The Dreamers

Abstract

The Dreamers follows firstly Kara Sanders, a student who presents with signs of sleepiness and fatigue. She is rushed to the hospital and is soon declared dead. However, other people start being affected by these same symptoms, and an airborne “sleeping virus” is soon discovered, with quarantines put into motion. It is eventually discovered that the people infected by the virus are not actually dead, but sleeping, registering more brain activity than any that has ever been seen in the human brain. Later, another character, Nathaniel (a biology professor), visits his lover Henry, who is also infected by the virus. Surprisingly, doctors note that, after many years of sleeping, Henry started talking. Other victims start to wake up as well, and it is revealed that the sleepers actually dreamed of lives they have never lived, as well as having visions of the past, present, and future. These “travels” between parallel universes left some people (who woke up) unable to discern dreams from reality, while others revealed their visions of the future, including natural catastrophes who eventually came to be.