LOST IN MIDDLE EARTH
A Lord of the Rings Fanfiction
Written by: Jersee, Torin, and Jen
PROLOGUE
What would you do if one day you found yourself stuck in Middle Earth? Four young people found out what it's really like to be in Middle Earth when they were magically transported there by a strange old man who occasionally disguises himself as Gandalf.
Lanie Fox is very, very vain. She believes that there is no one like her in the whole world. In her opinion, she is the most beautiful, the smartest, the sexiest, and the most important person in all of Los Angeles. Her entire life revolves around popularity and what's popular. She is the only child of a rich lawyer divorcée mother and a rich remarried father who lives in France. Lots of credit cards from her doting mother is her main reason to visit the mall almost every day. She is quite cruel to those who she thinks are "lesser humans", which unfortunately include those who are considered "geeks" or "nerds" in her school.
However, Lanie lives another life other than the one she has at school. Lanie has an Internet alter-ego. This Alter-Lanie is sweet, humble, and a certified geek. The website she frequents happens to be a Tolkien fansite where the members go and play role playing games pretending to be elves, or dwarves, or hobbits, or even orcs. She had been visiting this site since she was in third grade: when she was still a chubby, blonde, geeky, unpopular girl at school. Nobody in her school knows about this version of her, and no one in the forum knows about her school persona. It was how she wanted things to be, until she could decide which version of her she wanted to be for the rest of her life.
Lanie didn't know she'd be faced with this choice when she attended a convention for Tolkien fans held in the monolithic monument, Stonehenge, in England.
Nick Collins was you average hot Californian dude. Born into old money, he never had to worry about anything and therefore couldn't care less if he got horrible grades in school. His enjoyment revolved around sports, parties, vacations, surfing, and babe-watching. Many think he'll amount to nothing even though he has been vocal about his plans about going into College.
His only living relative is an Uncle who lives in England and is a Tolkien fanatic and scholar. He decided to visit him and was forced to watch the movie versions of Lord of the Rings (which he slept through because they were just too damn long!) He barely remembered what the stories were about, but he was able to convince his uncle that he was a fan, just like him. When, his uncle decided to bring him to a convention of Tolkien fans, he decided to go along because of the venue (Stonehenge, hello!) and because his uncle showed him pictures of the female members of the forum who were also going to the convention (babe-fest!). However, when he got there he realized how out-of-place he was and decided he'd leave before his uncle got a chance to introduce him to anyone who would recognize him when he got back home.
Then something happened and the most unexpected person found himself in a place he knew nothing about.
Shane VanGough was born in New York City to a drug-dealing father who was murdered when she was twelve. After her father's death, Shane and her mother moved to LA to be closer to Shane's maternal grandparents. During her stay there, Shane discovered Tolkien and the wonderful world of Middle Earth since both her grandparents were fans. Then she discovered a forum on the Internet where many Tolkien fans have found sanctuary, and has been addicted to it ever since.
Shane is not an outgoing person, but she gets along with pretty much anyone. She doesn't care what other people think of her, and rarely let people get close enough to know why. The only people whom she felt close enough to let in a little are her online, Tolkien forum friends.
In the forum, Shane was known as a Tolkien scholar, and rightly so—she never goes anywhere without a copy of one of Tolkien's books, which is why, at 19 Shane, has practically memorized the stories. She often wished (and dreamt) of being part of the Lord of the Rings stories. Little did she know that her wishes were about to come true.
She went to a convention of all the Tolkien fans that were part of that forum, and eventually found herself living her dream—a dream where she might have to wake up from—only if she wanted to.
Adita Panikkar was born on December 9th, 1992, three minutes after her twin brother, Vasuman, and has never been separated from him for more than two days. They were the best of friends and Adi could never picture her life without Vasuman.
One day, her brother got in a car accident. As Adi stayed by his bedside, one of the nurses gave her a copy of The Hobbit. She loved it so much that she'd read it to Vasuman, who was comatose because of the brain injury from the car crash. Soon after that, she discovered The Lord of the Rings and found a world full of brave heroes who had to face adversities far beyond their capacities and overcame them through friendship, perseverance, and love for all things good. Since then, Tolkien's Trilogy became her favorite books to read, a comfort for her in dark times.
Adi is very shy, and though she has won numerous awards for her academic accomplishments, she has never been able to come out of her shell. She has a hard time making friends and interacting with strangers. She has a terrible fear of heights and of large crowds, especially when she is in front of them. Deep inside, though, she's a spirited girl who only needs a way to let out her emotions and connect with her peers.
Then she was led by an old man into Middle Earth. Will she finally find her true self there?