Summery: Morgan is a grumpy Goth and her little sister is just the opposite. It's bad enough that they get stuck in Middle Earth together but what happens when they get attacked by Mary Sue hunters? Can she convince them she's innocent? Not you typical "girl lands in Middle Earth story."

Note from the Author: This story is set in Australia. In one of my other stories I was criticised for not using American la English The fact that I am not American might explain it but none the less I can understand the frustration of not being able to understand anything in a story. If I use a word that is not American I will have a number in brackets next to it to match it to a translation at the end of the chapter so I don't confuse anyone. I'm sorry about the paragraphs, they don't seem to be working

Chapter 1

"This is going to be super fun! Don't you think so kids?" My mum asked. She reminds me of Bree from desperate housewives and when she reached forty something she became so terrified of aging that she desperately tries to be cool by wearing whatever the stars are wearing, puts on way too much make up and uses words like "radical" and "super".

"Yeah, super fun!" My bratty air headed sister cheered. She's eight years old and has the brain power of a sponge.

"What do you think Morgan?" Mum tried to get a response from me. All she got was a groan.

"Why can't you be more like your sister Morgan?" My dad asked seriously. He's a science teacher and as a result he is so mind crushingly boring I'd rather poke out my own eyes with a stick than sit in class room with him. Just picture Mr Brady mixed with the camp leader from the Adams family movie and you will have my dad. I just stared out the window; I think my black "no comment" shirt said it all. My parents call me a Goth. I'm not a goth or Emo, I just have purple streaked black hair, wear a lot of black and complain but my dad can't see something out of the ordinary without putting a label on it.

"Isn't this great?" Dad joined mum in her never ending quest to make me puke. "It's a new town, new school, new kids…"

"Dad." I interrupted. "You're starting to sound like one of those dads from a cheesy American movie."

"Really?" He asked with vague interest. "Which one?"

"You know the one where the family moves to a new town and everyone's all hyped about it." I can't count how many Goosebumps book started with a family moving to a new town, a really dumb way to begin a story if you ask me. Really, both of my parents were starting to sound like something from the Brady Bunch. In my sweetest dreams I imagined hunting down the writers of that show with a flamethrower.

"When we get there, I want to go exploring!" Nicole was so enthusiastic I wanted to vomit. If this were a TV show I'd be laughing at the bad writing. She cuddled her white kitten Victoria.

"Victoria wants to go exploring, don't you Vicky?" Oh puke, I hate baby talk. From somewhere in the back my cat growled with irritation, she hates being locked up. She's a grumpy old girl with fluffy grey fur. Mum got the DVD version of Cats and made us watch it. She was so inspired she took us to the RSPCA (1) and got us to choose our own feline companion. Needless to say Nicole loved the show; she'd walk around with a bucket on her head if it would make mum happy she even named her kitten after one of the characters. I didn't like it much, the crime boss was interesting but Rum Tum Tugger was just plain annoying and the rest were just plain dumb. And the way they drooled over the fat leader guy? Ick. I've never liked musicals. I wanted to name my cat Dracula but mum overruled me and named her Grizzabella. I couldn't stand Grizzabella in the musical, she just spends the whole tome pissing and moaning about how horrible her life is. Well great, why didn't she just jump off a bridge and do everyone a favour? No wonder the other cats sent her to heaven, they wouldn't have gotten rid of her if they hadn't. Sure I complain about my life but I know it could be worse and I'm not going to kill myself any time soon. The closest I've ever came to suicide was the time dad got drunk at last year's Christmas party and started singing at the top of his terrible voice.

"Here we are." Dad said as he turned into the driveway. "Our new home."

"Oh really I wouldn't have guessed." I replied sarcastically. "I thought it was a coal mine."

"Morgan." Mum told me off in a stern voice. "You seriously need to change your attitude problem young lady."

"Blah." I replied.

"Mum, can I help you bring in the shopping?" Nicole begged and not for the first time (or the last) I felt like smacking her head against the wall. Little suck up.

