The Perfect Woman
By: Carlos J. Moreno
Disclaimer: Endless characters property of DC Comics.
Prelude:
The clouds moved slowly below, and the sky seemed to extend into the uncharted realms of infinity.
"How many hours have I spent on a plane in my life?" he thinks, as he travels to another business meeting to resolve the most recent emergency. Usually, he passes the time studying figures and reports, but in the few occasions like now when he just looks out the window, he wonders. He reflects on what his life is, on his dreams as a teenager of a nice house, a wife, two kids and a dog. He wonders whether a life spent working constantly for a big company where you are just a number can really be called a life. Looking out the window of the plane, sadness invades his busy world, but he has no time for Despair. He shrugs it off and closes his eyes as the plane drifts through the sky.
* * * * * * * * * *
I open the door to the house with difficulty. My bags come crashing down on the floor. I let out a big sigh, and walk towards the kitchen. There is where I see her. She has her black hair tied back in a ponytail, while she cooks something that smells incredibly good.
She hears me and turns towards me. Her big brown eyes light up with happiness as she runs towards me.
"You're home early!" she says
"Yes, I wanted to surprise you." I say, as I smell the sweet aroma of lilies and cilantro. I give her a big hug, feeling her inside my arms trembling with delight. She leans back enough to give me a kiss, her soft delicate lips touching mine in an overture of passion.
"I love you," I tell her.
She steps out of my arms. "I know" she responds. My eyes are entranced with the sight of her body, and her honey-caramel skin.
"I must be dreaming," I tell to myself, unable to believe my luck to have met a woman like her.
* * * * * *
"Hey, Charles how are you?" Tom says as he walks into the lunchroom.
"Fine, and you?"
"Well, another day at the office, what can I say? There are two million places I'd rather be, but hey, at least the pay is good!"
Charles laughs faintly, his mind somewhere else.
"What's with you? It looks like you're in another planet"
"I'm in love, Tom"
"Whoa! Details, man!"
"Oh, she's the most beautiful thing I have seen in all my life. The first time I saw her, my heart wanted to explode! I spend the day just thinking about her, and thinking of when I will see her next. Of seeing her tonight."
"Cool. You have a date today?"
"Well..."
"She's staying with you in your house?" Tom whispers. Charles nods. "Man, since when did you get so lucky?"
"There is only one thing."
"What?"
Charles thinks for a moment, and silence fills the space between the two men.
"What? Don't leave me hangin'!"
"Ah, nothing." Charles turns his attention back to the ham and cheese sandwich while Tom looks at him closely.
That night, Charles gets home and they go out for a night in the town. First, a fancy dinner, then some dancing, and finally a stroll by the river with the moonlight to guide them. Charles walks with her and gives thanks to the night that all his dreams have finally come true.
* * * * *
The Dreaming is a place of Dream and Nightmares. It is the land where humans go to immerse themselves in those hours between the waking. A land of odd things ruled by a tall, pale man who they call the Dream King, The Sandman, Morpheus, and so many other names. But this is a land in reconstruction, since its Lord had been imprisoned for years in a glass bottle, and has finally come back to reclaim his place at the heart of the Dreaming. The tall, pale man with eyes as dark as the universe walks in his library, when his librarian, Lucien, walks in.
"My lord, I have news to report."
"Go on, Lucien"
" While doing the inventory of the Dreaming, I stumbled into a most unusual phenomenon. After further investigation, I found the evidence of a trespasser in the Dreaming."
"And who dares to do such a thing?"
"It's one of your family, Lord. One of the Endless."
The Dream King's eyes light up with stars long dead; the Endless, the Sandman's family.
"Tell me more, Lucien."
* * * * *
He sits on the table with her. Candles light the room and wrap it in a seductive mystery. They sip wine while soft music dances in the cool air. He looks at her and smiles.
"I love you so much!" he says
"Do you?"
"Yes! When I'm with you, I feel the deepest desire for you. I feel complete and alive!"
She sips her wine silently with a grin. Then she stops drinking and acknowledges the black figure that has suddenly entered the room.
"Hello, brother."
Confused, Charles stands up to confront the stranger. But in a flash, Charles is gone. The honey-caramel skin woman transforms into the short hair, red lips, pale skin androgynous creature we all Desire.
"What are you doing in my realm, Desire? Why did you do this?"
Desire lights up a cigarette.
"Boredom, I don't know."
"I am in no mood for this."
"When are you ever?" Desire pauses and sighs. "Because you were not around to stop me, or maybe because I was understanding your realm a little more."
"For what?"
"So many questions, brother! You're not glad to see me again?" Desire grins.
"This is my realm, Desire, and you shall not enter it without my permission. Do you understand?"
"So serious all the time! One day that will be your undoing." And Desire vanishes.
The Dream King, back at his castle, ponders silently what the purpose was of Desire's little game. He thinks for a moment about the affected dreamer, but decides that Desire accomplished nothing that time would not mend. And so he turns his thoughts to more important matters.
* * * *
Epilogue:
Charles cannot stop thinking about Her. Day and night his mind keeps going back to it. He looks forward every night to those dark hours when dreams enter his head, and lives with the hope that there, once again, he may find her and live the life that only Dreams can bring now.
"For all of life is Dreams..." he thinks, as the clouds move slowly under him.
* * * *
"Cause I only feel alive
When I dream at night
Even though she's not real
It's all right"-- From "When I Dream At Night" as sung by Marc Anthony