Like the Dawn

Tess begins her dream sailing peacefully along a pristine coastline; it's not long before a storm approaches, capsizing her. Normally the dream would end there, but this is a dream unlike any other. When she wakes up, she's still in her dream and discovers that here, her sign language has power.

Back in reality, college-student Tess faces another storm; death, and the debris it leaves in its wake. Tess's Aunt Valentine, the woman who taught her ASL and practically raised her, is dying and treatment isn't working. On top of this, Tess is finishing her degree in English with hopes to make her mark on the world through her poetry. Oh yeah, and she's working in an art gallery for a family friend, Alice, preparing a new exhibit featuring the invisible beauty of trees. It's a hectic life to balance.

And now, she keeps having the same dream in a living world. Every night she returns to find the world changed, whether its creatures of her subconscious she calls Tones or an oddly intuitive boy who claims to be her guide. Then there's the monster her Tones call Amiko who seems to want her dead. Tess is starting to think this could be a nightmare instead.

As she dives further into the dream, she loses her grip on reality. She can do anything, conquer it all, but can she find a way to save her aunt?