"Alright, but leave the cold things." Years ago dad bought a weird little portable fridge the size of an esky. (2) I had no idea what he was planning on doing with it but he said "just in case." Well that's my dad for you; he'd take a life jacket to the desert if someone suggested it would come in handy.

For the first time I looked up the house. My ideal place would have been in the mountains surrounded by wilderness but like complete knob heads my family insisted on living in a development area where wilderness was being cut down to make way for houses. The house was a cute little three bedroom place; it looked more like a holiday house rather than a place to live. I wondered how long it would take before we drove each other insane.

"Now girls, you'll have to decide on bedrooms because only one of them has a lock."

"I bag it." I desperately needed a lock, the last time Nicole got into my room she stole my favourite necklace and held it ransom.

"I want that room too." Nicole wined. Grrr, stupid brat didn't want the room, she just wanted to make sure I didn't get it. She has her bedroom door open most of the time anyway, what would she need a lock for?"

"But I'm doing the school certificate (3) this year and I need to study in peace." I argued and almost sounded sincere.

"Well that settles it; Morgan gets the room with the lock." Finally mum's obsession with my school marks came in handy.

"Morgan, help us bring the stuff in." Nicole sneered, unhappy that she didn't get her own way for once. I stuck out my tongue at her as a grabbed a box and went inside.

Mum blabbed on about the history of the place while I put food in the cupboards.

"An old woman used to live here on her own, a bit big for one person don't you think?" Blah bah blah, didn't she ever stop talking?

"Maybe all her relatives died." I suggested. "Maybe she woke up one day and they'd all croaked it simultaneously."

Surprisingly Nicole laughed but mum glared at us.

"Nicole! Morgan! That's a horrible thing to say." She didn't appreciate my sense of humour, never did. Her lecture was interrupted by the rumble of a truck.

"That must be the movers." She announced happily.

I looked around my room, no longer feeling like I was the plane of the losers. The bed frame was black and the doona cover was purple. I had wanted blood red but mum didn't think it was a good idea. On one wall hung my wolf poster, I had wanted a poster I saw of the grim reaper holding a bleeding skull but yet again mum overruled me. She wanted me to have one of a cute little kitten. We negotiated until I was allowed a wolf one on the condition I got the one that had wolf puppies in it. I secretly liked the picture, it was easy to picture myself as a part of it. I cold imagine myself as a wolf running free though a cold, moonlit forest; no rules, no parents, nothing holding me back.

And definitely no Nicole I thought as I heard Britney Spears blasting form her room. I had only a single glance inside her room but it was enough to know that it was plastered in pink and her bed covered in soft toys. Gag. The only fluffy thing in my room was Grizzy and she was asleep on my bed. We might both be grumpy but we co-exist happily on the rule that I feed her and she ignores me.

My bookshelves contained things like the Ancient Future trilogy by Tracy Harding and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Most of my books were Christmas and birthday present and were barely read. Nicole's shelves held more toys, Harry Potter books and a whole library of books by Jacqueline Wilson. I read one of the Harry Potter books once and gave up. Though JK Rowling is a good writer Harry came off as a bit of a dork and I always secretly hoped that Snape would force feed him poison but no such luck.

"Morgan!" Nicole called. "I want to go exploring but everyone else is busy and I can't go alone, will you come?"

No.

"Or you can stay here and help me organise my cd collection." Dad suggested.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

What on earth was I thinking? Surely listening to dad go on about "the good old days" was better than this. I like the wilderness just fine but it was sad to see it all getting cut down and not to mention being alone with Nicole who insisted on showing me every "cool" stick, rock and leaf she found.

"Oh look this one's really pretty."

"Yes, it's nice."

She tugged on my hands, trying to get me to leave the safety of the rock I was sitting on.

"Come on Morgan."

"Okay." I knew I had to be nice to her or Nicole would tell mum I was mean and she'd ground me.

