Dawn City's morning light pierced the cold midnight mist.
The choir's hymns echoed throughout the city.
For the mortals who lived here, a new day had already begun with the first light of dawn.
But the Flower Moon Fairies of the Rumbadi Shop were still trapped in their nighttime dreams.
They entered dreams again and again, only to be woken each time.
Plump Sprout, in particular, felt she had it worst.
She had spent four straight hours falling asleep, only to be woken shortly afterward and made to start again. After so many repetitions, even she had lost count.
"Thirty-four times," Granny Tang's voice sounded behind her. "I've been keeping count for you."
Plump Sprout looked back and saw the melancholy in Granny Tang's eyes.
For the first two hours, Granny Tang had been puzzled. Gradually, that had turned into anger, then pity... Now she had completely come to terms with it, her emotions no longer fluctuating much. Only a faint sadness remained in her gaze.
"Granny..." Plump Sprout raised her short, plump, pale hands, which looked like sections of lotus root, and rubbed her eyes with their deep dark circles. "Do... do I still have to enter a dream?"
Granny Tang sighed, wanting to suggest they simply give up.
But when she looked at the dozen or so little fairies sleeping in a row on the soft blanket to the east, she shook her head.
"Keep going. They've all successfully entered Dawn's Dream. You're their big sister, and they're waiting for you to look after them. You can't give up now."
Seeing Plump Sprout's expression dim, Granny Tang wanted to encourage her, but didn't know what to say.
Plump Sprout's luck wasn't usually bad. She had never suffered any disasters, major or minor, and her fortune was fairly average.