by Mingus Casey
"Sleep, pretty darlings, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.
Lullaby, lullaby, the Sandman am I."
Brothers Grimm
The Sandman came into Tommy's room last night to put the fairy-dust in Tommy's eyes and it burnt like pepper. Then Tommy had strange dreams, the walls were alive and moving, little shadows became huge terrors. Out in the dark, other worlds became his.
The children whimper when the Sandman comes, and sometimes try to tell.
Then the staff lie to visitors and say “They're sick children, they don't know what's good for them,” when the children speak out.
They think Tommy's just a kid, something to be toyed with and experimented upon, but Tommy will stop them one day.
*
The room had white tiles, light blue walls, and closed curtains. Medical instruments, syringes and bottles of strange liquids were arrayed in neat rows on the bench. It looked clean and smelt of antiseptics, sterile like a morgue.
Everything was vivid under the hot glow of a hundred watt light-bulb.
“The dosage is exact Sir. One milligram per drop, are you certain they can withstand it?” the trainee nurse, Eva, asked, hands shaking as she clenched the vial.
It was a massive dose, but she knew she shouldn't question, just obey, still she spoke out.
“Of course, the children are ill, they will improve, don't ever question me again! You want to be a trainee forever? You don't know!” the Doctor said, but his mind was elsewhere - the overseers, they wanted results, the funding might stop without results, then where would he be, on trial for war-crimes?
Another “captured” Nazi...
When the Reich fell, Doctor Sandman survived, he remembered Hitler's final order - the Trojan horse of Nazi science - the American soldiers who found him thought he would hang but the Officers knew who they had found; a genius at mind control.
Hitler's plan was working, America wanted him, invited him in and gave him everything, sent him to Canada as Foreign Medical Aid.
Doctor Sandman laughed silently, if they only knew, they would have shot him.
Eva sullenly prepared the medication, 30 milligrams into 30 drops.
She knew Doctor Sandman was lying, knew the children weren't sick, that the medication sickened - they'd been chosen, unwanted and placed in care, records falsified - but she wouldn't question him again.
Eva couldn't risk her job, a good wage is hard to find, the mortgage must be paid, her husband would be angry, and it was for the good of the nation.
They said it was crucial research, Eva had signed the Secrets Act, everyone here had, and it'd be worse if the Russian's attack, so she kept working and never spoke out, besides, who would she speak to, the Government made sure it was legal, so if she talked it was jail.
She handed the medication to the matron.
*
The matron did the rounds, “Medication time,” and one at a time the children looked up and felt the sting of the eye-dropper.
Then the voices started, none of the children knew if the noises were inside their minds or outside, “Your parents hate you, they abandoned you here, they don't care about you,” like a scratched record on endless repeat.
You have to be cruel to work here, nice people quit or get fired.
*
Tommy didn't want the fairy-dust that night, resisted.
Security entered, held him down, forced open his eyelids and the Matron emptied more into his mind than anyone should ever take, he tried to bite the hand covering his mouth, and couldn't.
That was the worst, strange hallucinations, his brain being eaten, an endless race to rebuild faster than the neurons burnt, death was close, blankets clammy and wet.
The voices, he remembered his mother before the accident, before the funeral when he had to be strong and brave, and it was her saying it, “I hate you, I left you here on purpose, I don't care about you, I wish you were dead!”
No matter what, the voices wouldn't stop.
He remembered her hugging him, “I love you Tommy,” but memories were distant and reality was close.
The walls were melting, Tommy threw up, wracked with pain, shivering, a bad holiday, the worst ever, tears flooded down his face.
At night, every half-hour the staff open the latch and shine light in, check on the children, how their minds are doing, sometimes they go crazy, attack each other, other times they suicide to escape.
There is only escape, and then the staff play catch them if they can.
*
The new teacher, Miss Madison, had graduated from college two years before.
Sometimes the children told her things during her classes, like the nasty gramophone.
She didn't understand why the gramophone said cruel things, suggested it should be turned off, could be nursery rhymes, educational, why do that to children?
But Doctor Sandman said “No, we do this my way, I'm in charge and I know what's right,” and she cried herself to sleep that night.
Dr. Sandman knew he had to break her, make her behave, go along with what's good for her, none of the other employees talked back or gave foolish advice - it was survival of the most drone like.
*
Tommy lay under his blanket, crying, and he realised; escape, but how? It was nothing but wilderness outside, the river and the road.
He thought - fairy-dust warped his thoughts - that he could fly, do incredible things, be unstoppable, and then it changed - he was powerless, straight-jacketed in his mind, locked in a little room surrounded by big adults, and then by the next morning it was gone and he was tired.
