Hey guys, welcome to Don't Stop Moving! I'd love to know what you think of the story, so please review. (you don't have to just a thought :D). Anyway enjoy the story and if you have anything you'd like to see just tell me. I plan to update every two-three days if all goes according to plan...
Dazed and confused, I looked up at the forest surrounding me, at the forest that now took the place of the bleak walls of the Metro County Public Library. Where was I? Looking around I searched for any clues, any information I could grasp upon to help me find my whereabouts. Unfortunately, all I could find were what I thought to be hoof prints and a rather small shard of glass.
"Perfect."I thought to myself, as I sat up. "Just perfect. Of course I'd be the one to have a dream, or at least what I think is a dream," looking around the place did seem pretty real. "About this place."
Standing shakily on two feet, I didn't know why I was so shaky, but hey whatever, I made my way down the path choosing an absolutely random direction to head in. Trudging along, and muttering to myself about how I really needed to stop reading so many books, I began to count the trees that past me by, only to loose count at somewhere around 400.
"How many bloody trees are in this forest?" I shouted, not really knowing why, just that I was quite annoyed at my sudden placement in a deserted forest and needed to talk at least some inanimate objects.
The extent of trees I'd at seen at home consisted of the community park by my house, or what people called a community park. It was really just a square of grass with a fountain and two sort-of trees. They weren't really tall enough to be classified as trees in actual reality. Moving on I broke into a run, then got tired from my lack of stamina and returned back to a lazy walk with my feet barely even leaving the ground. And when I say barely, I mean barely. I was walking with that annoying rhythm everybody hates where your feet keep making a constant high-pitched squeaking noise and you end up kicking a mini dust storm up into everybody's faces. But I didn't really care, I was bored and altogether tired, even though I'd only been walking. Plus no one was with me anyway to be annoyed with for once. After a while though I lost track of time, and the minutes turned into hours and the hours into days as I past one tree after another. The light was growing dim and I knew that at some point I'd have to stop walking. I felt like cursing the world and everybody in it, and crying until there were not tears left in my body from sheer desperation of having to walk God knows how many miles. Until I saw the faint glow of a town of course, far off in the distance which instantly relieved me of my woeful thinking and returned me to my ever constant state of paranoia.
"Wonderful." I thought again. "At least I won't have to sleep in the middle of a forest."
Why did I have to have a dream where I could actually could feel my aching feet underneath me? But with the hopeful distraction calling me forward, my feet picked up off the ground a little bit more. Just a little bit. After the short hike to the source of the light, well to me it was a rather long hike because of that constant voice in the back of my head nagging about how hungry it was, I found my way up the cobbled streets and into a small building, what appeared to be a pub labeled The Prancing Pony. I stopped outside of the door and thought to myself,
"What a funny name for a pub isn't it? Well, whatever makes you happy I guess, as long as they have food. Or as along as the place isn't run by ponies. That'd just be weird."
The vision made me chuckle to myself. Hey it could happen right? I walked right into the pub and up to the short man running the counter. Scanning around I looked for maybe a kind of menu I could order something from but to no avail, I could only find a few slips of paper with writing I couldn't understand scrawled across it.
"Hello." I said, as brightly as I could manage around my now aching stomach and feet to whoever it was who'd just turned around to speak with me at the counter.
The man muttered something back that sounded somewhat like this.
"Yomolazura krackalacka boom boom." More or less it was gibberish to me, completely and utterly.
"Um, well hey, yeah, I speak English. You know, English right? The language of the Americans, the Brits and the ignorant." I gave him my best smile and laugh to try and win him over, but the effects I hoped it would have over him were completely nonexistent.
He just continued to stare at me with those bulging eyes.
"Man he's short isn't he."I thought to myself as he continued to gaze at me expectantly.
It was then at that precise moment, that I noticed my current height and the complete lack of it. I could barely see over the counter really. "Well um yeah, you know I just want some food, whatever you've got I'll take really." I grumbled this time not really sure what to do or say. It's not like he could understand me, could he? Apparently I'd said something right though because the man replied in a thick accent, I don't think I'd ever be able to recognize if I heard it again.
"Five coins for a piece of bread."
"Five coins for a stinkin piece of bread?" I thought to myself.
But food was food and I really was starving. I dug through my pathetic satchel resting on my side, desperately trying to scrape up enough money for the measly portion of food while trying to think of what to do when after I gave him the pieces. Once I'd recovered my last five shilling from the satchel I placed them up on the counter and waited hungrily for the piece of wheat to be brought to me. But as I went to turn around to spot out a table the man replied gruffly to the action of me putting forth the coins,
"That's not five coins, lady. That's not even real money."
The hard glint in his eye told me that he meant nothing but business and was completely not amused at what he thought was me pulling a little stunt to rip him off.
I whirled back around and marched right over to the counter, raised myself up and practically screamed in his face.
"What do you mean it's not money! That's as good of money as your going to get. Now you promised me bread, and I'm tired, hungry and not willing to deal with any annoying short people!"
The last part of the comment I made was partly hypocritical now that I think about it as I really wasn't that much taller than the man himself, but to my credit I wasn't really thinking straight. If it weren't for the person coming up behind me and talking to the now fuming man at the counter, I think I would have been thrown outside to sleep with the wolves and the rain, to starve to death and eventually be eaten. I turned around to see who it was that was coming to my rescue, to find it was an old, tall and willowy man with a large grey hat and a long grey beard. He was leaning on a large stick and replied in a deep, gruff voice,
"Phineas, I'm sure the woman means no harm. She looks like she has traveled a long way and is in need of replenishing. I will pay for a pint of ale and a bowl of chips for her." The man's eyes sparkled as he cracked a half smile and handed over the payment that I was apparently incapable of putting forth. "And you," he said turning towards me, "for paying for your supper Elenya, I request that you come and sit with me over at the table there," he pointed a long and finger towards a vacant table at the back of the room. "And tell me why you're here."
