Title: ... For No Man
Rating: PG
Category: gen
Words: 357
Summary: Hob Gadling reflects.
Notes: 15-minute ficlet. Takes place during The Wake.
He always seemed so incongruous to me. Who would guess that the lord of dreams, of fantasy, of the impossible, would be such a methodical person?
I certainly wouldn't have, not 400 years ago, not today.
Well, I wouldn't have expected the Dream King to really exist, now that I think of it. And I definitely wouldn't have expected to have a centennial date with the man. Not man. Being. Personification. Perspective.
I suppose it makes sense, though. Things are never as simple as they seem, so why should a dream be any different? I always wanted to ask him, you know, if Freud was right, or what dreams really mean, or whatever. He probably would have just given me some of his cryptic bullshit, though. You know the kind I mean. How can you separate the dream from the dreamer?
Something like that.
But I'll always wonder how well I really knew him. If I knew him at all. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to wake up one day and realize that this whole crazy ride has just been a dream.
Oh.
A dream.
Wonder how that will work, with him being gone and all. Can we still dream? I shoulda asked him that, too. Guess it never occurred to me that he'd die. I mean, he calls himself-- called himself-- one of the Endless. That sounds pretty fucking permanent to me, you know? I'm used to people dying, seems like as soon as I get to know them, off they go. But I figured he'd be around forever.
And it's just like... well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you how old I really was. Pretty old, that's for sure. And how many people do I really know well? None. I wonder if it's even possible to know another person. I mean, know another person. And I wonder if maybe that's what we're all here for. I don't know.
I'll miss him.
Oh. I'm Hob, by the way. Nice to meet you. I guess I should get going now, though. Time waits for no man. ... But you know, Death does.
-- fin
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