He looked around, the other children all looked ill, but it wasn't their fault.
It was the Sandman.
All the adults did what the Sandman commanded, and the children, when the Sandman had them into his office and swung the watch in-front of them, would tell all.
Then, when other children asked “Why'd you tell Sandman where my doll is,” or “But I tried so hard on that tunnel, why'd you talk?” the children wouldn't know, wouldn't remember telling.
Sometimes, after the watch swinging, the other children would hear what the child had said on the gramophone, and the Sandman's voice, words like hypnosis, memory dissolution, and someone would cry and wonder how this was their voice.
*
The new teacher, Miss Madison saw how horrible it was, how bad it was to treat children like that, she'd worked in a primary school, a real school where they helped the children learn, not destroyed them, she felt sick, wanted to quit, didn't know what to do.
The Sandman wanted to break her, destroy her, but then she looked at Tommy, poor Tommy who was so unbreakable because he was already broken.
She was nice to the children, encouraged their learning, but they always looked sleep deprived.
She tried to teach them, but the spark wouldn't light except in Tommy's eyes - school was the only thing that was keeping him alive.
She knew she had to get Tommy away from the camp, the dark, otherwise it would consume him.
*
It was English lesson and Miss Madison wasn't sure what to teach the children, they all looked tired and disinterested.
To start with, she'd go easy on them, they could learn spelling and grammar later, what was important was that they get their head around the stories.
Miss Madison looked at the books on the shelf, children's stories, and reached for A Thousand and One Nights.
“Today I'm going to read a story, is there one you want to hear?”
“Do any of you know A Thousand and One Nights?” she kindly said. Some of the kids nodded, most looked sleepy and scared, like dogs in a pound.
Then Tommy spoke up, looking a little excited, “Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves,”that's in there isn't it?” and so it was.
Before the accident, Tommy's mother had read him “A Thousand And One Nights”, and he always loved the story of Ali-Baba.
The children woke up, they looked relaxed and comfortable, a smile drifted across Tommy's face and she started reading,
“In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali-Baba. Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali-Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighbouring forest and selling it in the town."
“One day, when Ali-Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback, coming towards him in a cloud of dust...”
Tommy loved the story, loved the way Miss Madison read it, wished secretly that Miss Madison could be his mother but his mother was gone, imagined he was Ali-Baba, when the kids got playtime he pretended to be Ali-Baba, Christina pretended to be Morgiana, Ali-Baba's lover, and they imagined the Sandman as the evil leader of the forty thieves, all nurses in white uniforms.
*
Tommy kept on thinking about escape, what he would need - food, water, when his mind wasn't attacked by the fairy-dust he could think, and he thought about the river, but it was deep, rocky and dangerous.
Maybe a raft, or maybe journey through the forest, big tall evergreens everywhere, amongst the wolf howls at night.
At least wolves attack on instinct, humans choose.
He thought about whether to tell the other children about his plan, he remembered when Joe started digging the tunnel under the fence, it had taken eternity to dig, and then Adam had the watch swung in front of him, and the adults found the entrance.
Joe was inside it and kept digging, the adults couldn't fit in, they tried to lure him out.
Finally they threw in a teargas grenade and he crawled out covered in dirt, eyes burning, and they hit him, and then no-one saw Joe again.
He couldn't tell the other children about his plan, and he could only hope he wouldn't be in-front of the watch for a while.
Doctor Sandman hated Tommy, most of the children did what Doctor Sandman asked, but Tommy wouldn't.
Tommy hated the Sandman too, the Sandman was cruel, the Sandman spoke in a German accent and Tommy's dad had fought the Nazi's.
Tommy hated the Sandman and Tommy hated the Nazis, but Tommy was young and didn't understand war; it was over; America won. He didn't know what “Project Paperclip” was, he didn't know why it was happening or why the adults thought it was so important, he just knew the Sandman was horrible and he needed to escape.
*
“You're not Tommy anymore,” said Doctor Sandman, grinning at Tommy while the watch was swinging.
Doctor Sandman remembered the war, hypnotizing agents, the Jews he experimented on, the contempt he felt for their kind, how he always ended up on top.
Cruelty was a virtue to the Sandman.
“Who am I?” asked Tommy.
“You are Ali-Baba, the thief, and you will steal for me, just little things from Miss Madison's desk, whatever she likes the most you will take, you will not remember taking it when she finds you with it, you will never admit to taking anything, and you will withstand any interrogation on earth.” Sandman said in his guttural accent.
