The dreamer’s syndrome.

Dreams, they make the world. They can change every thing in a minute or they can cause the subtlest tides. They are a hope for a better tomorrow today. But above all else they are a passion for something that is not. And most of those dreams get fulfilled. But what of the dreams that are pure fancy? The dreams that are dreamt even though they think that they can never come true, not because they are not plausible but rather they go against the way of the world as we know it. Some express these dreams in creative but mundane ways. But most just carry them on in their souls. Over time these dreams have built up over successive generations of mundane life. But then came a day. A day that the world was turned on its ear. A day that all the impossible dreams came true. A day that created a powerful surge called the Dreamers Syndrome.

Prelude to destiny

“Our destinies are just the sum of our choices”-Kitmehsu

Click. "Nope, no good." Click. "Maybe, if I can't find any others." Click. "Nah." Click tap-tap-tap Click. "Hmm. What do we have hear?" Click. "Ah, here a good one to subscribe to," he chuckled as a wide grin crept upon his acme spotted face. Click. "There, now to start catching up on the archives of yet another webcomic," he yawned contentedly, stretching his lanky body to it's full length. He flexes his long and mildly bony fingers till they popped and does the same to his neck. Then he shakes out his long legs and slides his hands into his jeans pockets before his brown eyes glanced around the room to make sure that none of his siblings were in sight. He sighs, "This is just too easy," while running his fingers like a comb through his thick brown hair. Right now, Life is good for Tyler VanMearen. Or so he thought.

The phone rang. Once. Twice. The answering machine comes to life with the default prerecorded message, "No one is able to pick up the phone right now. Please leave your message after the beep." After the toneless voice ceases a beep sounds and on comes a much more personal voice. "Guys it’s me, pick up." Tyler, instantly recognizing the voice as that of his mother, scrambles to get the phone to only have been beaten there by his little sister. He anxiously tapped his foot while he waited for the phone and filtering out her conversation for any thing that she shouldn't be saying to their mom. Finally she surrenders the phone.

"Hello," Tyler answers.

"Ty what are you up to?" investigated his mother.

"Just watching TV," he lied.

"All right. Did you make sure that Sarah and Mitchell did their homework?"

"I'll do that right now," he complied, leaving the phone on the table. After a brief struggle to retrieve the information from his siblings he returns to the phone conversation. "Sarah says that she did all of it in class and Mitchell through a fit when I asked but I eventually made out that he had math to do form the screams."

"Make sure that he does it. What are you going to make for dinner?"

"I can't find anything to make Mom."

"There should be macaroni and cheese in the pantry."

"Mom," he groaned, "I don't feel like making macaroni and cheese."

"I didn't ask what you felt like doing. Just do it."

"Fine, I'll do it," he grumbled.

"Don't take that tone with me. It had better be done by the time I get home."

"Okay."

"I'll see you in a half an hour."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ty hung up the phone and sighed. "Well I had better get the water boiling if it has to be done by the time she gets home," he whispered to the air as he trudge off to the kitchen.

"All right Ty, what's wrong?" inquired his mother. Ty, who had been looking off into space, crashed back into reality at the sound of her voice.

He looked around bewildered for a moment. Then muttered "Huh?"

"You haven’t touched you dinner."

"Oh that," he mutters halfheartedly while pulling his hands earthward across his face. "I told you earlier that I didn't feel like macaroni and cheese."

"If you really didn't want to eat it you wouldn't have accepted the bowl. So why haven't touched your food?"

Ty sighs heavily. "I don't know, I guess I am not feeling to well."

"Hmm. Let me feel your forehead," she instructed. Meekly, he obeyed. "Hmm. You feel a little warm, but not hot enough to be sick. But to be on the safe side you should head to bed." His objections to this had gone the way of his appetite so he complied and headed off to his room with out saying a word.

He fell asleep as soon as he laid down, something that just doesn't happen to him under normal circumstances. His dreams were the normal scatter brained musing of a subconscious mind. At least, they were at first. Then out of nowhere the world of his dream fell out from beneath him leaving him seemingly stranded in a desolate void. “What is going on?” he thought to himself. “This is definitely not supposed to happen. It has to be a dream.” Then a blinding light rushed into the void from a tear is space beneath him. It beckoned him to leave the void. “Should I go in? It seams as if there is nothing else for me here. Do I have anything to lose? Ah who am I kidding? This is just a dream, there is nothing that you can actually lose in a dream.” He drifted over to the tear and lingered for a moment. “Well, here I go.” He shot down the tear, all the while mentally shouting, “Gerronnimo!”

But instead of bursting back into his dreams he reemerged into reality. Ty was stunned by the abrupt change of perception. "That was interesting," he whispered to himself after he regained his composure. He sat there performing a mental scan of his dream and committed it to memory. I wonder what that was about, he pondered to himself afterwards. “I guess that’s what I get for going to bed without supper. Maybe I should go get a snack. Nah. Besides, knowing my luck, I’d trip over something and wake every one else.” His thoughts resigned, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning...

Pounding on his door roused him from his slumber. “What?” he shouted groggily.

“You had better see what’s on the news,” came his mothers voice through the cracks in the doorway

“Why what is happening?” he replied, becoming highly alert.

“You have to see it,” came the voice of Sarah. “You wouldn’t believe us if we told you.”

“All right, I’ll bite.”

Using every ounce of will power, he got up, got dressed, and walked out the door. He followed them to the living room to see just what they were talking about. The moment he walked into the room he gazed at the TV. It was the northern lights… in the daytime. The made him give his complete attention to the news restorers voice coming up. “This interesting phenomenon has scientists baffled. For not only have the northern lights appeared during daylight hours they also have appeared over equatorial cities as well. This is in addition to all the other odd occurrences to day has many claiming outlandish things such as the world is coming to an end or that aliens have arrived.”

