Cole and Blake were gathering their books and heading to the library where they would study up before the next session.

"So, what literature you going to study up on for your writing class?", Blake asked as they entered together.

Cole took a moment to look around before answering. The library usually had other university students studying up either for an exam or just to help them remember some things they would need for it. Shelves of books of all sizes lined around on the shelves while the librarian worked behind a desk while some students who spent their free time to help out brought books back to the shelves.

"I'm getting there.", Cole answered, "How's the medical class?"

Blake looked a little nervous.

"Well, it's interesting, but when the teacher is holding up those diseased organs of drug abusers, it kind of scared me."

Cole nodded as the thought came to his mind. But he knew how to help his friend calm down.

"Hey, how about after a study period, why not go for a run to ease the mind?"

That was all Blake had to hear to cheer up.

"Same place as usual?", he asked.

"You know it.", Cole said with a grin.

The librarian, Mrs. Wilson looked up from the books she was sorting and saw the two before adjusting her wire rimmed glasses over her icy green eyes. Her white hair would make one guess that she was well aged, and she was retiring soon.

"The usual books you two?", she asked in a knowing tone.

Blake and Cole nodded and Mrs. Wilson pointed to a table near the windows that looked out into the yard where the sunlight was streaming in.

"Medical books are on the shelf to the right and the writing books are three aisles from it."

Blake and Cole headed over to the table as Cole touched the charm necklace he usually wore. While touching the ivory wolf head, the amber sphere, and American flag, the memories of his adventures came to mind. The first one was a memory of telling a bedtime story to Aleu, Kodi, and their littermates as they once spent the night with Balto and him.

"Uncle Togo, can you tell us a story?", Kodi had asked.

The sounds of the puppies' pleas made Cole chuckle as he remembered himself getting into a comfortable position.

"Okay, you got me.", he remembered himself saying, "Which one you want to hear?"

Before any of the pups spoke, Aleu piped up.

"The one about-"

"Cole?"

Cole came out of his thoughts as he saw Blake looking his way a bit curious.

"Sorry.", Cole answered quicky, "I was just looking back on some good old days."

Blake shrugged and went to get some medical books while Cole took a moment to look at some dinosaur books that helped remind him of his second adventure as he felt the amber sphere on his necklace. He remembered when Littlefoot and the other kids had grouped up in the footprint on their way to the Great Valley and Cole was still feeling the warm feeling of the group sleeping together. And as he passed a History section on America, his last adventure came to his mind as he remembered telling Tanya and Fievel about America on the ship to there.

"Yeah, America was quite a place.", he remembered telling the two young mice, "The wide-open fields, the sunrise is so beautiful that you have to get up early just to see it."

The looks on their faces made Cole smile and he noticed that he had gotten to the Writing section of the library.

/

Cole walked down looking for some inspiration for his latest paper as the memory of him entering the first Writing session of the week. The teacher Mr. Lars was a bit strict, but he knew his trade and expected his students to do their work or they were in big trouble. Mr. Lars had looked over the paper Cole had turned in in hopes that he'll be accepted into the class and the conversation still echoed in his memory.

"Mr. Marty, you do know what class this is right?", he asked

Cole felt a bit unnerved, but tried not to show it.

"Mr. Lars, I know that it may be a high school paper, but I'm sure it can count."

Mr. Lars raised an eyebrow as if Cole said something he didn't quite get. He had read a copy of Cole's final high school paper, but the look on his face told anyone that he wasn't entirely on board.

"I do admit that the imagery used here was good, but while it may work in a common high school, I expect you to up your potential if you wish to stay in this class. Understood?"

Cole nodded as if understanding and Mr. Lars put the copy of Cole's paper back in Cole's hands.

"I am having my mid-term exam in two weeks.", he said firmly, "If you can write a worthy paper by the day before then, I'll consider accepting it and don't even think of copying something off the internet when you do, I'll have you out of the class before you can say "Oops". Got it?"

