Dreamer: The Activation of Makeba (2023)
Thando Weber is a half-South African and half-Swiss nerdy girl with hopes of going to the best university in Switzerland as her father did. She is also the last surviving descendant of the Watchers of Realms, a powerful race of light beings who watch over the Milky Way galaxy. Her mission is to find her lower self, and her higher self to complete her triad, so that she may bond with them and be the next Dreamer – an interdimensional traveller and protector of the Earth Realm.
Tortured by the transformation of moving from human to Dreamer, Thando hallucinates, sleepwalks, and suffers sleep deprivation, which destroys her dreams of tertiary education. On one mundane high school day, she loses consciousness and plunges into a coma, not from exhaustion but because she encounters her lower self and higher self simultaneously.
She starts her training to be a Dreamer, experiences challenges and travels through South Africa to find ways to release her latent superpowers. As she trains, the Kryona terrorises people around her to get to her. On her journeys through South Africa, she meets powerful creatures of old, ancient water spirits and primordial dragons who help her with her training. She is guided to traditional healers to assist her and comes across other traditional healers who betray her due to influence from the Kryona. Through her adventures, she learns about her mother’s Zulu culture and inches closer to her goal, but it is not enough.
Dreamer reviews
“Dreamer is a gripping coming-of-age story that spans spaces, times and realms, woven together delicately by Junghans. Thando is both relatable and otherworldly, and walking through this journey with her engages compassion for challenges known and unknown.”
“Dreamer was like a warm hug from the spiritual guides. It felt like journeying with Thando, and yet finding myself at her discovery of a new realm. It felt like coming home to myself.”
“I wish I could have read this book in my teens whilst in silent pursuit to discovering my true authentic self. Thando goes through tragic experiences that could have easily broken even the toughest of iron but as fate would have it, with every layer of her suffering, she discovered how magnificent she truly was. A reminder to the young and old that even with unexpected detours, your experiences ultimately lead you closer to your purpose and your gifts.
Tanya’s beautiful storytelling transports you to otherworldly dimensions that somehow bring you back to you. A beautiful love letter to those who love us, those who came before us, those who are with us and those who come through us. No one walks alone.”
As Ella and I were walking down the corridor towards the school exit, I texted my mother and asked her if I should bring anything on my way home from the shops. She replied quickly, saying we had everything we needed at home.
Ella and I were chatting about playing video games during the weekend when I started to feel as if my body were on fire, especially around my neck. My throat felt constricted, and I started to cough uncontrollably.
There was a high-pitched ringing sound in my ears. It rang louder and louder until it started to hurt my ears. I held my hands to my ears, trying to make it stop, but it didn’t relent.
I started to see red, as if the world were washed in fresh blood. Panicked, I wondered if my eyes were bleeding. I blinked to see if the red hue would clear, but it just became more intense. My eyes were dry and scratchy, and they started to water. The dry cough persisted, while efforts to mute the ringing in my ears with my palms failed.
“Thando! What’s wrong? What is happening to you?” Ella asked.
Ella’s voice sounded muffled. I couldn’t tell what was louder: the ringing in my ears or the beating of my heart.
Before I could respond to Ella, a strong gust of wind hit my feet and swept me up towards the ceiling until I could almost touch the exposed rafters with my head. Yet, when I looked down, I saw myself on the ground, standing next to Ella. I still had my hands over my ears. Am I outside my body? How am I seeing myself from above?
Time had slowed down on the ground while it moved normally where I floated.
A tall humanoid made of molten lava and flames materialised right behind my body on the ground. I could feel its warmth from the ceiling, but its heat did not burn anything around it. It stood with its hands around my neck, strangling me.
I screamed, but no sound came out.
“That’s a Kryona strangling you,” said a voice next to me. The voice was so close, I thought it came from my head. It was the voice of a man. It spoke matter-of-factly, as if there weren’t a fiery creature strangling a girl before it.
I looked around and I couldn’t see anyone. I had that familiar feeling of being watched. It must have been the shadow man speaking to me, but where was he? Still suspended in the air, my heart beating fast, I felt fear rush through my body.
“Do not be afraid,” said the voice. “If you become afraid, you will fall back into your body. And I need you here for just a little longer.”
I couldn’t speak back to this man’s voice in my head. I was too stunned.
“The Kryona will not rest until it has consumed you,” continued the voice. “Since it has not been able to consume you, it goes around consuming anyone who allows it, to satisfy its hunger for you. But substitutes of you do not satisfy it; instead, it just gets hungrier. Therefore, you need to consume it first to stop its carnage on other humans.”
Something about hearing those words set me off, and I was sucked into an intense panic attack. Adrenalin rushed through me, and I felt as if I were on the brink of death, my chest in intense pain. The panic catapulted me back into my body so violently that I almost crashed straight to the ground.
Breathless, and splayed on the ground after the fall, I stared up at Ella in shock. My hearing returned and the wave of students’ gasps and whispers hit me. They were gathering around, murmuring to themselves.
An image of my mother looking at me close to my face flashed in my mind, and everything went dark and silent.
~
Dreamer: The Activation of Makeba excerpt
Art Competition
Moreover, the competition allows for different ways a young person can be a visual artist by exploring literature as an avenue for visual arts. This aligns perfectly with the NYDA's mission to foster entrepreneurship, unveiling the vast potential of visual arts in unexpected industries such as literature, book cover design, book-to-animation adaptations, and storyboarding. Embracing the book's narrative and characters, this initiative promotes literacy and imagination, enhancing the youth's reading and comprehension skills while sparking their creative imaginations. It endeavours to empower, enlighten, and equip young artists of South Africa.
Interpret Literature into Visual Art
The Dreamer Art Contest, sponsored by the NYDA (National Youth Development Agency), is a creative endeavour aimed at high school students, calling them to interpret literature and turn it into visual art. The competition invites participants to create artwork inspired by the themes, characters, South African mythology, folklore and magic depicted in the book "Dreamer: The Activation of Makeba," authored by a South African writer.
This competition serves as a dynamic platform for youth empowerment, nurturing the creative spirit within young artists and enabling them to hone their artistic talents and range. Beyond artistic development, it extends its reach to cultural awareness, championing the preservation of South African heritage among the youth by immersing them in South African mythology, everyday life, traditions, and landscapes. With gender equality in mind, this competition encourages both girls and boys to participate, further reinforcing gender inclusivity, a value reflected in the book's female protagonist.
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