A young man in his early twenties ran through the endless piles of books. He reached the counter near the front and jumped right over it, causing the customer at the next computer to jump back in surprise.
"I'm here! Next please!" he called to the next person in line and slouched over to catch his breath.
"Congratulations, you're only fifteen minutes late today" the girl said next to him, giving the startled customer their money.
"I was studying for a chemistry test and lost track of time" Jake told her, ringing up the books.
"Yeah right, you don't study."
"Okay, I fell asleep while studying for a chem test and lost track of time" he confessed and sent the customer on their way.
"You gotta start watching the clock more or you are going to lose your job." she warned.
"I do watch the clock!" Jake defended himself, "This is only like the third time I've been late ever!"
"I know, but still. I had a roommate once that got fired after being late only three times." she told him.
"Yeah yeah," Jake blew it off, he'd be more careful from now on, "Hey Steph, where's Colt? I didn't see her when I came in." he changed the subject.
"She called to say she's coming in late because she has to go to a parent teacher conference." Stephany explained.
"Again?? What'd Kari do this time?"
"Oh no, this is actually one of those where everyone has to go. The kind where the teachers just say how nice your kid is and how well they're doing and send you on your way."
"So Colt might actually get a good report for once?"
"Anything's possible."

“At least it’s Friday so if anything happens we can sleep it all off during the weekend.”

"Nice to see you again Mrs. Golden." Colt sat down at the table in the class room next to her daughter.
"Nice? I thought by now you would loath to very sight of me!" the first grade teacher joked.
Colt smiled, "Not quite yet, besides I wasn't specifically called in this time. I'm just hoping her grades are a little better than her behavior." she said quietly glancing over at Kari, who hadn't said a word all day.
"Well as far as the grades department goes I've got good news and bad news." Mrs. Golden pulled out some papers from a folder.
"Give me the good news first I beg you." Colt tried to get a look at the papers.
"All right." the elderly teacher handed some over to her, "Kari's test grades are some of the best I've ever seen. She has never missed one question on anything. Her spelling is perfect, her reading is perfect, her math is better than some of the third graders!"
"Oh my." Colt smiled as she looked over the tests, "These are wonderful! I had no idea you were such a little genius!" she wrapped an arm around the little girl and gave her a half hug.
"I could easily move her into the second grade class next week." Mrs. Golden explained, "But...." she let it hang.
"But?" Colt looked up at her.
"But she needs to start handing in her homework before I can suggest anything to the school board. The only assignments she ever completes are the ones assigned in class. The rest are all mysteriously eaten by the dog."
"We don't even have a dog." they were both staring at the little girl who had her eyes pinned to the ground. Colt looked back at Mrs. Golden, "She tells me she never has homework. I'll start bugging her more about it."
"Please do. I would love to get her into a higher class where she would be more challenged." she looked sideways at the door where a couple had appeared with a little boy behind them.
Colt noticed it too and stood up, "Well thank you very much. I hope I won't see you again too soon!" she smiled and shook Mrs. Golden's hand.
"Amen to that! Have a good day."
"You too!" Colt took Kari's hand and led her out of the class and down the hall of the elementary school, "Well I'm very proud of you." Colt said softly when they were a little ways down the hall, "I had a hard time with spelling in first grade...but why don't you ever do your homework?"
"I don't want to." the little girl mumbled, "It's too easy."
"It's too easy?" Colt repeated, "Then it's easy points! Easy homework would take you five minutes to do. Then you could get moved up a grade, doesn't that sound wonderful?" she swung Kari's arm up and down playfully but the girl didn't smile.
"Mom, can I go with you to the book store today instead of daycare?" she asked finally.
"Huh? Um, all right hun if that's what you want." Colt knew daycare was where most of the trouble started. They shifted their path to go through the doors instead of the school lunch room where the day care was held.
Colt had been forced to sell the small used bookstore a few years earlier. A mall was built in it's place and she was offered a position as manager at the Border's book store that went up in it. She took the job and Jake followed, working part time to help pay his way through college. Kari was an unusually happy baby. Always smiling and laughing, but as soon as she went into school she became quiet and drawn back. Twice Colt had been called in because Kari had gotten in a fight with some of the other kids. She accused them of making fun of her and calling her names. Maybe if she got moved up she could start all over and make some new friends.
They got to the mall and walked into the store, "Go play in the kids section and I'll come get you when it's time to go home." Colt said to Kari who ran off right away. She sighed and looked over at the checkout counter where the two kids were looking at her anxiously.
"Soooo, how'd it gooo?" Jake asked slowly.
"She has some problems with getting her homework in." Colt said simply, "But other than that she's a perfect student."
"Ahhh." both of them sat back, satisfied with the report, "I never could get my homework in." Jake said to himself.
"That's a bad habit to start on early." Stephany sympathized with Colt, "If she doesn't get it in now, she'll never get it in later and she'll have a heck of a time in the higher grades."
"I still don't turn my Chem homework in and I'm managing a B in the class." Jake argued.
Stephany ignored that, "If Kari ever needs help just bring her to me, I'll whip her into shape!"
Colt smiled, "Thanks Steph. I'll come by later, I have some work to do in the back." she walked off.
"It must be hard being a single mother." Stephnay muttered as she watched Colt walk off.
"I wouldn't be able to do it." Jake agreed.
"I had a roommate once that became a single mother. We used to be tight and then she ran off with some guy in Los Vegas and I haven't seen her since."
"That's a touching story." Jake rolled his eyes.
"Oh shut up. Why are you even taking chemistry anyway? All you ever do is complain about it!"
"It's my natural curiosity to know how the world works. I can't help it if they throw in all this useless junk with it. I mean do I really need to memorize the oxidation numbers of every single element?! Look at this, seriously!" Jake bent down to his backpack and grabbed his book. Another one flopped back against a notebook and he stopped dead, "Holy monkeys...." he dropped the chemistry book, grabbed the other one and dashed out behind the counter.
"Hey! Where are-!" but he didn't even hear her.
"Colt!" he barged into her office, "Look at this!" he hopped over to her chair and shoved the book in her face.
"Oh my god!" she put her hand over her mouth and she broke out into a huge smile, "I can't believe it happened all ready!"
"The cover changed!" Jake stated the obvious, "What do I do now Colt, the cover is different!"
"Calm down calm down!" she put a hand on his shoulder, "You just have to wait now. When the right person comes you just give them the book."
"How will I know if it's the right person??"
"You'll just know." Colt smiled and started to push him back out of the door, "Everything will work out on its own. Just do what you normally do and when you know that one person should have the book, give them the book." she looked at it again, "What have you been doing that thing, using it as a baseball plate?" the book that had once looked like new, despite being thousands of years old, was now scratched and torn.
"I've been treating it like gold!" Jake defended himself, "I don't even usually take it out of my desk."
"Well be more careful." Colt closed the conversation by going back to her desk and continuing to do the paperwork scattered across it.
Jake examined the worn object. The cover that had once shown a picture of his sister and a Crone in the background now just had a bright light in the middle under the new title "Child of Destiny". He started walking back to the front, but he hadn't gotten ten steps when his boss ran by.
"Hey Jake, we got a new shipment of kids books. Get them organized and out there right now." he said and kept walking.
"But!" but Jake had to stay at the counter and wait for the person to get the book! He couldn't be busy with the kids stuff. What if he missed the right person? Still he knew this was his punishment for being late and if he didn't do it, the chances of him getting fired went up even more. He changed his course and went over to where Kari was sitting off to the side near the wall, playing with some stuffed animals.
She had several big cats surrounding a small dog and had the dog spinning around like it was doing a dance but no one could hear the dialog going on in her head.
"A ware wolf? What's that?"
"A human that can change into a wolf and attacks people!"
"A human and wolf? That's what my dad is. Except he doesn't attack people, he helps them."
"You're dad can't be a ware wolf. They're not real!"
"Yeah, you'd have to be pretty stupid to think you're a wolf!"
"He's not stupid and he IS a wolf! That's what my mom said!"
"Then your mom is stupid too!"
"Take that back!!"
Except then I would grow into a monster, a giant wolf and stomp on them all! And mom and the teachers would all be happy because I made the bullies go away. Kari now had a big dog that was jumping on all the cats.
"Hey kid!" Jake broke her out of her trance, "Come help me with this, it'll make it go faster." he set the old book on top of the cart of new ones, "Remember how this goes?" he asked as Kari walked over, "You look at the author of the book and organize them from A to Z." he picked up some from the top and started to put them away. Even in kinder garden Kari was able to look at the first letter of the names and put the A's with the A's and M's and the M's and that. Jake loved the help and she worked for free!
Kari started at the bottom and Jake at the top, but today there weren't as many books on the bottom so Kari got done first. Jake was off behind one of the shelves so Kari reached up and grabbed two books off the top, just as another one on top of them fell down next to her. She jumped back to avoid being hit on the head then set the other two books down to put it back. It had landed open to the first few pages. The paper had a yellow tint to it and the edges were uneven like it was really old. Kari reached down and as soon as her hand touched the page a light burst out, blinding her.
Jake looked up as the lights suddenly seemed to dim a little. He shrugged it off and walked back around to the cart, "Kari?" he looked around but couldn't see the little girl. The books on the bottom were all put away, maybe she went to the bathroom or something. Jake picked up the next set and continued working.