"Weeeeeee!" She ran through the trees with her arms outstretched like a plane. Fresh air always does that to her, I have no idea why.

I saw her slowly disappear as she took off down a hill.

"Hey wait up!" As much as I couldn't stand the adorable little brat I'd feel bad if something happened to her, that and I didn't' want to get lost.

"Morgan, come and see what I found!"

I couldn't believe it. A cave. It was nestled between two hills. I could tell form the dried up mud and the animal footprints that this was once a creek and a popular drinking spot before the drought.

"I wanna explore." Nicole was as stubborn as a brick wall and just as smart.

"I don't think that's such a smart idea, there could be snakes and spiders in there."

"Really? Cool!" She took off before I could stop her. The only time I meet a little girl who isn't afraid of snakes an spiders and she just has to be my little sister good n you god, you owe me one.

"Come on Morgan!"

Hey god, make that a hundred.

In my pocket I had a key ring with a miniature torch (4) dad had given me on my fifteenth birthday a year ago. I told you he's obsessed with the "potentially useful" crap he always buys. Who knew he would be right for once?

The cave was interesting if a bit creepy. The floor was once wet from the dried up water and the walls glittered.

"Hey Morgan, come and look at this, I think I've found some cave paintings."

I looked where she was pointing.

"Somehow I doubt that cavemen painted pictures of flying saucers. It's just vandals."

"Oh she said. "is that was it is? You never know, maybe a flying saucer did land here thousands of years ago."

There was something wrong with that child and it was my life mission to find out what.

"Doubt it."

She was quiet for a few seconds.

"This is a really big cave." She said eventually. "Is that light I see?"

"It's probably just the torch reflecting off the walls."

"No I don't think so." She said certainly and she rushed off again. I seriously considered putting a leash on that child.

"Morgan!" She called and for a moment I was afraid that she had been bitten by something.

"Oh Morgan, come and see!" I started to walk faster, there was something in her voice that old me the she had really found something, something more important than just a sparkly roc. As the light grew bigger I realised the cave had a back exit.

"Big deal, the cave has a back door."

"No, this side is different." She insisted. "Can't you feel it?"

"It's colder." I untied my jumper (5) from around my waist and put it on.

"The trees are different as well." I continued. 'Normally these trees are only found in Europe, Canada and USA." The sun had changed position as well. When we entered the cave the sun had been in the middle of the sky to show midday but now it had moved further west to indicate mid afternoon which was strange because both of our watches still said it was half past twelve.

"Where are we?" She asked as if she expected me to have all of the answers.

"I don't know but I think we should go back."

We turned around only to find that the cave had disappeared.

"Oh shit."

"I'm going to tell mum you said a bad word." Nicole giggled.

Yeah, if we ever get home again

"I think we have bigger problems right now."

"Like what?"

"Well for starters we're ion a strange place. We appear to have lost at least four hours of the day but out watches haven't changed and now we can't get back."

'Oh." She said softly and she looked like she was going to cry.

"We should probably look around, hopefully there might be some people around." I tried to give her some hope.

Toto we sure ain't in Kansas

We were careful as we walked around as if at any moment a knife could fly out and kill us or something. You could never be too careful. I didn't want to admit that anything strange had happened and my brain desperately searched for a logical explanation. Sixteen years of living with a science teacher will do that to you. I always believed in ghosts and stuff but I never thought something like that would ever happen to me. I was about to suggest we give up when I heard a scream and something g jumped at us from the trees above.

"Die Mary Sue scum!"

(1) The RSPCA is the Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to Animals, you can adopt pets here. I'm sure you've probably heard of this place but I thought I'd do this just in case.

(2) An esky is a small box you put drinks and stuff in when you want to keep them cold if you're going something. I think Americans call it a cooler, I'm not sure.

(3) The school certificate is the exams after year 10. The Higher School certificate is the exams after year 12 at the end of high school.

(4) Flashlight

(5) Sweater