In the pre-dawn still a small yellow duck floats across the surface of a lake. All of a sudden, the morning quiet is broken by a distressed quack, and the little bird's feathers are all ruffled, as though she can sense something is not right. But the moment passes as quickly as it comes on, and soon there is no way to tell that she is anything but an ordinary duck.
A harsh buzzing fills the air and the brunette girl reaches over to turn her alarm off. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and is struck by the notion that her nose should be longer and her hands… furrier. Then her brain catches up with her, and she dismisses the thoughts as the vestiges of a strange dream.
Two girls walk side-by-side, laughing and chatting amicably. Simultaneously they stop, looking in confusion at the gap between the two of them, large enough to fit another person. After a moment's pause they seem to silently agree not to worry about it, and continue on their way to school.
A dark-haired danseur leans against the wall of the ballet studio, half-heartedly listening to the teacher. He finds his eyes scanning the other side of the room, as if looking for someone he knows, which is silly, since he is not a social person by nature and is definitely not acquainted with any of the girls in the beginner's class. He drags his reluctant eyes back to the teacher and attempts to pay attention.
A handsome tom cat prowls through town, searching for the particularly attractive young feline he had spotted earlier that morning. Drifting through the air comes a gentle melody, ballet music, and the cat stops in his tracks. His ears tilt back toward the sound and his tail twitches almost in time with the music. Then a very receptive meow is heard coming from the other direction and he's off once again.
The room is filled with the sound of piano music and the scratching of quill on paper, as a bespectacled boy sits composing. Reaching to dip his pen in the ink he pauses, as it suddenly occurs to him to wonder where he got the inspiration to write a love ballad. A brief moment, and then he's transcribing notes again. There'll be time enough for answers after he has finished this piece.
Stars twinkle above the sleepy little German town and people snuggle into their beds, and animals into their dens and nests. As each of them reaches that moment between waking and dreaming, the same thought flits through their heads, things were different before. But then sleep claims them, and the thought drifts off somewhere in the back corners of their head, long forgotten by morning.