The Sandman

the long version

"The Sandman: The Dream Hunters" is a novella by English author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano of Final Fantasy fame. The story is tangential to The Sandman comic book series, and can be read without prior knowledge of the main sequence. It won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative. The story deals with a love affair between a Buddhist priest and a fox spirit or kitsune.Gaiman's afterword states that it was based on an old Japanese folk tale, drawn from Y. T. Ozaki