Doon Harrow and his girlfriend, Lina Mayfleet, were having a picnic just outside the city of Sparks. Sparks had been their home for two years now, and they were living happily. Lina lived in a house with her guardian, Evaleen Murdo, her younger sister Poppy, and Doctor Hester and Torren Crane. While Doon simply lived with his inventor father, Loris Harrow. Lina smiled and picked up a dandelion, and blew away it's seeds. She watched on as the seeds floated in the air and drifted further and further away. Doon had fallen asleep, as he had become very tired lately, so Lina shook him by the shoulder to wake him.

"Doon, it's getting late. We'd better get back to the city." said Lina.

Doon let out a yawn and nodded. He and Lina headed back for Sparks, but Doon was having a hard time catching up to Lina. If he tried to run, he would quickly run out of breath.

"Doon, what is it?" asked Lina.

"Nothing. I just don't feel much like running." said Doon.

"That's okay. We can walk."

Lina and Doon walked side by side, back to Sparks, and arrived later in the evening. The two gave each other a kiss and parted ways. When Doon stepped inside his house, he saw no sign of Loris. This was rather unusual as he was usually busy working on a invention.

"Dad, I'm home." said Doon, but he got no response.

"Dad?"

"Up stairs. In the bedroom."

Doon went upstairs and entered Loris' bedroom, but saw no sign of his dad. Suddenly, a thud was heard from inside the closet. Doon entered the closet and saw Loris going through some old boxes.

"Dad? What are you doing?" asked Doon.

"Looking for something. Something that I need." said Loris.

"What?"

"I'm starting on a new invention, but I need a certain item to make it work precisely the way that it should. I put it in here in case I ever needed it, but I'm not sure which box it's in."

"Let me help."

Doon lifted a box off the shelf, but his hands began to quiver and he dropped it.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

"It's okay. Accidents happen. Let's get this cleaned up."

Doon and Loris worked to clean up the stuff that had dumped out of the box. Doon saw a picture laying on the floor. It was a painting of his mom. All Doon could do was look at it.

"I look just like her."

Loris looked up and saw Doon holding the painting. He sighed and picked himself up off the floor, and gave a small smile when he saw the painting.

"She always did love this picture. It was painted a month before our wedding. Do you see the initials at the bottom?"

"L. B?"

"Laura Brookfield."

"Laura...That's the name of Lina's mom."

"That's right. Brookfield was her last name before she met Lina's dad. She was a very gifted artist. Kinda how Lina is now."

"Why did you put this in the closet? You love keeping pictures of Mom around the house."

"This one is special."

"Well, maybe I can find a frame and put it-"

"NO." yelled Loris, startling Doon. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout."

Loris gently took the painting from Doon's hands and then placed it back in the box. Loris continued to go through the boxes, but Doon was beginning to worry. His hands couldn't stop shaking.

"What's wrong?" asked Loris.

"My hands. I can't stop them from shaking."

"Maybe you just need to sit down."

Doon nodded and sat down on Loris' bed. His hands stopped shaking after awhile, but soon he began to cough...and cough....and cough. Doon could not stop coughing. Loris went over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Doon shook his head and continued coughing. Loris felt his son's forehead and found that it was extremely warm.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

Doon stood to his feet, but found even that to be difficult. His legs felt weak, like they were under a tremendous amount of weight. He took a few steps, and fell to the floor. Loris helped him up and got him to his bedroom and into his bed.

"Dad, what's wrong with me?" asked Doon.

"Nothing. You just need some sleep."

"I feel so sick."

Loris hushed Doon and stayed with him until he fell asleep. He then stood up and left the room, having the knowledge that he had lied to his son. He knew something really was wrong with Doon. The only problem was: he had no idea what it was.

Throughout the evening, Doon grew increasingly worse. Three times he vomited, four times he hallucinated, and once he even coughed up blood. It became so bad, that Loris kept vigil at his bedside and did not even close his eyes to sleep. He knew if he fell asleep, that Doon would surely die.