As the darkness swirled around and began to consume, the velveteen rabbit seemed to almost come to life. The rabbit appeared as though down a long tunnel and was running. Time seemed to be both standing still and racing in some weird paradox. It was in these moments that a presence began to be felt. Some one was there. As the world fell away and a deep sleep fell upon its victim a flash of instant reviewed the culprit. It was the work of the Sandman. There was no fighting it. Time to sleep….
The Sandman is believed to have originated from the Greek and more specifically the Pantheonic god Morpheous. He would emerge from the underworld and control beings with his powers in sleep manipulation. In the 1700s Christians would alter the story to be used as a method of reinforcing a since of good versus evil. The story would demand that good children would obey the sandman while the bad children whom did not go to bed would be tortured for life with hellish nightmares as punishment. The positive view of Sandman didn’t really start to make the rounds until Hans Christian Anderson included the short story on Fairy Tales Told for Children, published in 1842. Sandman, in this tale, would be given the name Ole Lukøje, meaning Old Shut Eye. Don’t fall asleep as tomorrow is the conclusion of this advent adventure so don’t miss how it ends on the next page…