Kari opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing in grass and surrounded by trees, How did I get outside? She didn't remember there being any trees by the mall. She heard some laughing off in the distance and turned towards the sound. It sounded like a kid. Maybe she could ask them the way back to the store. She started walking in the direction it had come from. She heard it again and picked up her pace. Up ahead there were weird trees. Thin and twisty, going up forever so they made a thick wall. She stopped in front of it and tried to pull the vines away. The laughing was coming from the other side. She had to get through there somehow.
"HEL-aahhh!" she started to call out when someone jumped through the vines right on top of her, knocking her down.
"Oh no! What were you doing right there? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Oh no, oh no dad's gonna kill me!" her attacker was pacing back and forth. Kari had her eyes shut, trying to keep back the tears and holding the back of her head. She could tell by the voice it was another girl next to her, she was mumbling while asking over and over if she was okay.
"I'm fine." Kari managed to say when the pain subsided a bit. She wiped her eyes and opened them. A big dog was sitting right next to her. The pet of that girl.
"Are you sure you're okay? What are you doing out here anyway?"
Kari was either dreaming or that dog had just talked. It didn't really look like a dog though. Looked more like a wolf. A talking wolf?
"Did you run away too?" the wolf asked, "Do you wanna run away with me?"
Her mom had told her stories about the world with the talking wolfs. She had said they were the nicest creatures in the world.
"Can't you say anything? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"AH!" Kari put her hands over her ears, "Yes, I can hear you!" she shouted back.
"Then why won't you answer?" the wolf demanded.
"I've never met a talking wolf before." Kari admitted, standing up.
"Really? Well now you have! My name is Hanako, what's yours?"
"Kari."
"Nice to meet you Kari! Where are your parents?"
"I don't know. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was here."
"Maybe you sleep walk. Come with me! I'm running away, maybe if you run away with me we'll run into your parents!"
Kari decided that she liked Hanako. She was friendly and energetic. She wasn't much bigger than the wolfs back home and had brown fur with gray patches, "All right!" she agreed.
"Great! Try and keep up!" Hanako started running back the way Kari had come.
"Wait up!" Kari ran after and almost lost her at first. If I lose her I'll never get home! So she ran faster and almost caught up to the wolf. She had never moved so fast in her life. It was exhilarating, everything passed by in a blur! She could dodged around trees and jump over twigs like a sixth sense. Until it seemed almost like she was floating over the ground, while her legs did all the work having a mind of their own.
Hanako looked back and grinned, "You're really fast for a human!"
"Thanks!" Kari gasped. It was harder to breath when she was running that fast, but she never knew it could be so fun! Like the faster she went, the more energy she had.
Suddenly a huge gray monster stepped out from behind the trees and grabbed Hanako in its sharp jaws! Hanako screamed and Kari stopped all at once, losing her balance and falling over.
"Let her go!" she cried and looked up, but Hanako was laughing and struggling between the loose grip.
"Daaaaad, let me go!" she pleaded.
"That's the third time this week!" the monster scolded and set Hanako down without a scratch. It was another wolf, Kari saw. Humongous! Close to thirty feet tall, "Who's your friend?" the giant wolf asked.
"This is Kari! She was running away with me so we could find her parents." Hanako told him.
"Kari huh?" the big wolf bent his head down near the little girl. Kari leaned back a little. He didn't seem very scary but those teeth were reeaallyy big, "That's weird." he bent even closer and started to smell her. Kari let out a whimper, the wolf was getting kind of creepy.
"Very weird." the wolf pulled away, aware of the discomfort he was causing her.
"What's weird?" Hanako asked cheerfully.
"Her smell....It's human but it's not. And there's some wolf in her too. Like....no, could she?" he was mumbling to himself now, "Kari, what's your mother's name?"
"Uh, Colt."
The wolf broke out into a huge smile, like he knew a secret, "Do you know where you are?" he asked softly.
"Um, I don't know. Mom tells me stories about this world with talking wolfs in it. Is this the world?"
The wolf nodded, "Right! You must have just dropped in. Tell you what, we'll take you back to our clan and we'll get you some food and shelter."
"But I need to get back to the store before mom gets worried!" she would have given anything to see more of the world, but Colt was very protective and never let Kari go off on her own. If she suddenly disappeared Colt would have a heart attack for sure.
"Don't worry, you'll get back before your mom notices your gone." the way he said it was so convincing. He laid down on the ground, "Get on my back and I'll carry you to our home."
"Are you sure? Mom said people shouldn't ride on wolfs."
"I only let very special people ride on me." he winked at her.
"Okay." Kari slowly walked over and took a small handful of fur, then bounded up his back.
He chuckled as he stood up, "Quick and graceful, just like a wolf." he started walking through the woods with Hanako hopping after him, "My name is Spark, I met your mother when she was a little girl just like you." he said proudly.
"Oh! I've heard lots of stories about you! You go on adventures with dad!" she felt a lot better now that she recognized a name.
Spark nodded, "I don't see your dad as much now. I've got kids of my own to raise, like this little trouble maker." he looked back at Hanako.
"I'm not a trouble maker!" she defended herself, "I'm an explorer!"
"Going exploring when your mother specifically told you not to makes you a trouble maker." but the smile took away the effect of the scold. They reached the wall of vines again and went along the side until they reached a gate. Kari ducked down as they went through a tunnel of vines and emerged into a beautiful valley, filled with wolfs of all different sizes and colors.
"Where have you been?" a big brown wolf walked up to them. Sitting on Spark's back, Kari was almost eye level with some of them. She couldn't get over how big all their faces were. And their ears and mouths. She felt like she could sit on their nose and not be able to reach their eyes.
"Just came back from hunting." Spark nodded in greeting.
"Looks like you brought back a lot more than just a fox." she said looking at the little girl on his back. Hanako took the moment to try and dash away but the female wolf stopped her short with her tail, "Don't think you're getting off that easily, we'll talk about this more later." Hanako dropped her head and sulked off
"Aaww, don't be so hard on her Madia." Spark said softly.
"I have to be, other wise she'll end up just like you!"
"And that's a bad thing?" he grinned.
"So who's the human?" Madia dodged the question.
"She was trailing Hana." his voice suddenly filled with excitement, "Smell her."
"Huh?" it was an odd request but Madia came closer and sniffed around Kari. Instead of pulling back this time, she extended her small hand and felt the soft fur between the wolf's eyes. She smiled as Madia drew back with a look of confusion, "That's the....she smells like....she's not a new Crone acolyte is she?" she asked slowly.
Spark shook his head, and leaned his face close to hers like it was a secret, "She's the miracle child of Colt and Tobin." he whispered excitedly.
"No." her eyes grew wide, "Well isn't she the cutest thing?"
"Got up on me all by herself." Spark told her.
"That's amazing!" Madia smiled and looked at Kari, "You're a miracle child did you know that?"
"Thanks." Kari looked down, shy to compliments.
Spark laid down and Kari slid off his back, "Stay here with Madia, she'll look after you." he told her and stood up, "I have to go to Nubia."
"But you just got back a few days ago!" Madia protested.
"I'll be back by tomorrow." he promised, "I have to tell Tobin Madia, you understand."
She nodded, she knew if it were one of her children she wouldn't hesitate either, "Run fast." she nuzzled his neck for a moment.
"I always do." he smiled and ran back through the gate of vines.
They watched him go then Madia looked down at Kari, "So why don't I take you to go meet the kids?"
"Kay kay!" Kari trailed after the big wolf. She wasn't even as tall as one of the legs!
"So I guess you've never seen a wolf clan before have you?" Madia made small talk as they went.
"Nope." she replied, her head going every which way as she tried to absorb everything she could.
"We're a peaceful group and we love to have fun, so don't let any human ever tell you different!"
"Why would they say different?" Kari looked back up.
"A lot of humans accept us now, but there are still a few that don't really like us. Those are bad people, remember that."
"Bad bad people." Kari repeated to herself quietly. They walked over to a small ledge where the ground dropped about twenty feet at one point. They could hear some low talking right below the drop.
"You have to get just the right amount of both to get the best result. And make them small enough so you can hide them easily in-"
"YOH!" Madia stepped up and looked over the edge. Kari ran up too and peaked over the edge.
A wolf about twice the size of Hanako looked up with a guilty smile, "Hey sis, how's it going?" he was surrounded by a half a dozen other smaller wolfs.
"What were you teaching them this time?" she accused.
"Nothing! Really! We were going over hunting techniques, weren't we?"
"Yeah yeah!" all the smaller ones agreed loudly.
"Seriously, between you, Spark and Hana I don't know why I'm still alive. The stress should have killed me years ago." Madia rolled her eyes.
"You know you love it." Yoh smiled, "If we weren't around to bug you all the time you'd die of boredom!"
"I wish! Anyway, this is Kari." Kari smiled and waved, the kids all greeted her back.
"She'll be staying with us tonight-"
Kari! Kari looked back. She swore she had just heard her mom call her name.
"-So I want everyone to make her feel welcome."
KARI! That was definitely her mom's voice.
"We're good at making humans feel welcome aren't we kids?" Yoh looked down and they all agreed with him.
"I have to go home." Kari said suddenly, turning around.
"You'll go home soon." Madia said gently.
Karrii! It was Jake calling this time, "No, I have to get back now, they're all looking for me!" Kari started running back towards the gate.
"Kari, come back!"
But Kari couldn't stop. She ran through the gate and halfway through a white light burst out. When Madia got there, she was no where to be found.

