Metamorphosed: Sunýs Gift

By Gerry Bryant

One fateful day, Gary suddenly believes he has woken from a dream and discovers that he has undergone a metamorphosis. Keenly aware of his newly acquired powers of sense and perception, Gary is transported to a faraway land, where he embarks on a journey of adventure and fulfillment.

Gary walks to the College Library, where reading brings him closer to the great secrets of life and propels him to the dark Palace of Tears. He visits the Sultan and his daughter, the beautiful Princess. When he meets Genie, he is transported to Robinson Crusoe's island and myriad mesmerizing adventures.

Edgar Allan Poe's raven introduces a midnight walk through a cave, where Gary arrives at a heart-pounding, cataclysmic conclusion. Garden paradise, a Spanish encounter, and a deadly meeting with cannibals, culminate in Gary's search for treasure at the end of the rainbow. A meeting with famous writers from the past brings Gary's journey to a fantastic ending and new beginning. But is it all real, or just a dream?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 28, 2006
• ISBN: 9780595811502

Gerry Bryant

Gerry Fraser Bryant lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is currently working on his next novel. Having grown up in the San Joaquin Valley town of Visalia, tennis, writing and poetry are his passions. Metamorphosed is his first novella and first of the continuing Fraser Series.

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Copyright © 2006 by Gerry Fraser Bryant

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

A Word About Words

Prologue

P A R T I NEW BEGINNINGS AND COLLEGE

CHAPTER 1 METAMORPHOSIS

CHAPTER 2 HE SAW HER!

CHAPTER 3 THE CAMPUS LIBRARY

CHAPTER 4 BOOKS!

P A R T II SHADES OF THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

CHAPTER 5 THE PALACE OF TEARS

CHAPTER 6 THE PALACE OF JOY

CHAPTER 7 THE PRINCESS

CHAPTER 8 DANCE AND ROMANCE OF ALL NIGHTS

CHAPTER 9 GENIE

P A R T III ROBINSON CRUSOE’S ISLAND

CHAPTER 10 ROBINSON CRUSOE’S ISLAND

CHAPTER 11 MEETING AT THE OASIS

CHAPTER 12 DREAMS OF FAME AND PAIN AND GLORY

CHAPTER 13 ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF BLISS

CHAPTER 14 FORGIVE ME!

CHAPTER 15 FATE

CHAPTER 16 FATHER

CHAPTER 17 JOURNEY OF ADVENTURE

CHAPTER 18 THE CAVE: DOUBLE IMAGE

CHAPTER 19 GARDEN PARADISE

CHAPTER 20 THE ENCOUNTER

CHAPTER 21 A SOLDIER’S STORY: THE CANNIBALS

CHAPTER 22 FOLLOW THE GOLD

CHAPTER 23 TREASURE HUNT

P A R T IV AVENUES TO DISCOVERY

CHAPTER 24 THE RAINBOW

CHAPTER 25 FAMOUS WRITERS FROM THE PAST

CHAPTER 26 SLEEP SWEET SLEEP!

Dedicated to

Michelle Mei-Jen Kuo

&

Ling Yi-Ling Kuo

Acknowledgments

I want to express my gratitude to many individuals for their kind comments and critical reviews. First and foremost, thanks and appreciations go to Faye Hsiu-Hui Kuo. Faye has thoughtfully and with great diligence read my story, occasionally adding her own remarks. Thanks to Dr. Don Markos, retired professor of English, California State University, Hayward. Don’s careful review and comments were helpful and greatly appreciated. I want to thank Art Squires, an English graduate from the University of California at Berkeley, whose review and critical comments were of great help.