Tommy's subconscious agreed, but it heard for me, or did it hear from me, what did it hear, Tommy's subconscious likes tricks.
Ali-Baba slept, only waking up sometimes, Ali-Baba the master-thief never took orders from anyone and the Sandman didn't know it, but Tommy couldn't help himself, he found himself stealing things from Miss Madison's desk.
Her apple, her fountain pen, little things, always he got caught, the other children would tell, Miss Madison looked torn up inside but never punished him and never told the Sandman either, she didn't know that it was really the Sandman trying to break her through the little boy she liked the most.
Sometimes subconscious slips into consciousness, and Tommy felt Ali-Baba talking to him in his mind, telling him of the great riches Ali-Baba had stolen, how Ali-Baba always escaped, the incredible stories that fairy-dust and dreams weave.
*
One day Tommy watched after school was over, as a builder replaced planks in one of the huts, the builder had lots of tools, a hammer, crowbar, nails, and then the builder stopped for a break.
The builder walked up to one of the guards; the grey rifle on the guards back; and they talked, gazing through the wire at the scenery.
Tommy knew to be quick.
He grabbed the crowbar from the builder's bag, ran back to his cabin and threw it as far underneath it as he could, where they wouldn't find it and take it.
When the builder returned, Tommy was gone and other kids were playing where he had been, children with black in their eyes throwing balls at each other.
*
“Where is it!” the Matron shouted at the row of children, “Where is the crowbar?” and not one talked, Fiona started to cry from the pressure but she didn't know, Louis looked awkward and embarrassed, Louis always looked awkward whenever anyone was accused of anything.
The other nurses went straight to him, shouting in his face, “We know you took it! Where is it?” and he said “I don't know,” starting to blubber, and the matron sighed and looked at them all.
“If you own up, we'll take you somewhere much nicer, give you ice-cream and sweets, and if no-one owns up, we'll put you all in front of the swinging watch and you'll be sorry you didn't say,” said the Matron, with a foul expression on her face.
She waited, but none of them would say.
“Right, it's the watch for you all, line up outside the Sandman's office!”
*
“I don't mind about the crowbar, crowbars are cheap,” the builder said, the pay was more than enough to buy another.
“It's not about the crowbar, it's about the theft, and I'll catch the thief, I swear I'll get your crowbar back!” Doctor Sandman exclaimed.
“I'll get back to work then?” the builder asked.
“Yes, I'll find your crowbar before nightfall.”
*
The children were lined up outside the Sandman's office.
Tommy saw Fiona walk out of the room ahead of him, shaking with tears running down her eyes, then Louis, apprehensive Louis, heard the sandman start screaming, saying “It must be you, tell the truth, you're hypnotized, tell me,” and still Louis could say nothing.
Then it was chubby Sam's turn, and the Sandman said “You know who took the crowbar you chubby dumpkopf, who was it?”
Sam said “I don't know, I don't know!”
Then Sam was out the door, he looked dazed, like the trance hadn't ended.
Tommy overheard a lot, he was towards the end, watched as the children walked in, apprehensive, and walked out looking like a mix of hypnotized and broken, the Sandman wasn't taking his usual care, he was so annoyed, so incensed at the theft that it was driving him insane!
Then it was Tommy's turn, and the Sandman tried to be sweet, “Why don't you tell me who took the crowbar, I'll be nice to you,” but Tommy didn't believe it and spat at the Sandman, then the Sandman pulled out the watch and said the magic words and Tommy couldn't remember what happened next.
Christina overheard a bit, heard Tommy say “I don't know, who cares about your stupid crowbar,” and then a thud, and she shivered, Tommy had been hurt.
Then, “Did Ali-Baba take it? Did he?” asked the Sandman and she felt fear.
Christina knew about Ali-Baba, Tommy told her about Ali-Baba a long time ago, and now she knew who Ali-Baba was and she was scared for Tommy.
Tommy said “Ali-Baba the thief steals from Miss Madison, he took everything nice, but I don't know where the crowbar is,” and that was it, Tommy half fell, was shoved out the door, a bruise around his eye.
Then it was Christina's turn, she was afraid, and couldn't remember it afterwards and then she was outside and Sandman still didn't have the crowbar.
The Sandman had never felt so defeated in his life, not even when the Reich had fallen!
*
Ali-Baba whispered into Tommy's head that night, “I have the crowbar, but the Sandman commanded I must withstand any interrogation, I couldn't tell him,” and Tommy remembered taking it, remembered where it was, knew he could use it to break part of the wooden fence, but first he would have to figure out how to get around the guards, the spotlights.
