.-~†**#@##                                          ##@#**†~-.
..-~†**#@#                                          #@#**†~-..
...-~†**#@                                          @#**†~-...
....-~†**#                                          #**†~-....
.....-~†**                                          **†~-.....
......-~†* THE FERAL DREAM          ~~~~@ ~~~~@ ~~@ *†~-......
.......-~†                                          †~-.......
........-~ †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ~-........
.........- † EVENT: INGESTION OF THREE HUNDRED    † -.........
.......... † AND SIXTY MICROGRAMS OF SELATENINE   † ..........
.........- †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† -.........
........-~                                          ~-........
.......-~†     A GENTLE TRANSFORMATION OCCURS.      †~-.......
......-~†*                                          *†~-......
.....-~†**   FIRST, JUST AN ISOLATED PRICK IN THE   **†~-.....
....-~†**# FINGERS, WHICH COULD BE NOTHING. EXCEPT  #**†~-....
...-~†**#@   THERE IS A TENSION THAT WASN'T THERE   @#**†~-...
..-~†**#@#                 BEFORE.                  #@#**†~-..
.-~†**#@##                                          ##@#**†~-.
..-~†**#@#    JOY AS A TELEVISION STATIC SPREADS    #@#**†~-..
...-~†**#@  SLOWLY UP THE ARMS. (OLD LIMBS FALLING  @#**†~-...
....-~†**#        ASLEEP FOR THE LAST TIME.)        #**†~-....
.....-~†**                                          **†~-.....
......-~†*  NEXT IS A PRIVATE MOMENT, AND WE MUST   *†~-......
.......-~†    LOOK AWAY FOR A BIT. BUT WHATEVER'S   †~-.......
........-~    HAPPENING DOESN'T SOUND UNPLEASANT.   ~-........
.........-   SHORT BREATH, MOANS, BONES BREAKING,   -.........
..........  MAYBE; BUT THESE ARE RAPTOROUS THINGS,  ..........
.........-          THEY ARE EXULTATIONS.           -.........
........-~                                          ~-........
.......-~†  FOR A SPLIT SECOND, THE ROOM IS DEVOID  †~-.......
......-~†*    OF LIFE. BUT THEN, THE EVENING SUN    *†~-......
.....-~†**  FINDS SOMETHING NEW ON THE FLOOR. IN A  **†~-.....
....-~†**#   POOL OF PRIMORDIAL WATER, A SHIVERING  #**†~-....
...-~†**#@       FOURLEGGER OPENS THEIR EYES.       @#**†~-...
..-~†**#@#                                          #@#**†~-..
.-~†**#@##     THERE IS A SECOND BLOOMING, AND A    ##@#**†~-.
..-~†**#@#    THIRD, AND A FOURTH. STRUGGLING TO    #@#**†~-..
...-~†**#@  RISE, FINDING THE UNEXPECTED STRENGTH   @#**†~-...
....-~†**# OF THE NEW BODY, FALLING HEADFIRST INTO  #**†~-....
.....-~†**                NEW URGES.                **†~-.....
......-~†*                                          *†~-......
.......-~†  ESCAPING THROUGH THE GLASSLESS WINDOW.  †~-.......
........-~      OUTSIDE, THE WORLD IS WAITING.      ~-........
.........-                                          -.........
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.........-                                          -.........
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.......-~†                                          †~-.......