DREAMS.
The window to our souls.
That ethereal dimension where we think, fantasize, and imagine unburdened by the restrictions we know as "reality".
Not knowing that she might be a healer, foretold in an ancient scroll of Skulk leader Tachibana no Akane, Jenny Harper dreamed of a group therapy session between the various aspects of her life in order to help aid her recovery process and prepare herself better to face her family and their idea of "the proper suitor" for her, despite the fact that Jenny will be marrying her fiance Harry Jenkins on Halloween morning.*
Now, two other young lovers dream of the future to be...
Eric Anderson awoke with a start, uncertain of his surroundings.
In those hazy moments before one is fully awake, he became aware that he was completely underwater!
Fearful that he was at risk of drowning, Eric was about to attempt a rush for the surface, when he noticed the webbing between the fingers of both hands. Then he looked down and saw the blue-green scales of a merman's tail and fluke where his legs and feet should have been.
"I DID IT!" he shouted, not realizing that he talked underwater.
My love for Julie is so strong, that I became a were-mer just for her.
It took just a second for Eric to look and discover his girlfriend, in her complete were-mermaid persona, lying sound asleep next to him with a smile upon her beautiful face.
He sat and stared at Julie for a moment. The gentle rise and fall of her chest in peaceful slumber. Her luscious curves tapering into her goldfish tone tail.
Eric felt his new were-merman penis start to stir within the hidden recess of his tail, but knew there would be plenty of opportunities to have more carnal knowledge of his mer-lady in the future. Now was the time for more romantic gestures.
He laid back down next to her, embracing Julie within his arms as Eric gave her a gentle kiss upon her ruby lips.
They were destined to be together, and now that destiny had been fulfilled.
They would finish and graduate high school together.
Study and complete college together, then jointly pursue careers that were both academically challenging and would help make the world a better place for humans and weres alike.
Somewhere along the way, they would marry, raise a family, and live happily forever after.
But for now, it was time for just peaceful slumber and promising dreams of the future.
Unfortunately, Julie Stovall's dreams were far from promising.
Underwater in full were-mermaid mode, she was being dragged in chains by two burly were-mer guards into a courtroom, where the elders of her pod would sit in judgement.
"Julie Alexandra Stovall. This tribunal is convened to see if there is sufficient evidence for you to face charges of violating Moon Lake Statue 1-A," said one of the older mermen sitting on a dais above her.
Julie gasped at the announcement. Statute 1-A was changing a normal human into a were against their will. If found guilty...
"You mean in regards to Eric Anderson?" she asked, now greatly worried about the outcome of the hearing. "But he's my destined soul mate. I saw his eyes change color long before we—"
"Silence!" yelled one of the other mer-elders, before the first one resumed speaking.
"Did you willfully and knowingly manipulate events so that Eric Anderson would experience his induction into were-society and his first transformation to become a were-merman before his predetermined time?"
"I... that is... you see..."
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" demanded the elders, in unison.
Julie's only response was to scream in terror.
It was almost six in the morning. Melissa Stovall had just seen her husband Martin off on his emergency trip to California to check on his recently injured mother** when she heard her daughter cry out in terror. She rushed into Julie's bedroom, flipping on the light switch even as she asked if Julie was all right.
"Oh mom! It was terrible!" cried Julie, sobbing into her mother's shoulders as Melissa held her close on the bed.
Melissa listened to every word, hearing the tone of fear in Julie's voice. When her daughter finished recounting the nightmare, her mother said, "Okay. I explained my plan to you last night, and you admitted to having some qualms then. This nightmare was just your fears manifesting themselves a different way. You love Eric so much that you're afraid we might be tricking him or going to risk hurting him somehow. You're worried that it might be too soon. That we're rushing things with my plan," she told Julie. "So to make everyone, including your own subconscious happy, just make sure Eric knows that you're only presenting an opportunity. If he doesn't want to tomorrow, then NO means NO, even for men."
Julie smiled and nodded in agreement, trying to dry her eyes as her mother added, "Now go back to sleep and try to get a little more rest. You still have a full day of school ahead of you."
Julie tried to do as her mother said, but still found it difficult to sleep.
She kept picturing Eric as he was at the moment, walking her home from school, compared to Eric as a were-merman, swimming off to parts unknown without her!
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*In our previous chapter, "...I'll find the answers I seek?"
**In "THE Mother Daughter Stovall Talk & Other Conversations".