Tomorrow is on the Other Side of Sleep

 This is how I used to describe today vs tomorrow while I worked nights.  It’s also what gave me the idea for this plot…ish thing, and it’ll be kind of a pain to implement if I do do this.  I sat all day today and thought on this idea some more.  I did want it to be supernatural; not necessarily horror per se, but more of a quest thing.  There are no romance aspects, actually, but there are items you’d have to collect and put together.  The thing for me was rounding up folktales/legends and supernatural critters local(ish) to my area and cross-referencing them with their roots or counterparts in Europe – specifically Scotland, Ireland and England, where most Appalachian settlers came from – without treading too deeply into the indigenous mythology of the region.  I have one reference to that, actually, and even that’s sort of an aside.  I’m not comfortable trying to tackle…prickly topics.  Plus that’s not my bloodline as far as I know.

The end result is I have two characters specific to the area, another of a more general nature, one original to myself, and four derived from the mythology of the British Isles (mostly Scotland).  I’m one of those people who actually liked American Gods and how that presented the concept of spirits migrating with their cultures, so…there’s some of that as well.

The passage-of-time aspect would be hairy, I think, since you have a one-week time limit on your storyline, but you can cheat it by not sleeping.  Staying awake prevents ‘tomorrow’ from coming, but the longer you stay awake, the more things can go wrong for you or the weaker you get.  I can’t say much about the plot or the characters aside from this without super spoilage, but…

The last thing you remember is closing your eyes.  Now you find yourself back in your hometown, and some really strange things are going on..not the least of which is the unchangeable fact that you’re dead.  You have one week to figure out what’s happening and fix your problems, or you’re going to be stuck with one hell of a job…forever.

Your guide is a strangely familiar little girl named One-and-a-Half (and her Taily-Po). You rediscover Hobble, the imaginary friend of your childhood..who’s not just imaginary after all.  It turns out local legends Ben Bogart and Dovey the Washerwoman aren’t just legends, and there are more things lurking within (and without) the town limits than you ever really wanted to think possible.