Ty stood their not even devoting the amount of thought needed to blink away from wondering what was going on. “What other occurrences?” he inquired as he turned slowly to face stare at them.

“Well it seams as though there are people who, how should say this, different,” Sarah attempted to explain.

“What do you mean different?”

“Well they don’t look purely human any more.”

“What happened?” he asked his mother, giving up on a straight answer form his sister.

“Some people just, changed,” hi mother explained with great difficulty. “Some grew wings. Not angel wings, more like dragons. Some of them also got a tail to make a set. Others seamed to become like some sort of wolf or fox. Or at least that is what they resemble, since they also have more than one tail.” That description rung a bell in Ty’s mind.

“That sounds like a kitsune.”

“A what?”

“A kitsune, a many tailed fox spirit from Japanese mythology.”

“Well that seams to fit the fantasy theme,” chimed in his sister.

“Fantasy theme?”

“Well as mom was saying before you interrupted her, the last type of change that people had gone through was developing some sort of magic powers.”

“Actually, Sarah they said that all of the effected people developed some sort of powers. It’s just that some didn’t have their bodies change.”

“Uhhhh,” Ty groaned and collapsed down to his knees.

“Ty, what’s the matter?” clamored his mother, panicked.

“Ugh,” Sarah grunted as she collapsed and passed out.

“Sarah!” she shouts to her unconscious daughter as she tries to awake her. “Please wake up.”

“Mom...” Ty manages to moan before he too passed out.

Hey, this is that void again. It has to be. Yeah there’s that gate that I went through in my dream. But why don’t I feel it calling me in? What’s that coming out? It looks like me but it has something odd about it. Man I wish I could make it out but I guess I can’t cause it is in front of the only source of light. Huh, is that another one? It looks similar but it just feels different to me. They're coming closer. I wish they would hurry up. I have to know why they feel so similar to me yet completely different. Wait, they aren’t coming toward me, they are going to go through me. I can’t move. Why can’t I move? They are almost here! I have to move! Ahhhh!

Ty... Ty... Ty...“Ty, wake up,” came the voice of his mother past the blinding light.

“Uh,” he groaned while his eye tried to adjust.

“Ty, your awake!” his mother yipped ecstatically and locked him in a vice grip of a hug. “I was so worried about you and your sister and I wondered if it would even be you when you woke up...”

“Mom, if you don’t stop squeezing me, I am going to pass out again,” he managed to gasp.

“I sorry, I was just so afraid I was going to lose you.”

“Lose me? Was I almost dead or something? And why can’t I feel anything below my neck?”

“They doctor said that the numbness is a side effect of the changes you just went through.”

“Changes?” he stammered, the bottom fallen out of his stomach.

“Yes changes.”

“What kind of changes?” he questioned, fearing the worst.

“The same one we were talking about before you passed out.”

“I need to see a mirror.”

“I’ll ask for one when the nurse comes by. You know you’re very lucky.”

“I’m lucky?”

“Yes you are. You only had your body changed, most people had their mind, altered, so to speak.”

“Altered?”

“Basically, they’re still the same person, just how they express it is different. Some now are reserved and deep-thinking, while others are spontaneous and free spirited. BUt all seam to have developed a hudge pride in their change. All but you.”

“So do you know why I didn’t have my personality changed?” Right then a nurse came by.

“Um nurse, could you get a mirror for my son?”

“Sure thing miss,” replied the nurse. “I think you daughter may be waking soon.”

“Thank you for telling me that. Will you be okay while I check on your sister?”

“I’ll be fine mom,” replied Ty, “ it’s not like I can go anywhere.”

“I’m serious, this is a very traumatic experience for all of us. I don’t want to find my son a gibbering idiot when I get back just because he couldn’t take how he looked like.”

“You had better get moving before I get all the feeling back in my limbs, or else I’ll have to return the hug from earlier.”

“Now is that a threat?”

“Depends on how fast you leave.”

“Now is that how you should talk to your mother?”

“Yes if she is taking her sweat time leaving.”

“Fine, I can tell when I am not wanted,” she pouted with a smirk. She passed the nurse taking in the full size mirror in to the room.

“Did you happen to order a mirror?” asked the nurse, her eyes full of laughter.

“I thought that I was going to get a small mirror.”

“And how would you hold it mister floppy arms?”

“I didn’t want you go through all the trouble of taking the mirror upstairs.”

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, it was in this room to begin with so I would have had to taken it back up here anyway.”

“Why was it removed?”

“We didn’t want you to wake and see yourself and not have a clue what is going on.”

“Good point.”

“Well are you ready to see the new you?”

“As much as I dread it, yes.”

“Shale I give you a lift?”

“Yeah, I guess that is kind of necessary isn’t it?”

“That it is.”

“Say, could you tell me exactly why I can’t feel or move anything below my neck?”

“I not really sure, but I heard the doctors saying that it might be from your nerves realigning for your new appendages.”

“As farfetched as that sounds, it makes sense. So are you going to take the innovative or do I have to push an up button with my nose?” he commented with big smirk.

“Yes your royal limpness,” she obeyed, toping it off with a flamboyant fake bow.

The Nurse carefully lifted him with the ease of practice and hosted Ty to a point in which he could see him self in the mirror. His eyes Greadaly drunk in the sight of himself. Most of him seamed unchanged, but it was emeaditly aparant what had changed. From his back, large dragonic wings had grown and now hung as limply as the rest of his body. But that was not the only change by far. From his rear hung three fox tails the same brown color as his hair with a white tip. Now he knew why He was so different form even the other transformations. He had changed not just one way,but two. He was both a kitsune and a dragon.