Gossamer Read Free Page B

nostrils quiver. That's what Rotund is now. And others.
    "But there is no beauty to it," he added. "It's hideous."
    Littlest trembled a little. "Can it bestow?" she asked.
    Thin Elderly gave a scornful laugh. "We bestow dreams," he reminded her. "But a..."—again his voice dropped to a whisper—"Sinisteed?" He pondered for a moment.
    Then he said, "It inflicts. "
    "Inflicts?"
    "Inflicts something called nightmares. "
    They remained silent for a moment. Littlest, glancing sideways to be certain he wasn't looking, slid her thumb into her mouth again.

    Finally he sighed. "Better get going. We have work to do. Mustn't delay. Fastidious told me about the woman. She needs a dream, and I haven't collected anything yet."
    He looked down at Littlest. She withdrew her thumb.
    "I have a lot of fragments," she told him, "but she never let me bestow."
    "Well," Thin Elderly said, "time you learned, I guess. You say you have a party? And a kiss?"
    Littlest nodded. "Fragments."
    "We'll give her a very brief and gentle dream," he said. "I'll show you how."
    Thin Elderly took her hand. "Come," he told her, and led her toward the door. Holding hands, they compressed themselves and slid in under. The night's work was beginning.

7
    The woman shifted in her bed. Though it was late, she had been wakeful, troubled by the letter that had arrived in yesterday's morning mail. She had found it on the floor, just inside the mail slot, where it had been shoved through with an oil bill and a notice of a half-price sale on tuna at the local grocery store.

    "Whatever is this?" she had said aloud, speaking as she usually did, to the dog. Toby had watched as she turned the envelope over and over in her hand. Then she had gone to the kitchen table, sat, and ripped it open.
    Now the letter, folded and returned to its envelope, was on the table beside her bed. Littlest could see it there, in the moonlight.
    "Should I touch that?" she asked Thin Elderly, whispering.
    He had seen it, too. "No. It might be troubling."
    The woman stirred, as if she had heard something.
    "Dissolve!" Thin Elderly commanded in a whisper. Littlest obeyed, and concentrated on seeping her form into nothingness. It was very exhausting. But it worked. When the woman blinked herself awake in the moonlit bedroom, startled by a tiny sound, she saw nothing.

    They could still see her. They watched as she looked around, sighed, plumped her pillow, and lay her head back down. She closed her eyes. After a moment her breath was even and slow. She was asleep again.
    "Reintegrate," Thin Elderly whispered. "And stay very still."
    Together they returned to their working selves, casting visible shadows in the moonlight. Littlest glanced with delight at hers, and moved her arms up and down, making a sort of marionette of herself. She was not accustomed to shadows yet.
    Thin Elderly looked pointedly at her and she blushed and stopped playing.
    "I'm going to bestow a dream on the dog," Thin Elderly whispered, "partly to keep him occupied, and partly to show you how. You've probably watched Fastidious do it, of course, but we all have different styles."
    "She didn't like me to look," Littlest whispered in reply. "But I peeked."
    "You seem the kind who would peek," Thin Elderly said, in an amused but slightly scolding tone. "What did you see, when you peeked?"

    "She fluttered up and hovered. Then I think she breathed into the woman's ear. It was hard to see. She got very close. But I think she breathed."
    Thin Elderly nodded. "It's the standard method. It's what she would have done. Fastidious is not very—"
    He hesitated. "Well," he said, "I shouldn't criticize. But she is not very creative."
    "I am very creative," Littlest whispered, and made a shadow picture of a duck with her small hand against the wall. "Sorry," she said. She stopped and folded her hands politely.
    "Stay quiet and watch," Thin Elderly instructed. "First I center myself. Then I pull up the fragments I want to use, so that they are