........~†                                          †~........
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.........~ THE FERAL DREAM          ~~~~# ~~~~# ~~# ~.........
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.......~†% †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† %†~.......
......~†%¤ † 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.)        ..........
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.........~   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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...~†%¤¤##                                          ##¤¤%†~...
..~†%¤¤###                                          ###¤¤%†~..