It took me longer than it should to realize something wasn't right. First thing I should have noticed were that the sheets weren't right, the thread count was higher than I could afford. When I stretched I should have noticed that my dog was missing. When I got up I should have noticed the cold floor wasn't cheap linoleum tile. I only realized something was up when I took my daily five steps to the light switch and tried to turn it on. My hand met empty air and I rubbed my blurry eyes until the world came into focus. In retrospect I should have handled the situation better because the first thing I did was let out a blood curdling scream. My head shot towards the door when I heard shouting on the other side. In my panic I didn't quite act rationally. I grabbed the nearest unlit candelabra and shoved it through the door handles effective locking the door. Frantically looking around for another exit I saw a balcony. While running towards it I tripped on the long nightdress, which I don't remember wearing when I went to bed last night. I picked up the hem only to drop it in surprise when I saw the view outside. If memory serves I went to sleep on a tropical island, and I somehow woke up in a forest. The door shook violently, startling me out of my reverie. I rushed to the railing and my heart sank at the 15 foot drop. Scanning the area I saw another balcony adjacent to mine and on the opposite side of that was a tree within climbing distance. There was a 3 foot gap between the balconies and normally I wouldn't risk that, but my body was in fight or flight. As I climbed onto the railing I heard someone kick the door savagely, it wasn't going to hold. Taking a deep breath I ran along the railing to the closest point and jumped. I heard another loud smash and a clang as the candelabra hit the floor. My feet crumpled underneath me in my landing and I ended up sprawled on the balcony. Knowing they were in "my" room I got up and made a dash for the tree. A voice stopped me in my tracks. Like a deer frozen in headlights I looked into the room to see a short man with a full beard. He said something in a language I didn't understand and my panic doubled. He saw that I didn't understand and said what I could only guess what a curse in a completely different language. It sounded harsh like German. My eyes flicked over to the tree and he took a step forward saying more words in the German like tongue that I was sure were meant to be soothing. My eyes locked with his and I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. Strangely as he continued to speak to me the more the words made sense. Eventually my brain made out, "I'm not going to hurt ya lass."

My shoulders relaxed and he smiled a little. My back went ramrod straight again as a shout in another language came from "my" balcony. My head whipped around to see a tall blond man pointing at me and talking to someone in my room. I took a step towards the tree and a hand landed on my arm. I nearly flinched away until I saw it was the short man. I was so confused and scared. I asked, "Where am I?"

It took me a second to realize I spoke in the German sounding tongue. His eyebrows shot up but another shout from "my" balcony distracted him. His brow creased in anger as he yelled at the tall blond man in the other language. They traded a few words and again, as they spoke what they said made more and more sense. Eventually the short man stomped his foot and I understood, "Can't you see your scaring the girl?!"

This whole thing was much more than I can handle especially just after waking up. My knees gave out underneath me but the short man caught me leading me down to the floor. I looked up at him and said in the new language, "What's happening to me?"

He seemed surprised again and I felt another hand land on my shoulder. My head shot around to see the tall blond and I flinched away from him. His brow furrowed and he shook his head, "I'm not going to hurt you my lady."

I curled myself into the shorter man who continued to glare at the blond man, "It doesn't seem like she trusts you elf. I'll take her back to her room."

Again I should have realized that indeed that tall man had been an elf, but I think my brain had reached maximum saturation. The tall man looked sad, like he didn't want me to be afraid of him but nodded. He stood and backed away keeping an eye on me before exiting the room. The short man ran a hand through my hair and said in the gruff language, "It's okay lass, let's get you back to your room."

As my brain started to function at a less panicked level I shook my head and leveled a look at him and demanded, "Where am I?"

His eyes didn't stop being warm and comforting even at my demanding tone. He continued to run a hand through my hair, "You're in Rivendell. If you don't mind me asking, where did a human learn the Dwarven tongue?"

I blinked a few times and asked, "Dwarven?"

A light bulb seemed to go off in his head and he switched to the other tongue, "What language do you speak lass?"

My brain was hey wire cause I knew that the two languages I know understood weren't English. I shrugged, "English...and now it seems I know two more...I didn't understand you at first but the more you spoke. It was like I was learning it as you spoke...what's going on?"

He had a genuinely confused expression on his face as he asked, "Is 'English' a tongue of men?"

My brain finally clicked and I pushed away from him putting some distance between us but he still had a light hold of my shoulders, "Wait a minute did you say we were in Rivendell, as in Imladris the elvish city?"

He nodded and it felt like I swallowed a 50 pound lead weight. My focused my eyes down on the floor of the balcony and asked, "And you're a dwarf from the Lonely Mountain?"

He grunted as he knelt down next to me and lifted my face to look at him. He nodded his eyes still confused. I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, "So I'm in Middle Earth?"

His thumb rubbed comforting circles on my shoulder. "Where else would we be lass?"

I buried my face into my knees and groaned, "Oh Christ I need a drink."

That earned me a chuckle from my new friend and he said, "Not sure that's what you need lass."

I looked up at him and asked, "We're speaking Westron right?"

He nodded, "Where does this 'English' of yours come from?"

I rubbed a hand over my face and I said, "Very, very far away."

I moved my feet underneath me and my dwarf friend helped me stand. Sadly I realized I wasn't that much taller than him, maybe 6 inches or less. He looked up at me with a grin, "For a human you're rather small."

I grimaced and nodded, "I know, don't quite need to be reminded of that right now. Wait human?"

My hands shot up to my ears and I let out a relieved sigh. He laughed and asked, "What did you expect lass, to wake up as an elf?"

I leveled a serious look at him, "You would be surprised how many stories start out that way where I come from. To be completely honest I'm not quite sure if this is real. I am kind of hoping it's a dream."

He started to lead me towards the door, "Why is that?"

I shivered at the thought, "Because if it isn't I have no idea how to get home."

He patted my shoulder and said, "Lord Elrond is old and wise, I'm sure he could help you find your way."

I shook my head and mumbled, "Unless he's got a TARDIS stashed away somewhere I sincerely doubt it."

He led me back to my room and shut the door behind us. He stood there assessing the damage I had caused when I had blocked the door. He asked, "What's a 'tardis'?

I spoke without thinking, "It's an acronym forTime And Relative Dimension In Space."

He turned to me slowly a very confused look on his face, "'Acronym'? 'Dimension'? Lass I'm not sure we are speaking the same language anymore."

I paused clenching my eyes shut before letting out a long sigh, "No, no we aren't."