"Kari!" Colt walked through the kids section of the store.
"Colt!" Jake looked panicked, "I can't find the book! The book is gone! I put it down then it wasn't there when I went back!"
"Calm down, I'm sure it's where ever its supposed to be, but have you seen Kari? I was gonna go get some lunch."
"She helped me put the books away about an hour ago, but I haven't seen her since. Kari?" he went around to the totem pole with stuffed animals on it that she had been playing with earlier.
"Kari!" Colt didn't like this, the little girl never wandered off.
"Mom!" Kari ran up from behind them and threw her arms around Colt's waist.
"Hey! There you are! I was starting to worry." she hugged her daughter.
"Told ya she was around here." Jake walked over to behind one of the shelves where she had appeared from. The book was laying open on the ground, "There it is! I must have dropped it somehow when I was putting the others away.”
"Mom! Mom! Guess what! Guess where I went?!" Kari jumped up and down, excited to tell Colt she had been to the wonderful world she had heard so much about.
"You can tell me all about it later hun." Colt said, smoothing down Kari's hair which looked like it had gone through a windstorm in the last few hours, "Let's go get some lunch."
"Colt." Jake came back around with the book tucked tightly in his arm, "I have to go to class in a few hours, what happens if no one wants the book before I go?"
"You have to stop worrying about it." Colt told him for the tenth time, "The right person will come and when they do you'll feel it, you can't feel it if you're all jumpy like that."
"Feel it, calm down, deep breaths." Jake breathed in deep then slumped down, "Okay, I can do this."
"You make it sound like you're gonna run a marathon, you just have to hand a book out." Colt smiled and they walked towards the front of the store, "We'll be back in a half hour!" she announced and walked out with Kari's hand in hers.
Jake took his place behind the counter next to Stephany again, "Deep breaths, breath, caallmm." he mumbled to himself.
"What's with the sudden meditation?" Stephany asked.
"I'm on a mission Steph." Jake told her and set the book next to his cash register, "I have to get rid of this book by the end of today."
"I can see why you'd want to get rid of it." she said looking at the torn object.
"No, see this is a very very important mission, if I don't give this book to someone our whole world could collapse!"
"Oh I understand! I once had a roommate that had a life or death mission. I think she ended up hitch hiking to Mexico and living with the people in mud houses. She was always preaching to me about aliens and finding your center." she looked off into space, remembering the old times.
Jake raised an eyebrow. That calmed him down more than anything else, "I don't think my mission has to worry about anything in centers."

"Mom! Can I tell you nnoooww?" Kari pleaded as they stood in line at the food court.
"Wait one more minute." Colt put her hand on Kari's head warning her to be quiet while she ordered the food. She got the tray and paid then found a nice table near the edge of the area. It was a big semi circle with some rows of tables and chairs between the fast food restaurants on the wall. Colt usually ate in the store but when Kari came with they ordered in the mall.
"Okay now what have you been so anxious about?" Colt asked, putting her straw in the cup of pop and taking a drink.
"I went to the world with the talking wolfs!" Kari blurted out.
Colt almost choked and started coughing, "What?!" she gasped.
"I went to the world with the talking wolfs!" the little girl repeated, "It was exactly like in the stories you told me! And I got to run with Hanako and I got to ride on Spark's back! And I saw the wolf clan and big wolfs and small wolfs and the nice lady said I was a miracle child!"
Colt just stared at her daughter with her mouth open, "Wait, so you went there?" she asked slowly, "Through the book?"
"YES!" she had told her like three times all ready! "And it was so cool, and I didn't want to leave but I heard you calling so I had to come back but I didn't know how to get back but then I was back like poof!" Kari was bouncing in her seat.
"You heard me calling you?!"
"Yes! So I came back!"
"That never happened before." Colt said to herself. She looked over the small table with untouched food. She had suddenly lost her appetite. Then the wheels started spinning in her head again. Kari was the one who went through the book on the day it changed. She was the new chosen one. But then she still remembered her experience which either meant she was done with her adventure or she was going to go back soon, "Kari, how long were you there?"
"Not very long."
"Like less than a week?"
The little girl laughed, "It's not even night yet, a week is longer than a day!"
So she would be going back. So she needed the book, "This is so fun!" Colt was ecstatic. She began to gather up all the food, "We'll eat later, we need to get back to the store quick." she told Kari. She was so happy her daughter was going to be able to see the world in the book. Maybe she could meet Tobin! She could just imagine him trying to be a fatherly figure! She grinned as they got everything and rushed through the mall.
"Back all ready?" Jake looked up as Colt came through the entrance with Kari right behind her.
"Jake, my office, now!" she just kept going. Jake hopped over the counter and followed the two girls back.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing out on something?" Stephany mumbled to herself as she was left alone again.
The three got in and Jake shut the door, "Where's the fire?"
"You can stop looking!" Colt announced, "Kari's the new one!"
"What? Kari's the new one what?" it was hard to understand when Colt talked so fast.
Colt dropped the bag of food on her desk and put her hands on Kari's shoulders, "She's the one that went into the book! She's the one you've been waiting for! She's the one that gets the adventure and the book!"
"Really?!" Jake looked back and forth from mother to daughter, "That's great! So I was stressed out about nothing!" he picked up Kari and spun her around, "You're gonna have so much fun!" they laughed until he set her down.
"I'm going to take the rest of the day off and go home to sleep." Colt said happily.
"Go for it! I can hold down the fort here." Jake grinned. They both knew that when Colt was asleep she could talk to Tobin. For the first few months when they had gotten back all she did was sleep, but when Kari was born it changed everything so Colt eventually got her life back on track and got back to normal night hours.
"So I guess I should give the book to Kari then." Jake headed out the door and Colt sat down at the desk to do some last minute things.
Jake got back to the counter to see Stephany leafing through a book. He got a mini heart attack and leaped for the object, but Steph pulled it away at the last minute, never taking her eyes off the pages.
"Interesting story." she said softly, "I don't suppose you wrote this yourself. I have no idea where you would get the ancient paper, but then the question is how did the author know exactly what would happen on the exact day?"
"Coincidence!" Jake ran around to try and corner her, "Seriously Steph give it back!"
"But you said earlier that you wanted to get rid of it." she seemed really calm for some reason.
"I am getting rid of it, I'm giving it to Kari!" he grabbed her arm and tore the book from her grasp.
"God don't be so up tight about it." she glared at him while she rubbed her arm, "I'm not going to burn it or anything! I'm a fantasy fanatic remember? I've been waiting all my life for something freaky like this to happen. You give me a reasonable explanation for how that book knew exactly what I said this morning and I'll cut your tongue off because I refuse believe you!"
Jake didn't know what to do. No one was supposed to know about the book besides the ones that had been to the world. He looked back and saw Colt and Kari all ready coming towards the front of the store, "Okay I admit it, this book is a very big secret about this book but I can't tell you right now. Later, I promise to tell you later!" before she could protest he jumped back out of the counter and handed the book to the little girl, "This is yours now. Guard it with your life."
"I promise!" Kari smiled and hugged the book tight against her chest.

I'm so glad Kari's the one that went into the book. Colt was laying in her bed asleep, but in her dream she was standing on a high grassy hill with Tobin and Enorc.
"I know. Spark barged into the castle today and told me we had to go back to his clan immediately, but right after another messenger came and said she had all ready gone." Tobin said sadly. Technically neither he nor Enorc were standing there either. They were both back to the castle meditating and projecting their images to the area. The hill was a place in between both worlds. A place that couldn't be physically touched but more of a product of the mind.
"She'll come back for a longer period, and you will be able to meet her then." Enorc said confidently, "There is always a small adjustment shift, where the candidate is transferred to our world for only a short amount of time so their mind has time to process and take in the reality. Even though the conscious mind usually forgets the experience, the subconscious prepares the body for the longer transaction." They were used to her being the Mother Crone now and speaking in technical terms.
"But Kari still remembers her experience." Colt told her.
"Well, she is one forth Crone and one forth Wolf, her mind is all ready aware of it at some level. Plus you've been telling her about it, so it has always been a real place to her." she explained, "I think that is the reason for the time shift too."
"Time shift?" both Colt and Tobin looked at her.
"Yes. Normally both worlds run on the same time line. Before, whenever someone entered the book the balance was thrown off to the point where time would shift. That is why no matter how long you were in this world, in your world it was only a few minutes. But when Kari entered, she was in our world for approximately 68 minutes and in your world Jake described seeing her close to an hour before her disappearance." Normally Colt and Tobin had this dream world to themselves but once in a while Enorc would pop in to say a few words.
Kari was getting hungry again. She left her spot in front of the TV and wandered into the kitchen. She looked up at the cupboard that held the Granola bars in it. It was too high for her to reach just standing on the floor, but that was easily solved. She used her arms to pull herself up onto the counter, and sat comfortably as she fished out a snack. She unwrapped it and took a bite. As she ate her eyes wandered over to the end of the counter where the old book lay. She wished she could go back to the world with the talking wolfs, but Colt would be mad if she left right before dinner time.
Kari jumped down and opened the cupboard door where the trash was. She threw her wrapper away and noticed something new. Behind the garbage can was an old broom. She had seen it dozens of times before but this time it looked different. It was duller somehow than everything else. Even in the dim light. She reached back and pulled it out, being careful not to tip the trash over with the end.
She brought it into the light of the kitchen but it still looked weird. The book caught her eye again, they have the same feeling, she thought. Then maybe the broom was really from the book world! If that was true then she had her excuse to go back there. Just a quick trip so mom wouldn't worry.
She grinned and hopped over to the book. She held onto the broom tight and flipped open the cover. No sooner had touched the page, a bright light filled the kitchen and the little girl disappeared.
Kari opened her eyes. She was in a small room. There were lots of clocks and oddities around her. She set the broom against the wall. Everything was scattered around, in no particular order, like a storage area. She went to the door near her and tried to open it, but it was locked! It felt like a wasted trip. She'd have to go home without seeing anything good. She weaved through the boxes more towards the back. Maybe if she were lucky there'd be another door she could go out of.
There was no door. But on top of one of the boxes was a cell phone. Her first glance passed right over it, then it was almost like it pulled her back. It was different than any of the other stuff in the room. Like the broom had been in the cupboard. It was brighter than anything else, not only in color, but something deeper. It didn't belong.
Suddenly the door started to open. A man stepped in and set down another box. He wiped his forehead then looked up to see Kari standing between everything.
"Hey! How'd you get in here? You're part of that gang that's been stealing my stuff aren't you?!"
Kari tensed. Stealing was wrong in any world. She grabbed the cell phone and started running further back between all the junk.
"Hey come back here with that! That's mine you little thief!" he made to follow, but he was bigger and had a harder time going around everything. It didn't matter anyway. The room was small and he was standing in front of the only way out.
Kari clutched the cell phone and looked back at the angry man's face. I wanna go home! her head screamed and light erupted from no where. The man stopped and covered his eyes. When the light receded and he opened them again, she was gone.
As soon as Kari realized she was back in her kitchen the cell phone in her hand began to ring. She jumped and almost dropped it. It rang again and she panicked thinking it would wake up Colt and she'd get yelled at for having a phone that didn't belong to her. Just as it began its third ring she pushed the green button so it picked up, then pushed it again right away so it clicked off. Then she found power button and turned it off before it had the chance to ring again.
She sighed and relaxed the listened for any noise from Colt's bedroom. It seemed pretty quiet. Even so she set the phone down on the counter and walked down the hall. She stopped outside Colt's door and listened again. Still no sound. She had learned one thing. When her mom was asleep, nothing could wake her. Just for fun Kari opened the door and peaked through. Sure enough Colt was still laying in bed as still as ever. Kari was about to go out again when she spotted the outline of a dress draped over the end of the bed. It set off that same alarm in her head that the broom and the cell phone did. It just didn't belong.
Kari tiptoed in and slowly lifted the dress. She crumpled it up in her arms and ran back out, closing the door behind her. She took it out into the kitchen. Colt would probably get mad at her for taking one of her dresses, but it didn't look right in this world. Hopefully if she took it back she would end up some where other than the mean man's storage room again.
By now it really was getting closer to dinner time and Kari knew Colt would be waking up soon, but she wanted to go to the other world so bad. It was so much more interesting than her world! Another quick trip, no more than a few minutes, she promised herself. She went over to the book again and opened it up to a random page. She put her hand on it and closed her eyes.
She heard the voices before she saw them. Kari opened her eyes. She was surrounded by clothes and dresses. She could hear loud and excited voice coming from further down the store. She hung the dress up on the nearest rack and started creeping down the isles. She smiled at the thought of having a real adventure instead of just getting accused of stealing. She wanted to know what all the excitement was about!
"There you are!"
A lady came out of no where and grabbed Kari's arm, "You must be the flower girl everyone's looking for! Come in here now and we'll get you all ready."
"Wha-?!" Kari was dragged behind a curtain into a dressing room. The lady squatted down and started pulling off her shirt and pants, "Cut it out!" she tried to keep her clothes on.
"Stop struggling, the wedding party is all ready going to be late as it is!" she took a fancy red dress and shoved it over Kari's head, "There, oh dragon spit it's too short."
"Because I'm not-"
"Well they can figure that out themselves I'm not being paid to do tailoring." the lady seemed as if she didn't even hear her.
"I think you-"
"Now stay still and stop complaining while I do your hair." Kari tried to step away as soon as she let go but the lady grabbed a chunk of her thick brown hair and started to braid it, "You have beautiful hair." she complimented.
"Thanks." Kari sighed. This lady was determined not to let her go until she was done.
"Seriously where is that girl?!" a voice came from outside the curtain.
"It's all right, I found her!" the lady behind Kari yelled right in her ear.
The curtain was thrown back and two chunky looking women stepped in, "Who's that?"
The lady froze, "This isn't her?"
"I should say not! I've never seen that girl before in my life!"
Kari knew now was the time to bolt, "I tried to tell ya!" she jumped away from the lady's hold and grabbed her clothes then ran out of the dressing room before anyone could stop her. She dashed to the back of the store and hid behind a rack with long dresses that went down to the floor. She changed back into her normal clothes and laid the red dress nice on floor so they'd be able to find it again.
Kari sighed and looked around. The doors were all being blocked by loud women. She wanted to go home again. She wandered to the side where there was a display of necklaces and bracelets. They were all beautiful but there was one that stuck out more than the others. It had that same inside glow that the cell phone had had. It was a bracelet with different charms on it. Kari glanced back to make sure she wasn't being watched. She didn't want to get accused of stealing again. Then she quickly grabbed the bracelet and put it on.
She had to get back home soon. She could tell by instinct that it was getting close to dinner. Her mom would be waking up soon. She closed her eyes, Home, she thought, I want to go home. She didn't know exactly how it all worked but she knew before when she had thought of home, she went there. So now she concentrated with all her might and willed herself back.

