I don't know what happened, one second I was sitting in front of my computer, and the next I was in the middle of nowhere and I was absolutely tiny. At least I think I was, my hands looked smaller than usual, and all of the visual cues I was receiving when I compared my height to a nearby rock and a shrub next to said rock made it appear so. Being lost and tiny made me feel rather afraid, especially since I was wandering out in the open far away from any known civilization.
Fortunately, I was found before I could get eaten by any of the local wildlife. I'd been debating over whether or not the water of the river I had come across might've been safe to drink without boiling or whether I was risking a serious case of Montezuma's Revenge or worse when there was a thundering of horse hooves and something swooped me up.
"What is it?" someone to my left asked.
"It's another elfling." the person who'd grabbed me and dropped me on the saddle in front of him grumbled.
"Another one?! If we keep finding more of them, we're going to have a serious overcrowding problem." his companion replied.
"I know." the person behind me who was dressed in green homespun said, turning his horse towards what was presumably his destination.
All too soon, I found myself at Rivendell standing before Elrond.
"...And, exactly how long am I going to be a child?" I asked.
"About another century or so," Elrond replied. "At which point you'll be given more adult responsibilities."
A century. A century of childhood in which all I was expected to be was a kid...As I contemplated this fact, I could hear part of Bad to the Bone playing in my head and Junior Healy yelling "Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!". Elrond probably couldn't read this exact thought, but my expression must've given something of the intent behind it away because the next thing out of his mouth was "How would you like to go and fight some Orcs?".
"I'll behave!" I whimpered, backing away a couple of steps as I took in the elf leader's expression which I could clearly read despite my usual difficulties with deciphering body-language.
"Good." Elrond replied with a smile that could cause a small child to either hide behind its mother or burst into tears. "Just so you know, little elflings keep their rooms completely spotless and do all their chores every day."
Considering the fact that I'm a packrat, and a messy and exceedingly forgetful one at that, I had a feeling that this wasn't going to be half as fun as I had been beginning to think it was going to be, even with the singing, laughing elves who had welcomed Bilbo Baggins and company with some ridiculously stupid song. Come to think of it, considering the fact that everyone had been too busy saying something along the lines of "Shit, another one?!" I didn't get nearly so warm a welcome as the dwarves.