It’s Friday of finals week. You’re sitting in yet another study session, this one in Willey Hall 125. The room is full of restless students trying to get a clue about what your test — your last test of the quarter — will be about. It’s been a long day — who schedules these tests on Friday anyway? You start to block out the words of the instructors, content instead to daydream for a while about that awesome trip you’ll be taking over spring break.
“Coke on campus is all right with me,” you think as you reach down into your bag and finger the plane ticket. It was complete luck that you won that treasure hunt last month, part of a Coca-Cola promotion on campus. Since then, you’ve been carrying the ticket with you everywhere you go. You even sleep with it under your pillow at night.
You sigh as you feel its textured white paper between your finger. Just one more touch will get you through your next obstacle. “It’s safe,” you mumble, as you envision a white, sandy beach, a pina colada in one hand and the latest John Grisham novel in the other. Imagine, reading fiction for once. You sink down in your chair and happily drift off to sleep.
Snap. You awake with a startle as students around you begin gathering their things. You suddenly realize you have completely missed the study session for your last final of winter quarter because you fell asleep. Then this strange feeling that someone is hovering near, watching you makes you jerk your head around quickly to see who’s behind you.
“It’s nothing. What’s wrong with me?” you say, shaking your head. As the other students in Willey Hall 125 head off to take the exam, you feel like skipping.
But wait. That plane ticket you won awaits you in your bag. You’re going to hop the last red-eye flight tonight as soon as your test is over. “That will keep me going,” you say. “All I need is just one more look.”
As you reach down toward your bag, you see yourself on the beach, donning your sunglasses and basking in the warmth of the sub-tropical sun. The trip is only a few hours away.
And then panic sets in. “Where is it?” you ask yourself, as you rifle frantically through your bag trying to find where on earth you could have misplaced your ticket. You look around you. “Did it drop on the floor? Is it stuck to my books? It was there just a minute ago.”
Suddenly, a darkly clad figure darts out of the room just to your left. Since the room has slowly been emptying as the students file out, you wonder why someone would be moving so quickly — especially to go to a test. And then that eerie feeling comes back.
You scoop up your bag and turn hastily to follow the figure. “He couldn’t have gone far,” you mumble as you turn the corner to see a dark coat fly around the bend just ahead.
“I must catch that man,” you say audibly, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear. Then suddenly the test — your last test of the quarter, the only thing standing between you and spring break — returns to the fore of your mind. “What about my test? Can I afford to skip my test?” you think to yourself.
But how can you even get to the tropical island, the place of your dreams, without that ticket. Suddenly, you’re desperate, throwing your hands up to your face in despair. “Can I go on without my good luck ticket?”

If you want to follow the dark man who may know something about your ticket …

If you want to take your chances and go take your test …