Sleepy Sleepland

The Sleepy Forest

Where the trees close their eyes one branch at a time

The Sleepy Springs

Where the water begins, coming out of the ground

The Snoozy Stream

The willow and the crossing. Never “Sleepy Stream”

The Sleepy Waterfall

Where the water slows to a murmur and stays there

The Sleepy Lake

You cannot see the other side

The Starlit Shore

Stars in the water. The threshold between the lake and the sea

The Sleepy Sea

It breathes. Heard, never arrived at

The Moonlit Hollow

A sibling hollow, off the route, under a full moon

The Rainfall Hollow

The same hollow, in warm rain

The Snowfall Hollow

The same hollow, under snow

The Cloud Meadow

The same hollow, up in the cloud tops

Tardy’s Home

The mushroom house at the end of the path

Tardy’s Bedroom

Where the arrival actually happens — never on screen

The Crescent Moon

Up where the stars go out one by one

Space

Thirty years asleep and none the worse for it

Lair Bear’s Cave

Warm, dark and safe, for the very longest sleeps

The Yumekawa

The dream river — wide, slow, and moving the whole time

The Dreaming Pools

A stair of small basins on the flank of the fall, each one spilling into the next

The Hush

Long grass along the lake. It takes the wind so the water does not have to

The Luna Laguna

Where the lake stops being a lake — the first warm water, and the moon in it before you look up

Grove to Sleep

The mangrove crossing, where the fresh water meets the salt

Tardy’s Creek

The one place that is not on the way. It goes nowhere

The Peaceful Plains

Long grey-green grass, and one slow wave travelling through it

The Silent Savannah

The one warm place. Nothing is hunting and nothing is being hunted

The Big Shush

The shore. You cannot tell where the water ends and the sky starts