"So I'm standing there and all of a sudden I get this call at the exact same time this dude takes a swing and-" Enorc paused, "Dang, I just got a page, Colt I'll finish telling you the story later all right?"
"Sure, see ya!"
Enorc disappeared and Colt dropped her head onto Tobin's shoulder.
"What am I going to do?" he asked.
"About what?"
"When I meet Kari." he said quietly.
Colt smiled, "Just be yourself, she has your spirit, she'll love you, I know it."
"I still don't know what I'm going to do."
"You'll figure it when it happens. I should probably be getting back about now. Talk to you later." Colt gave him a quick kiss and woke up in her bed. Colt stretched and slowly made her way to the door in the dark room. The light from the hall stung her eyes but she quickly adjusted.
"Kari?" she called.
"Hey Mom!" Kari came running out of the kitchen.
"Hey hun, getting hungry?" she looked down, "Where did you get that bracelet?"
"From the other world!" she said happily.
"You went back there again?! All ready?"
"Yeah! And this lady thought I was supposed to be a flower girl but I wasn't the right girl!" Kari giggled and handed the object to Colt.
"Kari you shouldn't take things out of that world. It's very dangerous." she remembered all the trouble she had to go through to give her necklace back.
"But it wasn't supposed to be in that world. I was just taking it back!" Kari tried to explain.
"I don't know, I think you should just leave everything where it is in case you bring back something you shouldn't." Colt warned and walked into the kitchen to start dinner, "Where did this cell phone come from?" she picked it up.
"That was on a box in the other world too!" Kari said sitting down at the table.
"I can see why you would take this back." Colt mumbled, "But we're going to have to find out who owns it. I would hate to loose my cell phone." she moved to turn it on but suddenly her stomach growled, "How about we search for the owner after dinner!" Colt set it down and opened the fridge.

"So what's the emergency?" Enorc appeared in the small grass valley between the mountains.
"Something you will find most entertaining." the old man grinned and led the way into the golden pyramid.
"It isn't another Dragon council meeting is it?" she asked stepping into the dark structure.
"Nothing quite like that." the father Crone tapped his staff against the ground and two spheres appeared above them, "Our world and Earth." he pointed them out. Then dozens of long red lines appeared connecting the two, "The threats to the balance. This is what it looked like now....This is what it was like exactly twenty two minutes ago." the spheres rotated a bit.
Enorc looked closely. She knew there had to be some point in this but she couldn't see anything, "What'd the difference?" she asked finally.
"Watch as time goes by." he said softly. The spheres started to spin, indicating the twenty minutes that had just gone by. At first nothing happened. Then one of the red lines disappeared. It was followed closely by another. Enorc's eyes grew wide. Two more disappeared before the globes went back to normal.

"Thanks again for watching Kari today Jake." Colt said as she packed her wallet into her purse.
"No problem Colt." Jake leaned against the wall, "But would you mind if Stephany came over later to help me study?"
Colt looked up at him, "As long as nothing inappropriate goes on in front of my daughter." she said firmly.
"Hey hey! You know me, I'm a perfect gentlemen!" he grinned.
"All right, I trust you. I'll be back around five tonight. Kari! Come give your mom a kiss before she goes to work!"
Kari ran out of the living room and gave Colt a tight hug and quick kiss, "Bye mom!"
"Have fun!" she went out the door. It was Saturday morning and it was a tradition now that Jake always baby sat for Kari while Colt worked.
As soon as the door shut Jake turned to Kari, "Have breakfast yet?" he smiled.
"Nope!" she broke out into the giggles and ran into the kitchen. She went right to the fridge and pulled out the ice cream. She had purposely put it there when she had woken up that morning. Jake followed and got out two bowls and the cereal. It was another tradition of theirs to always have ice cream cereal. It was a treat they both looked forward to all week.
Jake started to turn around when something cold and soggy slapped him across the face, "Holy Monkeys!" he wiped his cheek while Kari laughed hysterically and got another spoonful of the half melted ice cream. She was getting him back for the week before when he had dropped an ice cube down the back of her shirt. She shot another chunk and got him on the shirt as he lunged at her. Kari yelped and grabbed the ice cream. She tried to make a run for it but Jake grabbed her shirt and pulled her back. He held her with one arm and grabbed at the ice cream bucket with the other. Kari laughed as she darted it this way and that to keep it away from his arm. Jake caught the corner and the bucket flew out of Kari's arms, splattering ice cream all over the floor.
Both of them froze. They looked at each other then jumped at the bucket at the same time. Kari caught the bottom but Jake just reached right in and grabbed a hunk then tossed it right in Kari's face. She screamed and dumped the rest of it right on top of his head!
"Oh so you wanna play rough do ya?" Jake wiped the ice cream from his eyes and grabbed the box of Frosted Flakes from on top of the counter. He dumped them on top of Kari, the flakes sticking to the parts with ice cream on her. She jumped up and tried to grab the box from him. Jake jumped back but slid on the floor and fell on his butt. The shock stunned him for a moment and Kari took the opportunity to grab the box and dump it back on him.
"Aahh heeey!" they both laughed as Jake fell back and they continued to attack each other.
And then the door bell rang.
Kari stopped and Jake scrambled up, "That's Steph!" Kari followed him out to the front door. He opened it up and they watched as her face went to nervous to shocked to 'why does this not surprise me?'
"Uh, breakfast?" Jake grabbed the box of cereal Kari was still holding and held it out for Stephany.
She raised an eye brow, "No thanks. I ate."
"Suit yourself. More for us." Jake reached his hand in and poured a bunch in his mouth. Kari giggled and the two stepped back so Stephany could enter. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She broke out into a laugh at the two sticky monsters covered in Frosted Flakes. Some sixth sense told her that if she entered that house she would be pulled into an adventure that would probably change her whole world. Still seeing those two, so carefree and innocent, she secretly wished she had been there for the fun. She stepped in and slipped off her shoes while Jake told Kari to start cleaning up the kitchen.
"Sorry about this." Jake said sincerely when Kari was gone, "We play pranks on each other once in a while and sometimes we kinda’ get out of hand." he scratched the back of his head.
Stephany smiled and waved it off, "No big deal. When I was in High School I used to play with my little cousins in the mud."
Jake laughed, "That's almost worse than ice cream! But yeah, you can go sit down and watch TV or whatever and I'll come out as soon as we get everything cleaned up."
"I can help." she offered and followed Jake to the kitchen.
"No, that's okay, we got it!"
"You're a guy, if I let you do all the work Colt's going to have sticky floors for weeks." Stephany explained and went in, "Wow, you really did have a battle in here." Kari grinned from behind a role of paper towels. Stephany quickly took charge and made them clean it up right instead of just wiping it all up. It took while but when they were done the floors sparkled.

