Chapter 1: Not a Dream

A long day had just come to an end for professor Darwin. They had just started using more complicated material in their lectures, and it seemed like most of his students were in a daze during class.

His ride home was the usual. An empty road, on a dark night with no cars but his.

The blue electric car *rolled into* the garage, and a man stepped out. The house was nothing special. It was just your average house. White, with stairs leading to a wooden dock, where the rocking chair he read the most in stood. A small, round table to match the chair stood next to it.

The man walked from the car, across the neatly arranged lawn. It was Monday, and the gardener had worked on the lawn just yesterday.

The man wore a long, dark brown coat, with black pants. He held a black suitcase in his left hand.

The sound of the lock echoed through the empty house, and the door screeched slightly as the exhausted professor opened it.

Great, he thought with a sigh, and I just oiled it before yesterday. Guess I'll have to call someone to fix it.

He didn't bother turning any lights on. There wasn't anything particularly new to see in his old living room.

Darwin went straight to his bedroom. He was usually tired, but today in particular has multiple problems that weren't very fun to deal with.

He had waited his whole day for his few hours of sleep. Though somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he wouldn't enjoy it much.

He got into his bedroom, set his suitcase on his work desk, and started changing in the dark.

He never really turned on his lights much, there was no need to. He has lived in the same house for seven years now and had memorized its layout by the third.

The house never really changed much, if at all. Most of the furniture was dark oak wood, polished. Of good quality. It wasn't worn out and practically looked brand new. Never used much over the seven years, since the owner of the house was almost always busy and attending business outside the house.

The professor finally finished changing, He was now wearing grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt. He had short, dark black hair that was almost invisible in the darkness of the room. His light brown eyes sparkled slightly as another car drove past his window. His beard was not tall, but somewhat thick with a similar moustache to match.

The average heighted, 30 year-old man laid down on his bed. And as per usual, a sense of loneliness washed over him.

He wasn't a bad person by any means, the professor simply had not much time for relationships or hobbies.

Weill, not abselutly no time. But when you have so little time, it's easier to simply avoid such things. Even if I did find love somewhere out there, I don't think I would pursue it.

Darwin's brain filled up with formulas and problems, pushing away his loneliness. They weren't much better though, the only thing he actually wanted now was silence and rest...

But I bet even if I got any rest, my dream would break the silence.

As he finally started falling asleep, he remembered his reoccurring dreams that had started a month ago.

And finally, he dozed off.....

He opened his eyes. But instead of seeing the roof of his room, he saw the vast off-white room, with occasional shades of pink that he was now ever so familiar with.

He didn't feel his clothes on him but didn't bother looking down. Darwin knew quite well by now that he was but a glowing pink figure.

He stared at the dazzling horizon for a moment, completely captured by it.

Maybe these reoccurring dreams are something like Salvador Dali's, he thought, wonder if I can live a more peaceful life as an artist.

The professor was so focused on this thought that he was almost caught off by the gentle spread of bright white around his distant canvass of a dream, and the slightly less distant ball growing into a now-familiar figure.

The tall and slightly blurred figure was now the closest thing to the professor, although still considerably distant. Except for its pure black eyes, glossy white glow, and arms that reached to what the man believed to be knees, one would think it was just a human.

The professor remembered the words he had heard for so long now.

I am no deity. I am but a creature similar to you, Do not fret your life, human, for I come in peace.

But instead of the familiar phrase, when the figure spoke it said," Oh, will you look at that, you've remembered my message."

The professor took a moment to process what had just happened. And when he realized he lost all the coolheadedness he has. He has thought of this as nothing but a dream, a mere trick of the mind, But here was Darwin, witnessing his dream speak back to him. interacting in a way distinct from Darwin's. Understanding. Changing.

"Well," the figure spoke again, seeming more distant to the professor, but far more alive and in focus," I believe introductions are in order."

And with those words, two thoughts struck Profesor Darwin. The first: I have gone crazy. But the second made more sense.

This....is not a dream.