Like the Dawn
- Reads 93
- Votes 6
- Parts 36
Ongoing5h 35m
Last published Thu, Jan 2, 2025
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?
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dreamworld
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"What the hell?" I took a step closer to the mirror, staring at my reflection in disbelief. The person looking back was still me, but at the same time it wasn't. I had the same thick, dark, curly hair. The same hazel eyes. The same olive skin with a light dusting of freckles (ugh) scattered across the bridge of my nose. But my curls were now streaked with highlights. And not the subtle, golden-brown ones that sometimes appeared during the summer. No, these were an aggressive, dazzling blond that went from the roots of my hair all the way to the tips. It looked like I had spent a full day getting my hair done in some upscale salon. Never mind that I had never set foot in such a place since the day I was born. My eyes appeared somehow wider and more luminous. The colour brighter, my eyelashes darker up against them. And, when I looked closely, my pupils seemed to be slitted almost like a cat. I looked down at my body. My skinny arms-which had always refused to gain any definition no matter how hard I exercised-were lined with flat, wiry muscles. My bony shoulders were now curved and smooth. My scrawny legs were toned like a dancer. I reached down and lifted my shirt, revealing two subtle lines running vertically down my perfectly flat stomach, hinting at the rock-hard abs underneath. My whole body was rippling with strength. Like liquid steel.
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