Cole tried to forget it, but now that the mid-term was only six days away and even though he had studied up for the term, Mr. Lars clearly was going to make good on his word if Cole didn't deliver a paper worthy of his standards. As he noticed a copy of "The Lord of the Rings", he started to wonder if J.R.R. Tolkien had similar dilemmas when he was writing it. He gathered up the books he thought would help and found Blake deep in research on medical terms and procedures. Cole took some of the dinosaur books he had gathered in hopes to get his mind off his troubles.

"I wonder how Littlefoot and the gang is doing since they reached the Great Valley?", he thought to himself.

He then went through the detailed pictures of the dinosaurs he had seen on his journey though that world when a thought came to mind when he saw a picture detailing a sauropod that looked familiar.

"Imastun?", he wondered.

The memory of the dinosaur returned to his mind. The guy seemed so wise and knowing as if he was on the Earth, but something seemed familiar. Like he had seen someone like that before, but where? Cole suddenly got up and headed to the bathroom as he had to go, but paused as Blake had looked his way.

"Excuse me Blake, but I need to use the can."

Blake nodded and Cole headed to the bathroom at the other end of the library. He did his business, but was still feeling a bit sad as he washed his hands.

"What am I going to do?", he asked himself, "I need a paper to turn in and I have no idea where to start."

"You're Cole Marty."

/

Cole walked out a little confused. He had heard someone, but nobody seemed to be around or for that matter near enough to say anything. He started walking back to the table where Blake was when a shiver moved down his spine.

"You start at the beginning, go on to the ending, and then stop."

Cole tried to clear the voice he heard, when a memory came to him. It was an old Hallmark movie "A Thousand and One Nights" when a familiar line was said. He saw the copy of "The Lord of the Rings" on the shelf and before he even knew what he was doing, he took it down and carried it back to the table. As he got back to studying, he caught glimpses of the book and the memory of him reading it back in middle school. It took several book reports, but at least the teachers were willing to let it slide since the book was so long. Those memories made his current situation more bearable and he still had time before his deadline so he had some time to write it out if he found the right topic. After about a few minutes, he thought back to that voice that had spoken to him. Was it his own thoughts or just something in his psyche? He looked at his pendent and a thought crossed his mind.

"What is with this thing?", he wondered, "Two different worlds in a short time when before it was years before the magic came up time and again."

He went to a computer and looked up some of the books on weird and magical items, but so far there was nothing on magical necklaces. Then as he looked in a book of mythology, some cases of necklaces possessing magical properties came up once or twice. He tried to think back to when he first got the necklace, but the memory had begun to fade with time. Then he remembered his old paper and that made him think of something.

"Why did I write the paper?", he asked himself, "Why must we write if not only for expression and imagination?"

A lightbulb went off in his head and a smile came to his face. He had his paper idea and he couldn't wait to get to writing. By now, Blake had finished studying up and met up with Cole at the desk with the books they were checking out. Mrs. Wilson took their cards and after checking it out, she gave them a firm look.

"Back in three weeks, can be renewed twice.", she reminded, "Don't be late."

Cole and Blake both nodded as if understanding and headed back to their dorm room for some writing and fun. On the way over, it was no surprise that they saw Hal along with his friends Drake and Greg who were looking their way as if threatening.

"Just keep walking and don't look their way.", Cole reminded Blake, "They're not worth a dime."

As they got up the stairs to their room, Cole noticed that there was a new student in their hall. It was the same kid who was supposed to make them lose the race Hal and them had earlier that week. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and it complimented his reddish blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Can I bunk with you guys for a minute?", he asked, "My roommate is doing something he shouldn't."

Cole and Blake both smiled.

"Sure.", Cole answered, "What's your name?"

The teen looked a bit nervous.

"I'm Tim.", he answered, "Tim Barley."

/

After going inside, Blake, Cole and Tim were deep in conversation.

"So, what profession are you going for?", Cole asked Tim as he and Blake got their books out.

Tim looked unsure, but didn't stay silent.

