Sandman

By H.L. Sudler

A prophetic 5-year-old boy named David frightens the adults around him when he begins drawing hundreds of expertly rendered illustrations depicting what could very well be the immediate end of the world. It is up to his father and grandparents to find out what the drawings mean, and how long they have to liv

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archer Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781733729550

H.L. Sudler

H.L. SUDLER is the author of six books, including Patriarch: My Extraordinary Journey from Man to Gentleman, CafeLiving's Favorite Cocktails (with Keith Vient), Man to Gentleman: A Beginner's Guide to Manhood, his short story collection The Looking Glass: Tales of Light and Dark, and his thriller novel series Summerville and Return to Summerville. His short story The Way of All Flesh was selected for the PATHS Humanitarian Writing Award. He has served as a magazine publisher, a newspaper editor, and a contributing writer to numerous anthologies and periodicals. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in Washington, DC.

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SANDMAN

_______________________

H.L. SUDLER

An Archer Publishing Book

Washington, D.C.

Sandman

Published by Archer Publishing

1315 Park Road NW, Washington, DC 20010

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 by H.L. Sudler

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any printed or electronic form. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

ARCHER PUBLISHING is a registered trademark of Archer Media Networks LLC.

The ARCHER PUBLISHING logo is a registered trademark of Archer Media Networks LLC.

Archer Publishing

 ISBN

978-1-7337295-5-0

SANDMAN

Principal Ayala, sorry I’m late. I got here as fast I could.

Please come in, Rick. Close the door and have a seat.

I know I’m here because of my son, David. But is what he did that bad?

Ayala was silent as Rick closed the door.

Did he hit another kid or…get into a fight? Please answer. The look on your face is scaring me.

The principal took a deep, prolonged sigh, and let his eyes roam the room. It looked as if he were searching for the right words to start.

I wish this conversation was going to be different than the one we’re about to have.

Where’s my son?

He’s in the office next door, with the school’s nurse.

Is he hurt?

No.

A heavy silence seized the room as the two men locked eyes.

Tell me.

The principal sat and folded his hands. Rick sat as well.

David’s teacher, Miss Coleman…she fainted today because of your son. Then she became hysterical and quit. On the spot.

What do you mean she quit?

She. Quit.

I’m not sure what her fainting and quitting have to do with my son.

She fainted and quit because of him.

What could he possibly have done to make her faint…and then quit, as you say.

This is not a laughing matter, Mr. Ford.

I didn’t say it was.

But yet you’re smiling.

Because I don’t see what a 5-year-old boy could possibly do to make a grown woman faint, and then quit. He’s not cursing yet. He doesn’t throw regular tantrums.

He drew a picture.

Rick raised his eyebrow and regarded the principal skeptically. He drew a picture?

Yes.

…And?

Mr. Ford, I’ve been a principal for the last six or seven years. In that time, and during my time as a teacher, I’ve never seen an instructor pass out from a drawing, then wake up screaming, and then quit. And not just quit. She ran out of the building like the Devil was chasing her. She was shaking uncontrollably. Nothing I said could change her mind. She was not interested in being in the same classroom as your son, or even in the same building.

Rick frowned. Maybe you need to start at the beginning, because there’s something here I think I’m missing.

Ayala pushed back in his chair.

What I could get out of Miss Coleman was that she was going through answers to last night’s homework assignments. The students were grading each other’s papers. She was at the whiteboard, when she turned around and saw David in the back of the class with his head down. He was drawing. Emphatically drawing. She asked him to pay attention, but he continued to draw. She said it was as if he hadn’t heard her. She called his name. He didn’t answer and continued to draw. She approached David, and when she did she saw what he was drawing.

What was he—?

Principal Ayala held up his hand and continued.

Miss Coleman said she kneeled down next to him, because she couldn’t believe what he was drawing. But then, she said she saw his eyes. And this is where Miss Coleman became…hysterical. She said…she said his eyes were white. His eyes were completely white. But he was still drawing, looking down on the paper as if he could see. Even though his eyes were rolled up into his head.

What?

She said she touched his hand. I asked her what happened next, and she said all she could remember was him looking up at her, that his eyes were milky white. That she tried to scream, she wanted to scream, but that the room went dark. When I asked her what made her faint, she shook her head, looked down, away from me. Her face was very red, and she wouldn’t stop crying. She told me she couldn’t be here any longer, that she couldn’t do this anymore, be your son’s teacher, be anywhere near him. I asked her why. And she looked up at me and said, ‘What is he?’.

"This is still not making any sense to me. She sees my son drawing a picture, goes over