A blurry figure sprinted down the hall. Kelley gasped- and the lights went out. Kelley sat in the pitch darkness, staring into nothing. The only sounds penetrating the complete silence were the steady drip-drip of the faucet in the adjoining bathroom and the frantic beating of her own heart.

A white glow appeared down the hallway. It seemed to step, yet float, at the same time as it moved. It crept into each and every room, slowly approaching the room where Kelley sat, petrified. Finally, it entered her doorway. Her heart beat faster.

It drew closer and closer. Kelley could just make out a person's shape, a man's, with a long white beard and long white hair. It- he- was wearing white robes and was carrying a tall, white, wooden staff. He came closer, his blue-gray eyes widening with shock as he saw her clearly. His hand reached out to touch her face- and light flooded the room.

Kelley shut her eyes against the blinding whiteness. When they opened again, the glowing man was gone. She cursed the timing of the house's electrical recovery system.

Kelley turned back to her book, The Return of the King, at the passage about the return of Gandalf as Gandalf the White. Her eyes widened in surprise and her whole body went numb. The man she had seen was of the exact same description as Gandalf the White!
No, she thought, it can't be true. I must have been dreaming. It is midnight, anyway. I guess I shouldn't read fantasy stories when I am half-asleep. That's it, I just dozed off. There's no way that was real. And with those thoughts still in her mind, she clambered sleepily into bed and went to sleep.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

The morning sun crept up Kelley's sleeping form, bathing her in golden light. As it hit her eyelids, they fluttered open to reveal sleepy hazel- green eyes. She stumbled out of bed and walked to her mirror. Her reflection showed a tired- looking teen with lightly highlighted, honey-brown hair. She was wearing a pair of oversized plaid boxer pants and a baggy t-shirt.

Kelley wandered over to her dresser and opened the drawers. She pulled out a pair of underwear, a bra, and a pair of socks from their respective piles, and selected a pair of old, torn-up jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.

Once changed, Kelley meandered down the hallway and slid down the banister to the next landing, where she switched banisters and continued her slide downward. When she reached the kitchen, she pulled out a box of Cheerios and a bowl. Pouring the milk straight from the fridge, she reached back and grabbed a spoon. When the bowl was about halfway full, she replaced the cap and put away the milk. She sat munching her cereal and read a magazine in the tranquil silence of her home.

Leaving a note for her parents, she pulled on a pair of ratty old sneakers and exited through the mudroom door. She would traipse around in the woods beside the creek and pond, she decided.

Kelley sat on a flat rock by the pond's edge, watching as the pale morning sun turned everything it touched to gold. She watched the birds awaken, stretching their wings and singing gentle, warbling praises to the sunlit morning. She observed a small family of beaver swimming swiftly and powerfully through the smooth, glassy waters of the pond and into the gently babbling creek. And, most wondrous of all, she saw the wildflowers around her bloom slowly, drinking in the morning sun.

As this spectacle unfolded around her, Kelley watched in tranquil silence. When it was finished, she began to unfold her legs and stand up. Just then, the sound of crashing footsteps resounded in the woods behind her. As she looked back, she could see the blurry outline of a small human running to the clearing that surrounded the pond. A foggy boat appeared at the clearing's brink, and the person jumped in. It began to paddle toward her, floating in midair as it progressed. Not even a minute later, another person, blurry like the first, ran through the woods. It ran into the clearing.

Kelley shut her eyes. When she opened them, the apparitions were gone, but carried faintly on the gentle breeze were the words "Mr. Frodo!"