"Eleyna? Eleyna?" I repeated to myself over and over again.
Who in the heck was Eleyna? But grateful for him buying me out of a sticky situation along with some food, I did as he asked and went over to the table to sit down. After a while the man made his way over to the table carrying the promised food and beverage, it was only then did I recognize him from the books I'd read as a child. It'd been a long time since I'd last read The Hobbit, being it 15 years but I still remembered the name of the old wizard.
"Gandalf?" I muttered, surprised that it came out more of a question than an answer.
"Yes Eleyna. I know it is not my business to be asking but why have you traveled so far north, when we are supposed to be meeting south at the Shire?"
His face didn't change as he asked the question, and his eyes held the sort of kind and non judging qualities that I always found appealing, so before I knew it I was completely spilling my guts and secrets to a complete stranger after he asked me a simple question. I think I was going to have a mental break-down. But what else was I supposed to do? I had no money, no idea where I was and here was a man I'd never met before, coming up to me like he knew me.
"Listen, I don't know who Eleyna is, I don't know where I am. The names Maggie, M-A-G-G-I-E, not Eleyna, I've never actually met you before, although I've heard about you. I think." I paused for a moment to see his reaction, but he simply waved me on with a flick of his hand.
"Go on." he stated, his gaze not wavering for a second.
"This morning I woke up in my bed in a normal place in a normal world, at a normal time, not some freaky Peter Jackson world, where the people are really short and mean and don't take real money and speak in some sort of alien language half of the time. I don't know where I am, what I'm doing here and I've been walking practically all day, so I'm confused and tired and don't really understand pretty much anything right now." I finished taking in a much needed breath along with a sip from my pint of ale.
Gandalf stared at me pointedly again before speaking in a quieter tone than before.
"So what you are saying to me is that you are in fact not Eleyna."
"No. I'm Maggie." I replied matter-of-factly. Who was this Eleyna person anyway?
"And you are saying that you've no idea where you are and why you're here."
"Yup, pretty much."
"Well that is odd, I could've sworn that you were Eleyna. The comparison is undeniable. You overall sound, look and act like the Eleyna I know." Gandalf stated while making a move towards one of my chips. I was about to complain, but I quickly reminded myself the reason why those chips were in front of me in the first place.
"Well, unfortunately I am not she. Who is this Eleyna person anyways?" Questioned myself in return to his statement.
I was in fact very curious to find out.
"She is a warrior dwarf who will be traveling on a quest with me and several other dwarves. And you're sure you are not she or in some way related to her? I didn't think she had any sisters, but one can never be sure." Gandalf said, finishing off the last of the chips. I rolled my eyes and answered the question once more.
"No, I am in fact no way related to this Eleyna you speak of and I really am not entirely sure what a dwarf is anyways." My annoyed manner was beginning to spin out of control, but Gandalf either didn't mind or he didn't notice at all, I wasn't sure. "I'm sure it was just a coincidence that I met you here."
"Do you have anyplace to stay Maggie?"
"Not at the moment no."
That was another problem that presented itself. In some ways I just hoped that this was all a dream and that once I hit the hay I would wake up back home.
"I might even literally have to hit hay to fall asleep." Thought myself as I continued to delve into where I might find a resting place.
"Nothing is a coincidence Maggie, not really. I am curious to see why it was that you were brought here to me at this exact moment, envoking memories of a person I already know, yet you claim to know no one here at all. You shall accompany me to the Shire, until then I can maybe help you on finding out why you're here and how you may return home." stated Gandalf simply.
I went to make refusals, yet Gandalf cut me off and told me to follow him. Seeing as I had nothing else to do or go to, I did as commanded.
"Phineas!" Gandalf cried again. "An extra room and board for this fine lady, the cost of course to be covered by me."
Gandalf handed over what seemed to be a lot of money, but what did I know, the currency here seemed to be all kinds of whacked up. Phineas stepped out from around the counter and showed us up a staircase hidden in the corner of the room. I made my way up to the chamber I was told to occupy and said my goodbyes to Gandalf, who told me he'd meet me to leave at seven o'clock sharp the next morning with a pony waiting. At least the time was normal here. As I made my way into the room after opening the heavy wooden door, I saw a fire roaring and a rather grand four-poster bed with large curtains hanging on either side. I shut the door and looked down at myself, just realizing that what I'd been wearing must be horrendously strange to people. Everyone else was dressed in capes and cloaks while I had been wearing a pink and yellow striped hoodie with a T-shirt and jeans.
"Classy." I thought to myself once again.
As I moved over to the bed I didn't even bother to change, as I had nothing else to change into. Curling up on the red silk sheets I let my flat brown hair pool around me and I kicked off my trainers. Gazing across the room at the mantel piece, I saw several figurines of Prancing Ponies.
"Weird."
Then again, this whole day had been weird, and I hoped that I would wake up at home with my mum and dad. But, of course things were only going to get a whole lot weirder, little did I know. As I drifted in and out of sleep, it clicked that I must be in Bree if I was at the Prancing Pony. I couldn't remember much about The Lord of The Rings, but I could remember that. Smiling to myself I finally fell into a world of sleep, happily dreaming about different kinds of cheese.