Loving, heartfelt, posthumous thanks go to my father, Alton Edward Bryant, especially because he always encouraged me to write! And a very special thanks goes to my mother, Gladys Fraser Bryant, whose encouragement over the years I appreciate beyond words I can properly express. The grammatical suggestions from this former elementary school teacher were as always of great help. Many thanks and much grateful appreciation to Michelle and Ling Kuo, for their endearing friendship. They were a great inspiration to me when I first started my writing career a few years ago. Were it not for them, this story may not have been written. I send very special thanks to Carol Hsu whose comments and critique from distant China, have been quite helpful. And grateful thanks to Stacey Jiawen He, of Shanghai, whose help and inspiration were appreciated very much. I also want to thank a Canadian, Catherine Curl, for her excellent critique and added remarks. Thanks also to Marian Kim for her review and comments.

I want to give special thanks to Juanwen Zhao, whose expert knowledge of language and words, from the distant shores of Singapore, has been quite helpful. I want to express very special appreciation to Juanwen for her thoughtful editorial assistance and technical expertise. Her final review was absolutely invaluable. Many thanks to all!

GFB

June 2006

Preface

Metamorphosed is for readers of all ages—from 9 to 90! However, those over 90 please keep reading. This story is especially for students, yet adults you too will enjoy this book.

A special note to students: It is my strong hope and fervent desire that the words of this story will convey to you a feeling of excitement and adventure that will accompany your wondrous journey through the halls of education—the opportunity of a lifetime. In regards to words, and especially for foreign students, please remember that large words are really just the meanings of smaller words put together. Reading and understanding the use of words (the pieces of language) is good practice and can be quite helpful for your future studies. A few words herein you will find immensely interesting. I’ve included footnotes for your general interest; there are some real treasures here.

A special note to adults: This is not a student’s book that adults can read; instead, it is an adult’s book that students can read. It sounds a little like a play on words, but it really is the only way I can say it. I give you the best of both worlds. I invite you to remember back to those enchanted days of your youth and how wonderful it was to read fantastic stories that marvelously stimulated your interest and at the same time challenged your intellect.

I wish you all good reading and enjoyment!

A Word About Words

In regards to words, I want to share with you something I have just recently learned. The English language comprises more words than does any other language. It has from three to four times more words in its vocabulary than does the next largest, which is the German language. This means that we have more words available to use to express our thoughts and ideas. These words in English help us to express ourselves clearly, so we can communicate what we mean with definition. We should look at words as our friends; they are usually of great help to us. That does not mean we need to use words that are fancy, or highfalutin (speaking of fancy words!) just for the sake of sounding good. But we can learn new words and expand our vocabulary. In writing this book I have tried to use words that define what I want to say but at the same time are familiar and easy to understand. Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, says it best in the conclusion of his An Essay on Projects, published in 1697: As to language, I have been rather careful to make it speak English suitable to the manner of the story than to dress it up with exactness of style, choosing rather to have it free and familiar...

Postscript: Readers of the 22nd Century and beyond—you will like this story as much as the readers who have gone before you. Enjoy your life! And remember that love is always a varied mixture of fantasy and reality. Make the most of both!

Prologue

N o! No! A frantic scream rang out into the night air, yet it was unheard by human ear. It was horrid—horrid and frightening. Lost and wandering in a mystical dream and drifting somewhere between sleep and consciousness, Gary was a butterfly dreaming he was a man. But was this dream a reality, or was it only the reality of a dream? A transformation had taken place. Caught and held tightly, Gary feared what he knew was not, was not untrue. He knew what was real; he thought he knew what was real. What was happening? The gray shadows in the night play such tricks. However, these were more than shadows; they were vaulted, clinging, washboard arches, with ridged rungs.

Gary was bound and held tightly in a labyrinthine cocoon. A hardened cylindrical shell encased his body; it was his armor! But was it to protect him or to imprison him? Try as he might, Gary could not wriggle his way out. It was a confining and ruinous tomb. He frantically thought, What has happened to me? This can’t be true. This must be a dream. Gary cried out in the night with anguish and hope:

Oh carry me away, oh please,

Oh carry me away.

To a better place, oh please,

Oh carry me away.

Then suddenly, inexplicably, the crusted enclosure became brittle and