He knew what had to be done, some children were planning to escape in a few days time but Tommy knew they would be caught, their plan was inadequate, they talked too much and they couldn't avoid the swinging watch.
They would be spotted and all of the guards and all of the guns and all of the lights would point at them and if he moved quickly enough he might be able to lever off a plank and run to the river.
*
He waited until that night, until it was all about to happen, then he heard the barking of the dogs, the searchlights lit up, nothing but a hole in the wire and a few scared children running away, then BANG, and someone was screaming, who was it?
And Tommy needed to know, needed to help, but couldn't so he ran the other way with the crowbar, tried to pry the wood, “Open,” he grunted and it buckled, then he ran to the river, threw himself in and prayed to God, the Devil, anything that would help, just to survive the rapids.
The water took him and threw him around and he could barely keep his head above it while it flooded his lungs, hurt, struggling, something hard hit him in the side - intense pain - and he grappled with his little hands, the rapids threw him into a branch and he felt winded, could barely hold on, floated there for an eternity, and then the branch stopped.
Pebbles were under his feet, he crawled onto the shore and collapsed.
*
Miss Madison turned up at the barbed wire gate, her id ready.
He recognised her and said “No school today! You may as-well go home.”
“What? Why not, there's always school today?” said Miss Madison, noticing that the guard looked reprimanded.
“Not today, some subjects escaped and the Sandman's put the facility on lock-down until the escapee's are found.”
“Oh no,” Miss Madison shivered, thinking about the wilderness, “Any idea how?”
“Yes, two escapes, one through the fences, one through to the river, broken wall, they stopped some through the wire but whoever went through the wall would have gone into the river, goner for sure.” the Guard said, his gun dull beneath the steel sky.
“The Guards stopped some... was there shooting?” asked Miss Madison, looking at the gun.
“Yeah... I wasn't on duty, shift change.”
“Was Tommy..?” she said, on the verge of crying.
“No, vanished, and Doctor Sandman's lost it. He was screaming about the experiment being ruined, years of work lost.”
“Oh no...”
“It could be worse, we'll find them, the good Doctor sent out dog handlers to track them. I think he wants to talk to you.”
All Miss Madison thinks of is poor Tommy, real bullets for real children, nothing survives in that bush, suddenly she snaps, too much evil, just because it's legal doesn't make it moral. She'll quit, screw the reference, she just felt worried about the children, especially Tommy.
She's shaking, nauseous, feeling faint, “I'd better see Dr. Sandman then.”
“Are you okay? You look pale,” the Guard asked, but she was already walking away, towards the Sandman's office.
The camp is different, all the children locked inside, no games today.
The Sandman was in his office, he said “What do you want? You should have made an appointment,” and she stuttered for a second, then found clarity.
“I'm quitting, you can't do this to children, it's not right,” said Miss Madison.
The Sandman smiled cruelly then he said “It's legal and you know it,” then he took her resignation and added “I will withhold your holiday pay due to you failing to meet your contract,” and she didn't even argue, just left.
Doctor Sandman thought he'd won, Miss Madison was broken, Tommy was gone, probably dead, like they would ever let the children escape into society.
God help the Sandman if the public ever find out the truth.
Miss Madison left, she was still thinking - where would Tommy go, suddenly she knew Tommy had the crowbar, just like Tommy could steal anything off her and never admit it, and she grinned to herself, felt happy for a moment and then shuddered.
The fence, she glanced on her way out and there's the missing plank, soon the builder will be called to replace it, and the only way is the river, dangerous, he's drowned for sure, and then she thought “Anyone but Tommy, Tommy would live, I'll check the river.”
*
She hikes for hours downstream, sees a shape in the distance, from the side of the river the bush is hard to get through, sharp needles and big logs, dangerous howls in the distance but she gets there, it looks like a dead animal but the colour is white, an albino dog, Tommy, another of the children? Her heart plunges, no movement, drowned?
She moves closer, despair, he'll get a burial even if she has to lug the body to the undertakers herself. It's impossible to reach, huge roots and trees obstruct the path, ancient things grown for thousands of years that never let a human pass, but she gets through to the sandbank, and there is a body there, and it is Tommy!
He's white and pale, she realises his body is shivering, still alive, thank God!
Wishes she'd brought a blanket but it's too late to get one now, holds him to her, tries to bring some warmth into him and Tommy slowly returns from the dead and smiles at her.
*
The government will hunt them forever.