The Sun watched the Fool sleep in the sunflower fields. He had seen the Fool sleep in this field many times before. Sometimes he would talk to the Fool directly, but he decided to let Hermes and Apollo have their chance this time, although they too have had many turns before.
The Sun noticed the Moon still in the sky. Sometimes they shared the sky for a time. Sometimes they took their paths silently and sometimes they spoke. Today the Moon started a conversation.
Do you think dreams under the Moon are different than dreams under the Sun? the Moon asked.
I’m not sure, the Sun responded, I hadn’t ever thought about that.
Last night I watched a woman dream, the Moon said, and she had several terrible dreams. I almost wanted to touch down on the earth and wake her.
What kind of dreams? the Sun asked.
After she fell asleep and the land was quiet, except for the creatures of the night, the Moon said, she started dreaming she was falling. She didn’t dream of falling off anything; she was just falling through the air, and she could see the ground below her coming up at her fast. She could feel the air whistle by her ears and it was deafening. She realized she was screaming, but she couldn’t hear it. She held her breath, both in the dream and as she lay sleeping, and before she was mere inches from the ground her mind went black.
Then she was in a coliseum, the Moon went on, and she was nude. The coliseum was filled with a crowd who jeered her. She tried to run to the different doors that led out, but they were locked. She saw people she knew. She was embarrassed. Her panic made her try to catch her breath, both in her dream and as she slept. All she could see were faces laughing and pointing. She could hear them criticizing her body: her weight, her hair, her size, her shape. She fell to the dirt and tried covering herself up. Her forearm made the dream turn to black again.
When she lifted her arm she was in a dark wood. It was winter, and the branches of the trees reached into the darkness like the arms of skeletons. She saw the eyes of predators appearing red from the darkness. Then, behind her, the trees were being knocked down by something huge. The ground shook, the gigantic thing was charging her, so she ran. She couldn’t see that far in front of her, she was breaking through branches and spider webs, the thing was at her heels. She dared not look back, but she could tell that the thing loomed right above her. She could see the claws in her peripheral vision, but just out of sight. She kept her head down and ran with all her might. Then she fell, and she curled up and waited for the painful attack that was imminent.
But then she was in her own kitchen cutting vegetables. The sun shone through the window. She felt happy. She smiled at herself while the knife sliced through the vegetables. Something hit her hand, and when she looked, she saw a bloody tooth. Then her teeth started pouring out of her mouth. Blood gushed all over the cutting board and soon the vegetables were coated in it. There seemed to be more teeth than what was usually in her mouth, but the teeth and blood kept coming. She screamed, and teeth shot out of her mouth and flew all over the kitchen. The walls were splattered with blood. Some of the teeth stuck to the walls as well. She turned to run.
She was splashing into water. When she looked up she saw a man holding a bunch of swords, which he threw down at her. She sunk down into the body of water and the swords sunk in after her, pinning her dress against her and weighing her down. She could feel the burn in her lungs as she sunk into the darkness of the sea. Her vision became the chaos of bubbles as the light of the world disappeared.
Then she awoke, said the Moon to the Sun, and you were coming over the horizon. I had never seen such anxiety like that.
The Sun wondered if people dream like that when he was in the sky alone, and looked at the Fool sleeping. He saw Hermes leading a herd of cattle towards the sleeping creature.