Blue Horizons

by, Smeagol'sgirl

Hope-Anne stormed into her room with tears streaming down her face. Of all the fights she had gotten into with her parents, that had to have been the worst. They had just found out about her boyfriend who was her age but had a history of being in trouble with the cops. He had even spent the last month in JUVY. But she loved him, or so she thought and wanted nothing more than to kill her parents for cutting off all contact with him.

She logged onto her laptop and waited for the internet to load up. Once she was online, she got into her favorite chat room and immediately began her rant on how much she hated her parents. Several girls responded telling her to stay with him, or runaway, or see him behind their backs... but none of them had any comfort for her. But then someone else entered the chat room called Lylathia. A strange name, but so were many of the other names on there. The person called Lylathia began talking to her immediately.

Lylathia: Hope-Anne, I know what you are going through.

Hope was shocked. Not only did this person start talking to her out of the blue, but she knew her name! Hope had never posted her real name on there before. It had always been DCT234. "Weird," she muttered to herself. She immediately responded.

DCT234: You do?

Lylathia: Yes. I can help too.

DCT234: IDK...

(IDK: I don't know.)

Hope had always been warned about people who said things like that in a chat room. But then again, she never listened to her parents anyway.

DCT234: What can u do?

Lylathia: I can get you out of there.

Hope noticed for the first time that no one else seemed to be responding to their conversation. She was about to type something in when Lylathia spoke again.

Lylathia: They can't read this. It's just you and me.

DCT234: What r u talking about?

She was getting nervous. Whoever this person was, was beginning to scare her. She was almost ready to get out of there and find another chatroom.

Lylathia: Follow the light...

Just then, a small golden spark appeared in the top right corner of the screen. As Hope watched it, it gradually began to get bigger. She wanted to turn away. But something called her to that light. Soon the light was around her and everything around her seemed to fade. She felt herself being dragged somewhere far away and soon she was falling, falling, and...

Her head struck something stone and darkness took her.

Smeagol walked up to the well with his friend Deagol to draw water. Both were talking eagerly about their plans for the weekend. Since schooling was a rare and important thing and both their parents could afford it, they were forced to take classes during the weekdays. The two of them thought it a waste of time and wished that they could spend more time together fishing, hunting and having fun like they used to when they were young. Smeagol was the first to reach the well.

"So after that we can... whoa!" he stumbled on an unseen body and fell over flat on his face. Deagol almost fell over laughing and came to him to help him up.

"Honestly, Smea, you're going to kill yourself someday if you don't watch where you are going." Smeagol smirked and looked over to where he had tripped. Laying on the ground was a young girl, a little younger than him (he was only twenty) with beautiful black hair that only came down to her shoulders, wearing the strangest clothes he had ever seen.

"Who is he?" asked Deagol, mistaking it for a male. Smeagol shrugged and walked up to her, noticing for the first time the large gash on her head. He also noticed her very female like hips and chest.

"I don't think it's a he, Deagol," he muttered. "She's been hurt bad," he added pointing out the head wound.

"I guess you aren't the only clumsy one then," said Deagol with a smile.

"Let's get her to my home quickly," he muttered. "Otherwise she'd make a fine meal for the wargs." Deagol helped him pick her up and together they carried her to his home. There his grandmother, whom he had lived with most of his life, fussed over her wounds and made sure she was kept warm. The entire time, Smeagol, though he thought she looked strange, could not take his eyes off her. Maybe it was out of concern, or maybe interest, but he wasn't sure. And it wasn't until a few hours later when she finally came to.

She stirred, groaning painfully and sat up slowly rubbing her head.

"You lay right back down and relax, young lady," said Smeagol's Grandmother as she proceeded to clean her wounds. The girl stared at her, terrified and looked around the room.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"It's all right, child," said the grandmother more comfortingly this time. "My grandson, Smeagol, found you by the well and said you were out cold. It's not safe for a young person like you to be out at this hour. There's dangerous men out at night." The girl looked even more confused and stared at the Grandmother.

"What place is this?" she asked.

"You're just on the other side of the Anduin in the Gladden fields. My name is Tabitha, but you can call me Tabby." The girl thought for a minute.

"The Anduin? But that can't be. That's in Middle Earth." Tabby looked at her as though she had lobsters crawling out of her ears.

"You are in Middle Earth, child. Where else could you be?" The girl leaned back and her eyes widened. This couldn't be right. As far as she knew, Middle Earth wasn't real. She couldn't be there... could she?

She felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked across the room at the young stoor who was staring at her intently. She saw his feet, they were so big and harry. Just like a hobbit's. Then she noticed her own feet and almost died. They were like his, and she was short, or she could only guess that if she could fit in that bed. She was a hobbit and this place was real!

"Do you have a name?" asked Tabby. The girl stuttered before she spoke up.

"Hope. Hope-Anne."

"You're parents didn't think one name was good enough for you, ey?" she asked. Hope looked at her but could not think of a response. "That's all right. It's a pretty name, ain't no mistaken. Not one I've ever heard of. It's a shame though that someone with such a pretty name and face should be traipsing about in nothing but black." Hope smiled and giggled. She got that a lot at home. She looked down and realized Tabby was right. Her black t-shirt, black pants, red and black striped 'Hello Kitty' arm warmers, and black make-up must've been a sight for them. She was used to that type of dress though. If only they knew where she came from. "Where do you come from?" asked Tabby.

"Far," she answered. "Probly in a place you'll never go to."

"Dressed like that, one might think you were from Mordor." Hope caught a glimpse of Smeagol smirking at her.

"This is nothing," she replied. "I have friends who wear large pants with about a dozen chains on them and have so many facial piercings, it makes your stomach turn." Tabby stared at her again like she was crazy.

"I think you may have hit your head a wee bit harder than I thought." Smeagol held back a laugh and Hope remained silent until she was left alone.