Samuel Morris

Sometimes, in the Nexus, it rained.

Mr. Sleep sat by a window and absently carved spirals into the wall with his knife. It was pouring outside, which annoyed him. The rain was like a poison to his kind. Every so often, lightning illuminated the dark, abandoned neighborhood that he and the others called home. (Sometimes he thought he could see a giant hand throwing the lightning bolts, but he had learned not to find such things unusual here.)

He could sense Charlotte entering the room even before he could hear her footsteps. "Good evening, Mr. Sleep." He looked over at her curiously, and she shrugged. "I do not need to sleep anymore this evening."

She joined him by the window and for a while, they watched the rain together. Mr. Sleep normally enjoyed their time together, the way her thoughts flowed with his, guiding them along, but tonight, her mind was unsettled. Something was bothering his leader. "Are you all right?" he asked her, his voice a soft whisper.

She looked at him, a little surprised. "I am. I am just... thinking." Several minutes passed before she broke the silence. "Mr. Sleep. How do you feel about dinosaurs?"

Mr. Sleep knew what dinosaurs were, because Charlotte knew, but he had never given them much thought. He looked at her blankly, then held up his knife. Did he want her to kill one? He would probably get crushed if he tried.

She sighed. "Never mind. I think I will look for the Doctor and make sure he is resting. Good night, Mr. Sleep."

Charlotte left the room, and the little Stranger stared out the window. Was that some sort of test, and he had failed? What sort of answer did she want from him?

Human emotions were still very foreign to his alien mind, but he felt a new one inside of him. He felt inadequate.

It didn't feel good at all.

The last night of the Nexus timeflood, Sam fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. It had been a fun and exciting week full of adventure and ice-cream. The last couple of days, he started to worry about his parents. They were probably worried sick about him and had no way of knowing where he'd gone. He decided that the next morning, he'd figure out a way to send them a message, or maybe find the portal back to his city. Maybe Charlotte could come with him. His parents would like her, she was smart and polite. He's not sure what they'd make of the two weird bald guys and the Doctor, but they'd figure something out.

He dozed off, and just like that, Samuel Morris was gone.

Mr. Sleep opened his eyes and looked around, startled. He could tell right away that time had passed, time he couldn't remember, and that disturbed him. Strangers didn't sleep. Had they been attacked?

A quick searching with his mind reassured him. No, everyone was safe. He looked down at the vessel he lived in and absently checked it for injuries, or tears in his black outfit, and noticed he had something clutched in his hand.

He was holding a small green periscope.

The Nexus did not have sunlight, not like a regular world, but in the nearly abandoned village on its outskirts, there was a sense of day and evening. Mr. Sleep did not need to sleep, but his leader did, so when she picked a home to rest in for the night, he and his companions followed her inside.

First, she made the Doctor sleep in one of the beds. She picked another one for herself. Mr. Sleep and the other Strangers were left to stand guard in the hall.

Mr. Sleep liked his leader. Not just because she had the strongest mind, but because she was his height. He didn't complain much about it (his species was far beyond the concerns of physical form), but it was a little annoying to have to look up to everyone else. His companions often let him carry out particularly violent acts as a form of compensation.

At some point during the night, there was a sound from one of the other bedrooms. Mr. Sleep went to investigate. He didn't come back, but his companions weren't worried. They would know if something had happened to him.

The next morning, a young boy woke up and rubbed his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in his bedroom at home. The next thing he noticed was that he was wearing some weird leather outfit. He looked like a comic book villain.

There was a brief flash of memory -- hospitals and painful shots and his mother crying by his bedside -- and then it was gone.

He hopped out of his bed and went to the window. He was just starting to feel scared, but then he took a look at the view. A herd of triceratops were being herded down the street by a cowboy on horseback. The building across the street was a giant castle. A giant robot finished its morning stretches, transformed into a fighter jet, and flew overhead.

It was awesome. The boy ran out of his room to find some stairs, unable to contain his excitement.