Anthony dragged his tall form over to his living room and smiled broadly at his mom. His fate was in her hands right now and he wanted to be on her good side. "So…" he said rubbing his stubbly chin, "I'll be leaving for Paul's now."

"Weren't you going to go tomorrow?" she asked, uninterested. Her attention was on her favorite soap opera.

He pulled a hand through his black hair. "No… I told you, I'm going today."

"Oh, okay. Go ahead then, but be back by midnight." She barely looked up from the television.

He stared at her wide-eyed before shuffling out the door as fast as he could—she had the tendency to change her mind on the turn of a dime.

He ran over to his friend's house and rapped on the door. A short, chestnut-haired boy answered it. His green eyes held annoyance. "You're late, man."

"Yeah, I know, Alex. I had to leave at just the right time or my mom wouldn't let me out," he strolled in. "Where's Paul?"

"I'm right here." A tall, lean blond came in from the next room. His bright, blue eyes glimmered mischievously as he pulled out two, small, thin, white… things. "Come on, let's go."

They sauntered over to their favorite park and Paul pulled out his favorite lighter.

"Do you remember the Power Rangers?" asked Anthony, inhaling some of the smoke from one of the white paper tubes. 

"Uh-huh," replied Alex, staring blankly at the sky… wondering just how far the clouds were from his face. "Great show," he muttered, making a grab at one.

"The red ranger turns into the white ranger," Anthony stated, settling back comfortably on his elbows.

"What!" Alex cried, jumping to his feet. "That's crazy! I won't stand for your nonsense, Anthony!"

"Sit down, dude," Anthony urged. Alex, forgetting why he was standing, sat back down.

"I'm bored," Paul said, rolling over so that he was facedown in the wet snow. "Let's do something," he said, his voice muffled.

"Like what?" Alex inquired, counting the wrinkles in his hand. There were so many.

"Let's watch The Two Towers!" Anthony cried. The rest of them agreed, seeing as how there seemed to be nothing else to do that sleepy afternoon. After congratulating Anthony on his brilliant idea, they scrounged around for some money. More rejoicing commenced when Alex found a fifty-dollar bill in his left pocket. After some prayers of thanks to the Gods of all things cool, they made their way to the old theatre house.   

The three strolled out of the theatre, satisfied smiles on their faces. They gave each other's high-fives—missing completely, mind you, but that wasn't that point. After many tries, they finally made it back to their favorite park. "The Two Towers just can't get any better than that," Paul said, his eyes glazed.

"Whoa! Yeah!" Anthony grinned. He gave Paul a high five that missed, hitting Paul on the head.

"Hell yeah! But who was that chick they kept showing?" the short one said fiddling with his leather gloves.

"Duh! That was Arwen," Anthony laughed.

"Then there was a lot of Arwen… and a lot about maids… and Manhattan… and buildings. Tall buildings. What was all that about?"

"That was Rohan," informed Anthony matter-of-factly. "Don't you know anything…? That movie totally rocked! Especially when Aragorn did… this," he clamored on top of the railing of a small bridge that they had to pass to get home. He threw his arms open and screamed on the top of his lungs. "I'm queen of the world!!"

"Don't you mean king?" asked Alex.

"That's what I said."

"Uh…?"

"That looks a little dangerous, man," Paul commented peering down into the sewer water two feet below before backing away as though he were the one in danger.

"Hey… come to think of it, that line sounds familiar," Alex mumbled, his finger on his chin.

The boy on the railing turned toward him. "We just watched the movie! Of course it's familiar."

"Dude… when did that even happen?" Paul furrowed his brows.

"Yeah." Anthony mumbled wondering at how closely Alex resembled a hobbit. He crouched down and poked him in the eye. Alex grimaced and flung his hand away.

"Stop that, dude." Anthony's hand swung back and he lost his balance.

The boy found himself falling back from the railing, scared and wide eyed. At a last attempt to avert danger, he grabbed the closest thing to his reach—Alex.

The two tumbled over the railing squealing in fear. But no splash was heard… nor was the sound of two bodies crashing to the floor. The night was as still and calm as it was before the three friends crashed the scene.

Paul, who was tying his shoelace, ignored their screams until he had finished. He walked over to where they had been and looked over the edge. Seeing nothing there, he glared into the water. How dare they leave me here alone! Mumbling under his breath, he slowly trotted home plotting revenge for the next time he would see them.