ENO Mini Opera Submission

Edit: I used Neil Gaiman's 'The Sweeper of Dreams' as a starting-off point for this piece of writing (which turned out to be wrong as they were looking for adaptations not original fiction). Though I failed at the brief I still really like the concept behind this. I'm going to take out the references to 'The Sweeper of Dreams' and rewrite this as a proper short story. I'll keep this up so that you can laugh at my horrible attempt that lyric writing though!

SWEEP ME AWAY

BASED ON NEIL GAIMAN'S 'THE SWEEPER OF DREAMS'

A businessman climbs over the rail of a bridge. He is sweaty and panicked. The sound of water washes below him.

Man
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me -

A young girl comes up to him, curious.

Girl
What are you doing?

Man
Uh! 

He is startled and wobbles.

Girl
Careful, silly!

She pulls him to his balance and laughs.

Girl
You’re standing on the wrong side.

Man
Do you know the power that dreams hide?

Girl
Um…

Man
Dreams.
Dreams,
Scientifically put,
Are the mind processing events of the day:
Emotions,
Feelings,
Sights,
Notions –
Rapid eye movement -

Girl
Your eyes are moving rapidly.

Man
Some say that dreams are your mind
Giving sight to what was blind.
Some say that dreams are memories –
Memories of things you’d rather forget.
Or things that haven’t happened yet.

Girl
You know a lot about dreams.

Man
Not happily.
Do you know the Sweeper of Dreams?

Girl
No…

Man
I’ve met him.

Girl
In a dream?

Man
Between dreams.
When I was a young man.
A cocky man.
I saw him there –
In the gap between light and gloom:
A strange, humped, little man
With a cap and coat and broom,
His sleeves rolled up,
The head of a dragon tattoo
Peeping out from his left arm,
Its tail curled around the right.
He listened to a radio:
A heavy weight contender fight.
I found him hilarious.
I told him so.
Silently
He rolled down each sleeve,
Picked up his radio
And made to leave.

Girl
…And?

Man
He has never come again.
Every dream that I have ever had,
Every fantasy good
Every nightmare bad,
Has remained with me,
Building up and up
Like trash in the street,
Like trash at a dump!

He prepares to jump.

Man
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me…!

Girl
But wait!

He pauses.

Girl
You’re awake.
Dreams can’t hurt you when
You’re awake.

Man
No!
The dreams follow me
From dusk to dawn
To dusk again!
Creeping
And stalking,
Building at my feet
Like stray dogs after a bitch in heat.
Wherever I go,
Whatever I do.

Girl
I should like to have a dream come true.

Man
Oh yes –
The good dreams –
The beautiful women,
Endless wealth,
The food of gods,
My boss’ bad health –
Those dreams I could live with –
But –
The falls that feel like bottomless pits,
Leeches that bite the eyes and the hips,
Feeling lost and alone and in constant pain,
My father…my father…alive again…

Girl
Your father is a nightmare?

Man
He drank.
He didn’t care.
The words he would use,
The words he would pelt -
Loving abuse -
Stung worse than his belt.
Over and over and over.
I would cower.
I would beg.
I would rather dream of scorpions.
Scorpions would sting less.
Every time I think of him.
No one can see
But there he is –
Beating me.

He rolls up his sleeves to show her where his dream father has hit him.

Man
Scorpions would sting less.
Forgive me father.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me.
One day I made a fool-proof plan
So brilliant it made me weep:
I would not dream if I could not sleep.
I took stimulants:
Caffeine,
Nicotine,
Amphetamine,
Ampakine,
Cocaine,
MDNA,
Modafinil,
Every drug,
Every pill.
But you cannot cheat sleep forever
And I fell asleep at the wheel.
And hit a girl.
Not a dream girl.
A real girl.
Yesterday I killed a helpless, living, little girl.

Girl
And what did you do?

Man
…I left her lying in the street,
Drove home and wept myself to sleep.
And dreamt.
I dreamt that the little girl wasn’t dead.
I dreamt that she found me.
That I ran and she followed me.
All through the town.
Up streets
And down squares
In my night gown.
Until I came to a bridge
And it occurred to me:
Jump.
Let the water sweep you away.
The dreams won’t follow you
Where the water will take you.
And I did it –
I jumped –
And I woke before I hit the water –
But it was a dream
And the Sweeper of Dreams does not visit me
And sweep my dreams away –
They stay
And haunt me –
My mind talking to me,
About things I’d rather forget
And things that haven’t happened yet.
So here we are now
By the water:
The little girl
And the man who killed her.
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me,
Forgive me…   

Girl
Do you know the old rhyme:
“Everything you say or do
If left undone comes back to you”?

Man
No…does it?

Girl
It does.

She pushes him off the bridge.

***

Neil Gaiman is one of my biggest writing idols. I hope he would approve of this submission!