An hour later Kari was all showered and cleaned. Jake had washed his hair and face but had to suffer without a shirt while his was in the washing machine. The next thing they had to do was go to the store and buy a new thing of ice cream and cereal but Jake was sure he'd get kicked out if he went in without a shirt, so they had to wait until it was done drying.

"So what about the book?" Stephany finally asked.

"Oh yeah! Kari, go get the book!" Jake told her. It was the real reason he has asked her over that day. So he could explain everything about the other world. He had always been dying to tell someone about his adventures but Colt was the only one he could ever talk to about it. Kari handed it to Stephany. She started flipping through it while Jake started rambling. There was so much to tell that he didn't know where to start. More than once he had to go back and retell something. He could have made the story some what convincing if he had done it the right way the first time but after only a few minutes Stephany was ready to give it all up for a fake.

"Your sister is there now?" she said skeptically.

"Yeah! She's like the most powerful person in that world now!" Jake said proudly.

"This is too much." Stephany shook her head, "What does any of this have to do with a zoo?" she was looking at one of the pages.

"Huh? No idea, but Enorc is the leader of these guys called Crones and they're freaky but they're awesome."

Stephany just slowly set the book on the table, "Whatever you say."

"Look it's true!" Kari yelled at her. She was annoyed at the girl for not believing in anything Jake had said. Kari took the book and flipped it open. The bright light filled the room and when it receded she was no where to be found.

Kari was in the woods again. Finally she landed in a place where no one could accuse her of stealing or mistake her for someone else.

"Kari!"

Kari turned around to see a gray fuzz ball running right at her, "Hanako!" Kari smiled and waved at her wolf friend.

"You came back!" Hanako said happily and looked over her shoulder nervously, "Come on, let's get out of here." she started trotting through the woods quietly.

Kari took off after her, "Where are we going?" she whispered.

"Away from the group! We're supposed to be learning how to hunt but I can do that any time. Let's go have some fun!" she started running faster. Kari didn't miss a beat, when Hanako sped up so did she, until she was running at the speed of light. Everything passed by in a blur and she felt like she could run forever.

Suddenly Hanako jumped passed some trees and disappeared. Unable to slow down Kari followed. The ground dropped, going in a low slant down a hill. Kari lost her balance and started rolling down the grassy hill right behind the young wolf. They landed in a field of flowers and pollen. When they hit, it send up a spray of yellowish dust into the air. Hanako got up first and started pouncing through the field, making the pollen fly up in every direction. Kari sat up and laughed at Hanako jumping all around. She stood and ran after the wolf, sending up her own trail of stuff.
"Watch out for the cliff at the end!" Hanako warned when Kari got too close. It was easy enough to spot but still better to be safe than dead.
The grass and flowers were high. Going up to Kari's knees and the top of Hanako's legs. Neither of them noticed as a shadow temporarily passed over them and neither of them cared that they were covered in yellow dust. The pollen was so pretty when it was floating through the air like tiny fairies. Kari wanted to see more of it. She started jumping up and down and lifting her arms up. As she did more and more pollen rose into the air. She started spinning and the dust started spinning in the air with her, surrounding the two like a big tornado. Then Kari threw her arms up and the pollen zipped up to the sky. Kari let go and it all started to slowly fall down like a light snow.
Suddenly Hanako's head snapped up. She started sniffing around. There was a creature around, but it was like nothing she had ever smelled before. Kari noticed her looking around and went over. They both spotted it at the same time. Crouching near the beginning of the field was a thin tiger. It looked like it hadn't eaten in weeks and its eyes were fixed on Hanako.
Hanako started to slowly back away and each step she took backwards the tiger took forwards. Kari walked with her. Blood pounded in her head so she could hardly think. The tiger was taking its time. It soon had them cornered at the very end of the cliff. Two hundred feet above a long river. Hanako was shaking, she knew her only choices where to jump or be eaten. The tiger crouched down even lower, getting ready to spring at her. It was now or never.
Kari grabbed a chunk of her fur at the same moment she leaped over the cliff, sending them both falling down. They screamed and watched as the ground rushed up. They hit something softer than the ground. It came under them in a flash and caught them not even half way down the cliff. They rose back into the air, Kari was hanging on still half panicked.
"Dragon!" Hanako gasped.
They circled around going back above the field where they saw the tiger looking up at the dragon in confusion. It dropped and whacked the animal with it's tail. The tiger rolled across the field and went limp. Then the dragon picked it up in its claws and flew back into the air. Knowing that the tiger was out of the picture was a little comforting, but now there was the new problem of flying a few hundred feet in the air on a dragon with no seat belts.
"Where are we going?" Kari looked over at Hanako.
Do not be afraid, the voice came from inside their heads, You are safe now, I am taking you to the Imperial City.
Hanako smiled and relaxed, "We'll be okay." she told Kari.
"You sure?" she had images of angry fire breathing dragons running through her head.
Hanako nodded, "The Imperial City is where the Mother Crone and Tobin live. Nothing bad can happen when they're around!"
Kari's heard skipped a beat. She was finally going to meet her Dad. She had heard so many incredible stories about him, he seemed more like a super hero than a real figure. Yet she was finally going to get to see him in real life. After she got over that shock she sat back for the ride. The wind was whipping at her face and her eyes started to hurt. She turned around and saw the world going by below them. It was amazing, it was like being in an airplane except instead of just looking out the small window she could see everywhere! They watched as they passed farms and small houses. People looked like tiny ants and once in a while a wolf or two would be seen walking down the road.
Then all at once the city unfolded. They went over a wall and beyond it were thousands of buildings all packed together. The streets were piled with humans and the rare wolf. It seemed to go on forever. Kari felt the dragon start to slow down. She looked over her shoulder and saw a huge palace in front of her. It was the most beautiful building she had ever seen. Sparkling and painted perfectly with the high towers and big court yard in front. It was exactly like the story books.
The dragon circled it a few times then touched down in the backyard, being careful not to crush the tiger. It crouched down allowing Kari and Hanako to slide off. A young girl came walking quickly towards them.
"Thanks Hikari." she put her hand affectionately onto the dragon's forehead for a moment. Hikari nodded back then took off, leaving the tiger still unconscious on the ground, "Okay boys take care of this one!" she yelled and suddenly four men came running around with a big cage. They carefully picked up the tiger and set it down inside the cage. As they did she walked over to the kids. In Kari's eyes she looked big but in reality people would guess her to be in her late teens.
"Welcome!" she greeted them happily, "Hanako it is so nice to meet you at last! I've heard quite a few stories about the little adventures you've gotten yourself into." the wolf grinned like she was proud of all the trouble she had gotten into. "And Kari." she kneeled down in front of her, "I'm your auntie Enorc. My official title is Mother Crone but you two could care less for formality am I right?" Hanako nodded vigorously. Finally someone who understood her!
"You don't look old enough to be a mother." was Kari's first response.
Enorc laughed, "I'm not literally a mother no. They just call me that because I know more than everyone else, they just don't like to admit it."
"HANA!"
All three turned around, "Dad!" Hanako ran over.
"Are you okay? Your mom is going to have a fit when she finds out you went all the way to Nubia." Spark tried to look at her as she jumped around.
"I'm okay! We got to ride on the back of a dragon Dad! It was so fun! Everything was all whoosh and the wind was like aahhh!"
"Well we'll just leave the dragon part out of the report." Spark muttered smiling. Tobin came out slowly from behind him.
Enorc stood up and started herding Spark and Hanako to the other side of the yard, "Lets let them have their moment."
Tobin slowly made his way over to Kari who had been staring at him since he had appeared. He stopped and stared back. They stood like that for a minute, neither blinking, neither knowing what to do or say. Kari knew who he was even though she had never actually seen any kind of picture. Five minutes went by with silence. Finally Tobin took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"HA! You blinked first, I win!" Kari blurted out before he had a chance to say anything.
"What? I didn't even know we were playing a game!" Tobin protested and the tension was instantly taken away. He let it go and gave a small smile, "I'm Tobin." he said extending his hand to the small girl.
"You're my dad." Kari smiled and shook his hand with both of hers.

Stephany sniffed and reached over Jake to grab another tissue, "It's so sweet." she squeaked.
"Not bad enough to cry." Jake rolled his eyes. They had the book resting between them and were reading everything as it happened.
She blew her nose, "You have no heart." she accused, "A father and daughter united for the first time after eight years of being separated by different worlds? Don't tell me that’s not soap opera material...for some weird, multi dimensional Sci-Fi drama....thing." she tossed the tissue next to the others on the coffee table in front of them.
Jake just shook his head and put his hand on the side of the book, It's nice to see Kari and Tobin getting along and I don't want to be selfish but I want to know what Enorc's up too. The only way he got to talk to her was through Colt and she rarely dropped into her dreams to begin with.

