I neither own nor claim any rights to How to train Your Dragon...

Hello, everyone... I am back with a new storyline in the same universe as my "Jarin and the Riders of Berk," and "Jarin and the Legacy of Nartara". I actually began this in what I was calling "The Diary of Oscar Rodgers", but I did not like the way it was flowing, so I decided to cancel that and take a new stab at it, told once again as an actual story, rather than in diary form. I enjoyed writing for Hiccup and friends, and for the OCs I created. So here I am, at it again.

Enjoy...

A Ripple in Time

Chapter One – To Iceland

Oscar "Ozzy" Rodgers was an average young man working an average mediocre job, the best he was able to get even after sinking thousands of dollars into a college education that was supposed to open up all sorts of exciting career possibilities. By all rights, it should have been, but the American economy started to tank, and the job market followed suit. It was his usual bad luck that this happened right after he completed his bachelors' degree in business. All the companies he once had an eye on as prospects were in fact laying off people left and right. The best he managed to land was a monotonous data entry position, that involved sitting at a computer in a tiny cubicle for eight hours every day for five days of the week.

He convinced himself that his job was integral to the company. Maybe it was in that the company needed people to enter data into the system so the actual sales agents could do their job. But it was not something that really required a college degree to do, in spite of it being mandated in the job description. The hours he worked didn't really afford him much of an opportunity to really look for a new job, and being an actual bachelor, his salary was enough to pay his bills. But he was bored, to say the least.

He got home from work one evening and checked his personal email. There in his in-box was a message from his cousin, Robert:

Ozzy! Long time no write, eh?

I'm here in Iceland on a research project, and I have discovered something really big. Remember back when we were kids, fascinated with stories of Vikings and Dragons and other silly stuff like that? Well you know that I never lost interested in Norse mythology, and that is what led me to pursue historical research on the subject. Well it has paid off. Like I said, I found something, and I want you to be there to witness it.

I know that this is short notice, but I am prepared to secure a plane ticket for you to get you out here. I promise you that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I would not pester you if I didn't believe that. Were it not for our childhood fantasies, I wouldn't be here, so it is only fitting that I share this reality with you.

What do you say? Let me know within 48 hours.

-Bob

Oscar read it over again a couple of times to make sure it was real. He hadn't heard from his cousin in years. Just remembering their childhood games of Vikings vs. Dragons made him cringe at the silliness of it all and, at the same time, long for those days again. One good thing about the company he worked for is that he never lost any accumulated vacation time, and they actually allowed it to be taken at any time, as long as there was at least twenty four hours notice before the first shift he would miss. He really did need to get away for a while. This visit with Bob in Iceland might be just what he needed.

He fired off a reply to Bob with just three words:

I'll be there!

About thirty minutes later, his Email chimed, and there was the confirmation number for his plane ticket, held at the airport will-call desk for a flight for the day after tomorrow.

O O O

He got to the office early the next day and made straight for Human Resources. And got approved for two weeks of vacation time, effective the following day. When asked where he was going on such short notice, he merely replied, "I've got a family matter that needs tending to out of the country." It had the virtue of being true, and seemed to satisfy the HR clerk's curiosity.

One more grueling day of monotony, and he would be on a two week adventure. That's what Oscar told himself as he eased himself down in his corporately uncomfortable chair, ready to get it over with. However, he could not remember a more gruelingly monotonous day since he started with the company. He spent what he was sure to have been an hour entering data, only to look up and see that only fifteen minutes had passed. Then the urgent phone calls started rolling in. Someone had made some major errors on a major account, and the major project got dumped on him. It was a major pain.

By the time he clocked out at the end of the day, he was exhausted. It always frustrated him when people would make snide comments like "How could you be tired? All you do is sit on your but punching keys! I've got to crawl around in hot, narrow spaces and weld stuff! Do that all day and talk to me about being tired." It was true. He was thinly built, not suited well to physical labor. But if his mind could lift weights, it would bench-press a ton. Had he gone into the engineering field, he would be the one designing the blueprints that resulted in others having to crawl around in hot, narrow spaces and weld stuff. And they would probably resent him all the more.

He didn't care, though. He made enough money to pay the bills, and he made it a point not to bite off more than he could financially chew. That made his life more mediocre, but while those guys who got paid the bigger bucks to do heavy work were neck-deep in debt, he was financially secure. And he wouldn't want it any other way.

Traffic was horrible on the way home, just one more thing to drag out the day. When he finally made it to his apartment, he was starving. He popped a TV Dinner into the microwave and went to wash up. The few acquaintances he entertained on rare occasion often commented on how unhealthy his diet was, often asking if he knew just what exactly was in those dinners. He would point out that it was probably about the same thing that the food industry put in everything else. There wasn't much else that they could say in that regard.

After he had eaten, he began packing. He figured he could make do with a week's worth of clothes, washing once while there, or barring that get two wears out of everything, avoiding consecutive days. He honestly wasn't sure what his accommodations would be like, but he did not want to carry any more luggage than necessary.

Just before turning in for the night, he heard his email chime. It was from Robert.

Just making sure that everything is still on for your plane trip tomorrow.

-B

He fired back a quick response.

Indeed it is. See you soon..

-O

Just before turning in, he made sure that he had set his alarm correctly, as in making sure it was set for AM and not PM. He had no intention of missing his flight. As tired as he was, he had no problem drifting off to sleep.

O O O

The flight was long and his butt was dead by the time the plane touched down on the runway at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland. Robert was waiting for him.

"Ozzy!" his cousin shouted, spreading his arms wide.

"Bobby!" Oscar replied with a similar gesture. They embraced each other briefly but heartily.

"Jeez, Oz," Robert said with concern. "You look so stressed. Like the weight of the world is on your shoulders."

"I wish it were," Oscar replied as they headed for baggage claim. "I just had a particularly grueling day at work yesterday, and a long flight. I just want to turn in and sleep."

"I hear ya, cousin," Said Robert. "It was the same for me when I first flew out here a few months back. It took me days to get used to the change. I hope you brought warm clothes."

"I figure they don't call it iceland for nothing," Oscar snarked.

After collecting his luggage, Oscar and Robert left the airport and took a taxi to Bob's apartment.

"The couch folds out into a bed," Bob told him. "The tap water here is some of the cleanest in the world, so if you're thirsty, you got nothing to worry about. Want some coffee?"

Oscar shook his head. "Man, I just want to crash for an hour or two. You can fix some if you want, and I'll get some when I get up."

"I can do with a nap myself," Bob said. "I've been so keyed up for the past day that I could use a break. Let's do three hours, and then I've got a story to tell you over breakfast and coffee."

"Sounds like a plan," Oscar said. He folded out the couch bed as Bob retreated to his own room, kicked his shoes off, and lay down in his clothes and was asleep within minutes.

Three hours later, he was being shaken awake by Bob.

"Rise and shine, Ozzy," he said. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Scrambled. With cheddar if you have any."

Bob laughed. "One heart attack special coming right up"

the food was good and so was the coffee. Robert woofed his down, eager to get started. He produced a cardboard tube and slid a map out of it. He spread the map out on the table and used some heavy drinking glasses to keep it flat. It depicted an archipelago. He placed the tip of his finger on the center of one of the islands. "This is Berk."

Okay... the story Robert will tell Oscar pretty much needs its own chapter. I just wanted to establish that this is indeed going to be a How To Train Your Dragon story by throwing out the reference to Berk. It's going to take a few chapters to get to that part of it, but bear with me. I will try to update this as often as I can.

Be blessed, everyone.