"A Dream of a Thousand Cats."

[xdoop.insanejournal.com]

This is from The Sandman #18. It's written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Kelley Jones.


This tale begins with a small, white cat being called by another cat to sneak away from her house one night. They speak of an event in a graveyard that they don't want to miss.

When they arrive, they see that many cats are already there. A Siamese cat comes to tell her story.








The Siamese cat has a dream that where she enters a boneyard in the Dreaming. In the dream a raven with no skin on its head informs her where she can find out exactly why the humans killed her offspring: a cave inhabited by the Dream Lord. After a long travel the Siamese cat makes it to the entrance of the cave, where many fearsome animals tell her to leave. She responds by saying that she will only state her business to Dream. Inside, she finds Dream in the form of a cat.








The human tells the other humans that "dreams shape the world," and that if enough of them dreamed it they  could change the world so that they would become the dominant species.





The Siamese cat tells the other cats how she left the humans and traveled the world, spreading her message wherever she went.  At the end she says "Dream the world. Not this pallid shadow of reality. Dream the world the way it truly is. A world in which all cats are queens and kings of creations. That is my message. And I shall keep moving, keep repeating it, until I die. Or until a thousand cats hear my words, and believe them, and dream... and we come again to paradise."

As the cats all leave, the white kitten asks the older brown cat if he thinks it will happen. The older cat responds "Little one, I would like to see anyone--prophet, king, or god--persuade a thousand cats to do anything at the same time. No, it will never happen."

Later, when the kitten is back at her home...

Comments

[kagome654.insanejournal.com]

I do like how little critters in The Sandman tend to 'meep.' Goldie did too, iirc.

Also, I know my cat genuinely loves me and isn't dreaming of hunting me for sport. I'm sure of it. Really.

[petalsinthewind.insanejournal.com]

This story always lent credence for me to the theory that the Endless were each their name and the opposite.  Death ushered in life, Destruction begets creation, Dream is reality.

[masterofmidgets.insanejournal.com]

*eyes cat-fang gouges in her hand*

I love my kitty, but I'm pretty sure if he was bigger he would hunt me down and eat my liver with no qualms whatsover.

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

And one day Ruffles took that great hatred of humanity and became the Ragekitty.

[hiratsu.insanejournal.com]

This reminds me; I ought to go to the library soon. I'm still trying to get my Dad hooked on the series, like I did with a few others. :3

Also, I love kitty!Dream. Because kitty.

[aaron_bourque.insanejournal.com]

Dream doesn't tell people the truth. He tells them stories they need to hear.

[shanejayell.insanejournal.com]

I love the last bit. :)

[nagaoka.insanejournal.com]

Daww white kitten...

I bet if Daniel looks exactly like that when he takes kitty form. No big scary black panther form for him!

[drake_crus.insanejournal.com]

Just read the Dream Hunters mini they published a while back... Dream as a fox and Dream as a kitty... wonder how the other Endless appear to different species... Goth-Girl-Kitty would just rock...

[queenanthai.insanejournal.com]

I cannot handle even the NOTION of cruelty to cats. I cannot. Damn this was hard to read.

[kusonaga.insanejournal.com]

One my favourite stories. Sandman always excelled at the one-shot issues.

[yaseen101.insanejournal.com]

I remember that one day I found a cat in my house and I wanted to keep it. My mom was unhappy about but she accepted it any way. I liked that cat very much and when I went to check on it one day I found that my cousing/babysitter/pain in the ass, had taken it to the roof and was going to get rid of it because she was allergic to it. Anyway, she was going to throw it on our neighbors roof even when I told her not to. She threw it anyway and it fell between the small space (about 30cm) between our house and the neighbours and that was the last time I saw that cat. Still miss him.

[merseybeatler.insanejournal.com]

Eek! Cat's are scary. I get along with them really well and love 'em to death, sure, but they're scary.

My cat doesn't NEED to be the size of an elephant to hunt me - she does it anyway, despite being a tiny Cornish Rex with crazy eyes.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

My favorite thing about dog ownership is how you'll get a dog that loves squeaky toys, and she'll run around the house chewing on it all SQUEAKYSQUEAKYSQUEAKYSQUEAKYSQUEAKYSQUEAK and everybody goes "ZOMG, that's so cute, look at her with that toy!" and somehow totally separating themselves from the fact that the squeaking is meant to simulate a prey animal in distress, and the animal relishing in that sound can snap your arm bones in half with her jaws.

And that's an animal that actually loves its human.

[goblinthebamf.insanejournal.com]

great, now I'm torn between cuddling my kitten close and whispering to her that I'll never let anyone hurt her like that and looking at her even more suspiciously from a distance as she hunts my fingers.

[unknownscribler.insanejournal.com]

Gah, that is not a blue-point siamese! The colouring seems to vacilate between seal and chocolate point.

[leikomgwtfbbq.insanejournal.com]

This was always one of my favorite Sandman stories, although I love pretty much every single panel on every single page of that comic. XD It's definitely my favorite comic ever.

[proteus_lives.insanejournal.com]

Good story.

It's true, cats would kill us if the chance arose. Prepare. Just like for zombies, aliens, robots.

[thebat_man.insanejournal.com]

I love cats. This is my favorite Sandman issue. It really shows how great and versatile artist Kelley Jones is. Thank you for posting this for all to see.