Enorc was overseeing the care of the tiger. It was awake now and eating everything that was put in front of it. She knew it didn't belong there and wished Colt were asleep, then she could call the zoo and have them there when Kari brought it back. The tiger was starting to calm down now that its stomach was full. It was pacing around the cage trying to figure out the best place to take a nap.
"Leave him be for now boys." she told the caretakers, "But get a shot ready for later." she waved and walked away. She headed over to the small chapel on the side of the palace. It was place with strong magic surrounding it, making it easier to open a portal to Earth inside. It was just a small building with vines going up and down all the walls, inside and out. There was nothing inside except a small tree growing out of the floor in the back, and a magic circle carved into the floor.
She went over and stood in the middle of the circle. She had an idea. If it worked she would be able to communicate through the book without having to wait until someone was asleep. But first she had to figure out if anyone was around. She sat down cross legged on the floor and took off the ring on her finger. She held it between her hands then closed her eyes and concentrated on it.
Even though her eyes were closed she saw the light of a tunnel in front of her. She moved towards it. The light getting bigger and brighter. Then she entered the middle and the tunnel sucked her through the gap in the universe. Energy and light rushed past her spirit as she was pulled from one world to the next. As quickly as it had begun, it stopped and she was looking up at a room. She was looking through the book. She detached herself and instantly found Jake and another girl sitting on either side of it.
Who was she? This wasn't the first time someone had been told about the book without discovering it themselves, but still it was rare and unsettling. She brushed over Jake's mind. Stephany Schena was the girl's name. Coworker, senior in college, fantasy writer. That was all Enorc needed to know. She pulled back and retreated through the book, back into her body. She could just speak her message and the book would relay it to the two eavesdropping on the events.
"Jake." she whispered, speaking with her voice and her mind, "Kari will soon be going back with a tiger. Make sure animal control will be there when she returns."
Jake moved back a bit when the book suddenly spelled out his name, addressing him directly, "Um all right. Enorc?" maybe it worked the other way. If she could hear him he'd finally be able to talk to her more! He waited for a moment and nothing happened, "Dang, I was hoping we could talk back to her too." he mumbled, "You wouldn't happen to know the number for Animal control off the top of your head would you?" he looked at Stephany. She shook her head.
"Guess we'll have to look it up then." Jake stood, a little more disappointed than he should have been. He went to go find the phone book.
Stephany looked back down to find her own name now written on the pages, "Stephany Schena. Take good care of this secret." it read. She smiled fully realizing for the first time just how real it all was. She felt like she needed to reply. There was a pencil and notebook on the end of the table. Without really thinking she picked up the pencil and wrote "I will." under the message. When she placed the period after 'will' the letters disappeared.
Enorc watched as the ring glowed then the words appeared above it long enough for her to read it. She smiled and replied, "And take care of my little brother for me. As you can probably tell he's not always the brightest bulb in the box."
Stephany let out a quiet laugh and nodded, "I'll keep him in line." she promised.
"What's so funny?" Jake asked, coming back to the couch with the big phone book.
"Check it out!" Stephany grinned and wrote, "Say hi." in the book.
Jake's first reaction was to panic when Stephany wrote right on the book, but when the words disappeared he knew something had happened. "Hi" came back up and his mouth dropped. He grabbed the pencil and had a good long conversation with his sister.

Colt came home a little after five. It took a while for her to get the whole story. With Stephany being in the equation now and being able to communicate without being asleep. On the other side Kari and Tobin were having a huge bonding session. He told her stories at first then she told him about school and how she beat up two bullies. Tobin wasn't one to scold or think anything about it and it led to them trying to figure out how strong Kari really was. When the sun started going down they decided that it was time to go home.
Colt called animal control and it took her a good ten minutes to convince them they really did have a tiger in their house. Enorc had one of the barn keepers to give the tiger a shot.
"It should knock him out for a good six hours," she said, "The shift shouldn't effect anything."
"Are you sure he's asleep?" Kari asked looking through the bars.
"If he wakes up just hit him over the head, that'll knock it out for a week." Tobin told her.
"Mmkay." Kari crawled through the door of the cage and took hold of the tigers tail.
"Come back soon!" Hanako smiled.
"I will!" Kari promised and disappeared with the tiger.

Kari was still eager to go back the next day. Colt managed to get her to choke down a bowl of cereal before she ran off into the book. Hanako had stayed at the palace by the request of Enorc while Spark went back to the clan to explain everything to Madia. She wasn't surprised when Kari showed up on the front lawn just after nine in the morning. Enorc came out in a nice colorful T-shirt and skirt with a purse hanging around her shoulder.
"Good morning girls!" she greeted the human and wolf, "Get your things together, we're going shopping!" she started to heard them out the gate, "Kari, today is your day to shine!" she rambled as they entered the streets of the city, " You're the only one that can tell the difference between what belongs in your world and our world. If you see anything that doesn't look right just say the word. I think our goals should be to get at least ten things today don't chya think?"
"Yeah!!"
"You're just the miracle our worlds were looking for Kari!" Enorc went on, "The balance has been getting worse for years. Little knick knacks from around the market won't do much but it might give us enough time to figure out how to fix it for good!" they got a lot of looks as they pushed their way down the crowded street. Hanako stayed as close as possible to Enorc and Kari. She was the one getting most of the looks. Under aged wolfs were still not allowed into the city for safety reasons so most humans had never seen a young one before.
Suddenly a large woman ran up to Enorc, "Mother C!"
"Mrs. Maur! How's it going?" Enorc greeted her happily, "How's Teddy?"
"He's got more energy then we've ever seen him! Your medicine was a life saver, literally!"
"I'm so glad!" Enorc smiled and the two gossiped.
Hanako was staring at the ground, trying to avoid all the looks she was getting. Kari put a hand on the wolf's head, silently assuring her everything was okay. The little girl looked up then noticed the ring on the lady's finger.
"That!" she blurted out.
"Huh?" both woman looked down. Mrs. Maur noticed her looking at her ring, then lifted her hand to show Enorc, "Isn't it beautiful? My husband gave it to me last week. Absolutely refused to tell me where he got it or how much it cost, but it must have been a fortune!"
"It doesn't belong." Kari whispered.
Enorc nodded, "May I ask you a favor?" she asked Mrs. Maur.
"Of course! Anything!"
"I'm sorry but I have to request that we take that ring."
"What?!" her face fell, "But my husband gave me this ring. He'll be crushed if I give it away!"
"That's all right! I can have the best jewelers in the city make up an exact copy of it." Enorc told her, "Tell your husband you're having it resized and I promise to have another one to you in three days."
The lady clutched her treasure and opened her mouth to protest.
"Truffle?" Enorc interrupted and handed her a small chocolate ball.
"Oh, thank you." Mrs. Maur popped it into her mouth.
"Now I'm sorry but we really can't take no for an answer." Enorc said a little firmly, "I promise to have another ring for you in three days."
"Three days? Well that isn't so bad, my husband won't mind." Mrs. Maur smiled giddily and gave Enorc the ring.
"You have a good day now!" she said slipping it into her purse.
"You too!" the big lady walked off.
"People must really like their chocolate around here." Kari muttered, seeing how easy it was for her to give it up once she had had the treat.
"Especially when the chocolate triggers your happy place." Enorc grinned, "Its like drugs but without any side effects. She'll be on a high until she goes to sleep tonight and wake up tomorrow with no hang over!"
"Hey can I get a few of those to give to Mom sometime?" Hanako asked.
"You wish." Enorc patted the wolf and they continued on.
They walked around all day finding more in the first hour than Enorc had set for the whole day. It seemed like every five minutes Kari would yell and point to something. They found everything from pens and pencils to bags and movies and even a big statue of an eagle carved out of wood. It all went into Enorc's little purse. The little device was a small portal going from the bag to her room in the palace. That way they wouldn't have to carry everything around all day. She also had an endless supply of money the two kids found out. No matter how much something cost she always had just enough to cover it.
They ended up walking around inside the coliseum which turned into a huge farmers market on the weekends. Enorc was in the process of bartering a snow globe off a difficult shop owner when a loud siren went off. She whipped around to see a young boy with his hand inside her purse. He looked up at her terrified then took off through the crowd.
"KUSTU NO ISHI!" the crone cried out, causing several people to look around alarmed. She then walked forward until they found the little boy struggling to crawl away, his feet pinned to the ground. His shoes had turned into stone. Enorc kneeled down in front of him, "Don't even try kid, you're busted. Kari, Hanako, I gotta take care of this, go wait up in the stands I'll find you later okay?" she picked up the boy and walked off. Kari and Hanako ran all the way up the stairs to the top of the coliseum. It was nice to finally get some breathing room. They sat and watched all the ant people below walk around the market.
"Some day I'm gonna be down there." Hanako said quietly.
"You were all ready down there." Kari pointed out.
"No no! I mean for the tournament! I'm gonna be the greatest fighter ever! Just like Dad was. And everyone is gonna cheer and every clan from here to the dragon mountains is gonna know my name!" she explained dreamily.
"That sounds nice." Kari smiled, "You'll do it. I'll cheer you on!"
"Thanks!"
Kari stared down at the market, "Yep. You'll win and you'll win again and again and then they'll put your picture up on the wall."
"What wall?" Hanako looked at her.
"Huh? The wall with all the winners on it?" Kari looked back.
"Really? How'd you know about it?"
"I donno," Kari shrugged, "I just saw a wall with pictures on it."
"Weird."
"Yeah weird." but they both shrugged it off.
Enorc came back a little later and they all headed back to the palace. It was getting late and Kari had to get home early. The next day was Monday. She would have done anything to get out of going to school the next day. But there was nothing she could do. There was so much stuff piled up in Enorc's room when they got back Kari had to make three trips before she had everything safely back on Earth.
"What are we going to do with all of this stuff?" Colt complained, "There's no way we'll ever get it all back to its original owners."
"Sell it." Enorc wrote through the book, "You might as well, you can always use extra money. It really doesn't matter what happens to it all now that it's in the right world again."
"I guess I could take some of it over to the pawn shop." Colt mumbled and closed the book for the night.

