Nonexistent (Rise of the Guardians)

4. And Now, The Kangaroo

Jack stared at the sky, billions of stars, tiny pinpricks of light like so many grains of sand making pictures in the expanse of deep blue. A full moon illuminated the rooftops around us with a soft silver glow. The light from the moon gave me just enough light to see the minute screws in my goggles as I tinkered with them, tightening loose screws with a minuscule screwdriver that I dug out of the tool pouch at my belt. The night was completely silent, not even the wind rustled to disturb the tense silence. The moon, as always, remained distant.

Despite our silent pleas, the man in the moon never spoke to us. Jack and I were left with no substantial memories, no clues to why we were around, and no information about anything at all that could possibly be relevant in any way, shape, or form.

Thanks, Manny.

We heard voices from the window down below us; it was Jamie telling his family about the 'freak sledding accident' he had lost his tooth in. Jack scooted to the edge of the roof and peered into Jamie's room through the window, smiling as he watched the boy with his mother and little sister from upside down.

It's not creepy at all.

Flipping himself back up to the top of the roof, Jack plopped down next to me and resumed his staring at the sky. His blue hood was pulled over his head, concealing his white hair, save for a few locks that hung down beneath it. His blue eyes stared at the moon in sorrow.

"What are we doing wrong, Allie?" He asked suddenly. I blinked in surprise.

"Jack, we're not doing anything wrong. We're just..." I trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"We've tried everything, but they never see us. Why don't they see us?"

"I don't know, Jack." I put my head on his shoulder as he turned his pale face back toward the moon.

"You put us here, the least you could do is tell us... tell us why." He muttered, not addressing me anymore, but instead the moon. He stared up at the satellite, the hopeless, pleading look on his face absolutely heartbreaking.

Suddenly, the silver light of the moon was overtaken with a bright gold glow, emanating from the golden sand that was gliding through the sky in long whiplike strands. It seeped through the cracks in the windows of kids bedrooms, touching their foreheads and making images of their dreams appear over their sleeping forms.

"Right on time, Sandman." Jack muttered as he replaced his morose expression with a smile, pulling his hood back off of his head. He stood and jumped onto a power line, landing on one foot and bouncing a little bit to keep his balance.

Stupid graceful ice spirit.

Jack smiled and put his hand into one of the strands of dream sand that was flowing through the air above him, releasing a couple of golden dolphins that circled around him playfully, making their whistling and clicking noises.

I dove upwards through the sand, making sure it didn't touch my head, or else I would fall asleep instantly. As I passed through the glittering stream, three golden hawks started circling around me as I soared through the sky, letting the problems get whisked away in the brisk night air.

I vaguely registered Jack moving below me, but I figured he was just doing his thing. When you spend two hundred years with someone, you learn to let them do stuff on their own.

I was so caught up in my elated flight I didn't see one of the children's windows go dark.

I only took notice of what was going on below me when I heard a strangled cry from my friend. I stopped my joyous circling to peer down into the shadows between buildings, looking for Jack. When I didn't see him, I dove downwards as fast as I could and landed in an alley, where I was pretty sure Jack's shout came from.