"I'm into tech support.", he answered before looking a bit annoyed, "Unlike my roommate. Always thinking he's above everyone else cause his father is a candidate for the mayor of Anchorage."

Blake looked a bit annoyed himself as he took notes as he read his medical procedure book. Whoever this person was, they sure sounded like a big jerk. Tim looked a bit more at ease as he could see that Cole and Blake were not being judgmental and got out the laptop he had with him and was deep into something that looked high tech.

"What's that?", Cole asked him.

Tim looked Cole's way smiling.

"It's an AI program I'm developing that is supposed to help with computer security.", he answered.

Cole looked interested.

"Kind of like Norton or something?"

Tim nodded while still smiling.

"Well, instead of purchasing those pricy anti-viral or internet security programs, this one would update itself and keep your system protected without monthly payments."

Cole whistled cause this was sounding impressive. Blake gave a friendly gesture which told Tim that his idea sounded great. Then his laptop screen went to static and the word "Error" came up across it before it shut down and Tim looked embarrassed.

"Unfortunately, it's still a work in progress.", he admitted, "But I'm sure I'll have it up and running by the mid-term. I'm kind of a brainy kind of guy cause a bunch of the other students are asking me for information."

Cole raised an eyebrow.

"Any idea on magical necklaces?", he asked, "I read some mythology books, but not much help."

Tim looked interested.

"What brings that up?", he asked.

Cole took a breath as if he had something he wanted to tell, but couldn't.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but I'm sure you're not going to believe it."

Tim looked a bit more interested.

"Try me."

Cole took a breath and then seated himself opposite of Tim.

"Would you believe me if I told you that this necklace I'm wearing sent me to a world and I wound up in the body of a famous dog?"

Tim looked confused.

"Never heard that one."

/

By the time night rolled around, Blake and Cole were finishing their dinner of subway sandwiches and soda.

"You think Tim will be okay?", Cole asked.

Blake looked thoughtful.

"I'm sure he will and if he's having a rough time, he can bunk with us."

Cole felt better knowing that he and Blake had someone they can buddy up with. Especially when Tim had explained how sorry he was about almost cheating on that race back then. It wasn't long until Cole and Blake were deep in conversation and Cole was quizzing Blake on medical procedures.

"If a patient is in need of anti-platelet medication, what is it that you look for?"

Blake thought for a moment.

"Bloody stools.", he answered before giving a question for Cole, "Try this: I wrote this fairy tale because it relates to my own life. Who am I?"

Cole paused as if deep in thought and then he snapped his fingers as he had an answer.

"What is Hans Christen Anderson?"

Blake nodded and smiled.

"You got it."

After a nice shower session, and a nice tooth brushing, it was time for bed. Cole and Blake were soon in their beds and though Blake went to bed reciting medical procedures and Cole couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself before he remembered something. He had a paper to write and while the thought was still fresh in his mind, he quickly made a note to himself and stuck it on a bedpost near his pillow.

"There, now I won't forget.", he reminded himself.

And since that was out of his mind, he settled into bed and was soon out like a light smiling and humming to himself. He slept soundly til the early morning when he got up surprisingly earlier than he usually did and found Blake still sound asleep.

"Well, may as well get dressed for the day.", he thought.

But as he went into the bathroom, he noticed the amber drop on his necklace shimmer again.

"Does that mean another adventure is starting?", he wondered growing excited.

As if to answer him, the mirror started to shimmer and shine as the amber drop on his necklace lit up as well. This time, Cole wasn't scared, he was feeling brave and eager.

"Guess it's back to that world again.", he said before bracing, "I wonder what I'll find this time?"

Then, Cole felt a pull towards the mirror and he lifted a hand to reach out to touch the surface that had become a solid sheet of shimmering light like a sun. Squinting as if to help hold off the light, Cole felt his fingers touch the surface of the mirror and a familiar feeling came over his body. And in the time it takes to wink an eye, Cole had vanished away with the light leaving nothing behind just like all the other times it happened.