"Everyone pass up your homework then line up to go to gym." Mrs. Golden walked around the front of the rows and picked up the work sheets. Kari threw hers up with the others. It had taken Colt thirty minutes to convince her to do it, and only three to actually complete it. But she had done it and now came the best part of the day.
They got to go outside that day to play kickball. Kari had always been one of the good kickers so she got pushed up near the front. Fifth in line wasn't bad. The first one up got out right away, then the next three filled the bases. Everyone was counting on her to get one or two home. Kari stepped up and waited for the pitch. The ball came rolling towards her and her foot connected. It went up and she started running. She ran and got the others to run. They kept going until she touched home but there were no cheers. Everyone was staring at the sky.
"Where'd the ball go?" someone asked, breaking the trance.
"She kicked it into outer space!" another cried and pointed at Kari.
"I-I didn't...." Kari stepped back away from all the accusing faces. She hadn't realized she had kicked it so hard. Even the gym teacher was speechless.
Suddenly the side door to the school opened and another teacher came running over with a red ball in her hands, "Is this yours?" she snapped at the gym teacher, "It came right down on the slide. It missed Rachel Berry's head by less than a foot!"
"I'm sorry." the gym teacher took the ball as the other stormed off. Kari sat off to the side for the rest of the game.

"Colt I have the answer to all your problems!" Stephany said happily as Colt walked by the check out desk.
"A winning lottery ticket?" Colt walked over.
"No that would be the answer to all my problems, but listen. I used to have a roommate that knew a guy that owned an antique and oddities store. He traveled all over the country looking for rare and weird stuff. Found a whole bunch of one-of-a-kind things. And he buys pretty much anything you want to get rid of! Anything he can't put in his store he sells on e-bay. If you ask him, he'll share part of the profit."
"Well that does sound perfect." Colt admitted, "If he has one-of-a-kind things most of it is probably from the other world too. Except I don't have an endless purse." she sighed.
"I think we all wish we had one of those! But I can call my old roommate and we'll arrange for you to meet him, how does that sound?"
"That sounds wonderful." Colt nodded, "Thanks Steph."
"Anytime, anytime."

Kari couldn't hide in the bathroom forever. But if she could just stay there until most of the kids in daycare left....That would take too long, someone would start to notice she wasn't there. Yet if she went back someone would bring up her little show in gym that day and they'd tease her for being a freak and she'd do something bad again and get into even more trouble. Maybe she could hide in a corner. There was one by the end that was kind of hidden by carts. She could just sneak in and dodge on over to it. She quietly opened the door to the bathroom. On one down the hall. She slid out and walked quickly towards the lunch room.
"Kari?"
Kari looked over to see Colt coming through the door with Stephany.
"Mom!" saved! she ran over to Colt and hugged her tight. She had never been so happy to see her in her life!
"Love the welcome." Colt smiled. They checked Kari out with the leaders then piled into Colt's car. Kari sat in the back but she hardly had any room to move around. It was full of the stuff she had brought back from the book world the day before, "We're going to get rid of some of this stuff." Colt told her.
They didn't have to go far. According to Stephany the shop was in a little strip mall in the middle of nowhere right off the highway. Only a twenty minute ride.
"There it is." Stephany pointed it out on the left. Colt looked and failed to notice the light that seemed to shoot up in front of them. Suddenly the car in front of them swerved to the right and went off the curb. Colt slammed on the breaks and was grateful there was no one right behind her. She managed to stop just a few feet away from this kiosk that just appeared in the middle of the road.
"What the-" they were all speechless.
Kari was the first to snap out of it. She tossed off her seatbelt and dashed out the door.
"KARI! NO!" Colt panicked and fumbled to get her own seatbelt off.
Kari ran over. It was a cart full of books. Most of them looked like they belonged on Earth. She threw those off, not really caring where they landed on the road.
An old couple was getting out of the car that had gone off the road. Colt ran over to Kari, "Kari! Get out of the road!" there were cars approaching slowly coming from both directions. One was forced to stop because of the road block. The other just slowed way down to witness a young girl throwing books here and there from a kiosk in the middle of the highway.
"I have to get this back!" Kari protested. She couldn't just leave it in the middle of the road forever! She fished out the last book that didn't belong, "I'll be back soon!" she promised, and before anyone could stop her she took a tight hold onto one of the legs. A bright light blinded anyone on the road and when it receded both the girl and cart were gone.
"Oh my god." Colt put her head in her hands.
"What was that?"
Colt turned around to see an old man walking forward slowly as if he were afraid something would attack him. His wife was hovering near the car with the same scared expression on her face.
"What the hell was that?!" a big guy from the other car that had stopped came storming up.
Colt just looked around she didn't know what to say. All she could think about was her daughter had just disappeared and she didn't know when she would be back or where she would come back. For all she knew she could reappear in the road right as a car came up! Just the thought made her want to throw up.
"A UFO!" Stephany cried out, walking over and putting an arm around Colt, "That must have been it!" she made as if she were talking to Colt but said it loud enough for everyone to hear, "How else could a cart come out of no where then disappear into thin air? Come on, lets get out of the road so people can get by." she headed Colt back to the car and pushed her into the passenger seat. Stephany jumped into the drivers seat and drove off, letting the others make up their own minds about what had just happened.
"Where's the book?!" It was sitting right in front of Colt on the dashboard. She grabbed it and flipped open to a random page, "PEN!" she was having about as close to panic attack as she could get.
"Well now we know she doesn't need the book to go there." Stephany mumbled as she dug a pen out of her purse as she drive into the parking lot of the little mall. Colt just needed to talk to Enorc to know that Kari wouldn't end up getting run over when she tried to come back.

Kari opened her eyes and found herself once again in the middle of the road, but this one was full of people, buyers and sellers. And every last one of them was silent and staring at her. She froze. This time she didn't know what to do. She couldn't move, couldn't breath. But this time she wasn't the first one to break the trance.
"Witch!!" one lady cried out then everyone started yelling at once. Kari looked back and forth, shaking her head. She wasn't a witch! But no one would hear her and they wouldn't believe her even if they could. She had to get out of there, but as soon as she moved that just caused more panic.
"Don't let the witch get away!" Someone yelled and suddenly ten different pairs of hands were grabbing her and pulling her this way and that. Once they knew she wasn't going to put up much of a fight the shouting calmed a bit.
"What are we going to do with her?"
"Burn her!"
"Drown her!"
"NO! Get the Mother Crone! The Mother Crone will know what to do with her!"
"YEAH!" cheers went up and a small crowd ran off. Kari was dragged across the street and thrown into a tiny closet with just a small window of light. As soon as the commotion settled outside the door Kari sank down and started to cry. She wanted to go home, but home wouldn't be any better. Now she was known as a freak in both worlds! She just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
Hikari touched down onto the lawn of the palace in front of Enorc. The dragons are gathering. They want to fix the world and they need us all.
"Including you." Enorc said sadly. She had been preparing herself for this moment since the dragon had first gone into her care. She wrapped her arms around Hikari's head in a small hug, "Your debt has been repaid a hundred times over. Have a safe flight my friend, until we meet once more."
Safe flight until we meet again. Hikari nodded then took off into the sky. Enorc watched her go until her psychic picked up a call.
Enorc, the balance is reaching critical. The girl needs to be at her limit before her spirit can merge. the Father Crone skipped the greetings.
I know. Next time she comes she'll stay until- Her ring twitched and words appeared before her.
Enorc! Help Kari! She just disappeared on the road, I will not let her reappear there! Colt scribbled.
Calm down, I'll find Kari and she won't land on the road when she goes back. Enorc wrote back to Colt.
The Father Crone continued, If she can break some of the larger energy fields up we can prevent another major transfer until the time is right.
Yes yes I know-
The words kept coming, Do you know where she is? Find her so I know she's okay, she had this huge cart thing with her!
Colt I'm sure she's fine, she wouldn't land in the middle of a river.
The lines are starting to expand faster. Tobin needs to start his journey here today or else he may not get here on time.
Way ahead of you, I sent him off this morning-
A river?! What about a canyon or right in front of a wolf about to take a bite out of a-
Seriously Colt you have to chill!
"Mother Crone!" a group of about five people came rushing across the lawn.
"Oh dear god." Enorc massaged her temples and cut off both links.
"A witch just appeared on the corner of Flin and Jet streets!"
"Just appeared out of thin air!"
"We got her locked up in a closet!"
"What should we do?!"
"SHUT UP!" Enorc yelled. They stopped, "Take me to her." she ordered.
Kari was past crying now. She just had her head in her knees, trying to block everything from her mind.
"Kari?" Enorc opened the door.
"Auntie Enorc!" Kari jumped up and threw her arms around the Crone, "I'm not a witch, tell them I'm not, please!" she choked desperately.
"Shhh I know dear." Enorc stroked Kari's hair trying to settle her down. She turned towards the huge crowd that had gather in the street and whispered a spell that would let her voice carry for all to hear, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves! This girl is a savior to our world not a witch!"
"But she came out of nowhere!" voices rose up.
"She almost killed me!"
"STOP!" Enorc was not in the mood for dealing with people, "I will take care of her! Now go back to work!" she took Kari's hand and walked through the crowd until everyone went back to their normal routines, "Stupid people are so stubborn these days." she mumbled angrily.
They walked for a good ten minutes in silence. When they were out of the danger zone Enorc kneeled down in front of Kari, "I need to ask you a favor." she said.
"What?" she didn't want to do anything right then. Kari just felt like sleeping.
"Can I pull you out of school for the next few days? I really need your help in getting stuff back where it belongs so we can help set things right."
Kari perked up. She wouldn't have to go back and face everyone back at school! "Yes!" she said a little too loudly.
Enorc smiled, "Good." she took off her ring, Colt I'm going to borrow Kari for a few days. She's with me and safe. She wrote into the book.

Colt and Stephany had been in the store for hours trying to settle a deal with the owner.
"I'll take most of the stuff and but you won't get very much for it." Mr. Harding told them.
"I don't care I just can't have it taking up all the space in my house." Colt sighed.
"Can't you give her a deal on some of the store items?" Stephany argued.
He shook his head, "I don't get many customers out here, I gotta take anything I can get, besides even if I gave you the store credit for all the stuff I sell it won't get you more than a few things."
"And I'm pretty sure we'll need a lot of this." Colt looked around the store at all the oddities and things that just screamed other world.
Suddenly Kari appeared in the middle of the room with a bag of stuff over her shoulder. She dropped it and looked around, "Can I take half of this store?" she asked shyly to the man braced against the counter with a hand over his heart.

The next few days consisted of Kari going back and forth between the worlds, and running around with Enorc and Hanako trying to find more things. Kari got nasty looks no matter where she went in the Imperial city. Her fame as the witch had spread fast and now everyone knew her. She was relived when they finally expanded their quest beyond the city limits. They were on the edge of a town close to Nubia. It was getting close to sunset and they hadn't had dinner yet.
"You two stay here while I go get some meat pies." Enorc told Kari and Hanako as she walked off. They sat down against the building, exhausted after another day of walking around non-stop.
Some kids were playing in a field not far off. At first Kari thought the ball they were kicking around was hitting the sun just right so it glowed, but then she noticed the glow came more from the inside, "That ball doesn't belong here." she mumbled. It reminded her of the ball they had used during the game at school. And she hated to be reminded of that.
Hanako looked at her and saw how tired she was, "I'll get it!" the wolf volunteered and got up.
"Hana wait!" but the wolf was all ready on the field with the kids. They all got a kick out of the young wolf coming to play with them. As soon as the ball came to her she picked it up with her teeth and started running back to Kari. The kids chased after and started to yell and protest. Kari stood up and Hanako dropped the ball in her arms.
"Hey! Give our ball back!" one kid yelled.
"Sorry I have to take this." Kari said in a small voice.
"You can't take it, that's ours!"
"Yeah, give it back!"
"It doesn't belong here." but she said it so softly no on heard her.
One kid stepped forward and tried to take the ball but Hanako got between them, "We have a really good reason for taking it so just find yourselves another one!" she snapped.
"Don't boss me around wolf! Now give me back my ball!"
Kari looked around. She couldn't give it back and she couldn't go home right in the middle of the street. No way was she going to be called a witch again. She turned and started running away. Hanako and the kids chased after, but only the wolf was able to catch up to her. Kari took a wrong turn too quickly and found herself trapped in an ally. She turned to go back but the kids were all ready filling the exit.
"Drop the ball!" one warned one last time then picked up a small rock and threw it at them. It was a bad throw and hit the wall, but it was a good enough warning, "Give it back before-"
"Get away!" Kari yelled and threw out her hands. The kids all suddenly fell down as if they had been pushed back. Hanako wrapped her tail around Kari's ankle for support.
"I know her!" another yelled as soon as they had gotten their wits back together, "That's the witch everyone's been talking about!"
"Get her!"
"NO!" Kari closed her eyes and willed herself home before anyone could touch her. But when she opened up again Hanako was still attacked to her leg inside her bedroom.
"This is not good."

Everything she did helped with the small things, but the larger fields were out of control. And after Hanako was brought in it just practically erased all the work she had done. The Father Crone watched as the lines collided with each other and the worlds started to pull together.
Kari hated everything. No matter where she went she was considered a freak or a witch. Yet she was the one saving them from destruction! Why couldn't they understand? She was working to save the words where no one wanted her.
"We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news from CNN live." Jake and Stephany were only half listening to the radio at work, "Today at the Mega Dome in eastern Montana thousands of spectators were witness to one of the most amazing shows in this world. During the half time show of the college football game several wolfs larger than life size appeared in the middle of the field."
"What the-!" Stephany snapped up and Jake lunged forward to turn it up.
"Investigators have not ruled out the option of mass hallucination. Only moments after the wolfs appeared they disappeared into thin air...."

Kari willed herself to land as far away from the Imperial city as possible. She wasn't disappointed. She landed in a small one room hut with nothing in it. Out the window she saw mountains not far off.
"So this is the infamous miracle child I've heard so much about." a voice said amused.
Kari towards the pile of rags sitting in the middle of the room, "Who are you?"
"I am Crone. Or you child may call me by my birth name Mikel." the pile shifted and a smiling face came out.
Kari crawled over to Mikel and lightly placed her hands on his face. Her hands moved down slowly, inspecting the rags, "It's only half." she whispered, "Half of you isn't right."
"Amazing. It is true I am half human-"
"No." she cut him off, "It's not just that. Half of you doesn't belong in this world." and for the first time in history, the Crones were silent.
"Kari?" Enorc walked into the hut followed closely by Hanako and Tobin.
"How can I only take half a person back?" she mumbled to herself.
"Kari." Enorc put her hand on the little girl's shoulder and pulled her away from the Crone. Her voice suddenly stronger than before.
"Mother." Mikel bowed slightly in respect.
"Mikel it is time you return to your true form." she didn't sound like the young girl she had been before. Her voice was full of power and energy, "Many years ago the former Mother sacrificed half of yourself into another in return for his human half. She did it out of pity but now that mistake must be corrected. Tobin, come."
Tobin stepped forward. Enorc took his hands and placed them against Mikel's hands then surrounded them with magic, "Hipo grthy cawha waon dono muno beun. Githe bawha waon tean rite bafo alwo!" power swelled up in the room. Tobin and Mikel seemed to glow for a moment before Enorc finished the chant and everything seemed to go back to the way it was before.
"It is done." the Crone said as his hands dropped lifeless to the floor.

Colt was having a hard time driving to work. There were accidents everywhere. Trees were on top of houses, hundreds of random items were scattered around the lawns and in the streets. She kept seeing fragments of people and wolfs out of the corner of her eyes, only too look and find nothing. At one point traffic was at a stand still because a building was blocking the intersection. When she finally did get to work, she was going behind a car in the parking lot when it suddenly just disappeared right in front of her! She just stopped her own right there and ran into the mall and all the way to the book store. Jake and Stephany were still glued to the radio where every channel in existence was talking about the end of the world.

"The pyramid." Enorc had said, "The pyramid is where it will end." and now she was leading them through the woods. It was the only place on that world that was not being touched by the chaos. In the Imperial city, everyone was having the same panic attack as the people of Earth were. Things were coming and going and no one knew what was going on.
Hanako was the first to break through the edge of the forest and enter the small sollom valley where the giant pyramid stood. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was more excited than worried. She had faith Kari could fix everything. Maybe a little too much faith, but faith non the less.
The little girl was close behind her. Together they ran up to the smooth golden structure. A slab of stone fell away as they approached and an old man with a cane stepped out into the sun, "It is time." he greeted them and waited until everyone was in the pyramid before closing the door. The two floating spheres lit up the circle. They were glowing red and slowly overlapping each other.
"Child." the Father crone addressed Kari, "Now is the time you must give up yourself to correct the balance between the worlds."
"I can't." Kari said softly suddenly feeling over whelmed with pressure.

"Something's happening-!" Jake torn his eyes away from the radio to see the walls of the store dissolve for a moment.
"Oh my god, Kari." Colt was starting to get frantic again, "Where is she? Where's my baby?!" she tore out the book and started flipping pages, hardly even looking at the words. But half of them were falling out anyway. The book was crumbling. Stephany grabbed Jake's sleeve and watched as the floor this time was momentarily replaced by grass.

"I don't know what to do, I can't do anything!" Kari wished it was anyone but her right then. They were telling her to do something but they wouldn't tell her what to do! Let go? How do you let go?!
Tobin came up next to her and took her hand, "It's okay." he assured her, "Just imagine yourself surrounded by light. The light you always see when you go between the worlds."
The light between the worlds. Kari sniffed, trying not to cry from the frustration. She closed her eyes and saw the light and willed herself home.

"KARI!" Colt looked up and saw a transparent image of her little girl standing in front of the counter.
"Tobin?" Jake was the first to see the man holding Kari's hand.
"Mom!" Kari waved to her and started to disappear again.
"Kari! Tobin! Don't leave me!" tears were running from her eyes as she dashed out from behind the counter to where they stood. As soon as Colt took Kari into her arms she also became hard to see. She hugged Tobin and Kari and suddenly the three were standing on a high hill. The same valley from the dream world where they spent all their nights. Then everyone in the pyramid on Coracle and in the store on Earth watched as Kari put an arm around Colt and Tobin and whispered, "Let's go."
An explosion of light shot out from where they stood. It shot through both worlds and covered everything in a blanket of white.
Then it was gone. Jake opened his eyes and saw a pair of sunglasses floating in mid air where Colt had stood a moment before. Enorc looked away from the floating spheres and watched a small wolf necklace dangle on nothing. Those too disappeared and she looked over to watch as a small white line connected between the two worlds next to the original.

***10 years later***

Jake walked out of the fifth grade classroom, the shining book by his side. He was all jittery that morning. Not because of the career day speeches he was giving but because that morning he had woken up to find the cover of the book had changed once again. It had a picture of a mighty dragon, but he had watched all day and no one seemed right for the book. He was starting to get nervous again, "Help me out Colt." he whispered to the air, "Tell me I gotta calm down."
A single high note sounded through the air. It was nothing but the wind hitting the open window at the right angle but he still took that as his sign. Jake smiled and was about to switch again when a little girl came running out.
"I have a question." she said softly, "If you're a scientist, how come you tell all those stories about things that aren't true?"
"Believing in the impossible is the basis of being a scientist in the first place," he said happily, "Flying was once impossible, going to the moon was once impossible. Going to other worlds is impossible now, but maybe someday that will come true too."
"Worlds with dragons in them?" she said skeptically.
He nodded, "Even worlds with dragons in them." and then he knew. He didn't know why or how he just looked into that girl's eyes and he knew, "I'd like to give you a present." he reached for the book, "This book made me what I am today and I hope it can make a believer out of you too." he grinned and handed it to her.
"Really? Thanks!" she took the book that looked like it was brand new and looked over it.
"You have a good time now." Jake waved and walked down the hall with a satisfied smile, "The legend will continue!"