"Shannon, cut it out!" I snatched the toy bow-and-arrows from her hands. "If you try and shoot my dog one more time, I'll... I'll..."

"All right, all right, all right," Shannon said, grabbing the rubber darts back. "Don't get your tights in a bunch."

"They are not tights," I said, straightening them. "They're hose. Now everybody listen up!" I yelled. The assorted teenagers milling around in my yard looked up. "Thank you all for coming, it means a lot to me. Now let's get this all done today, okay? Shannon, you'll be Legolas. Got your ears?"

Shannon fingered her glue-on elf ears. "Got 'em. But why can't Dan be Legolas?"

"Because you've got the elf ears and the long blond hair. Dan," I looked at our tall friend. "You're Boromir."

"Does that mean I have to die at the end?" Dan asked.

"Yes."

"You suck."

"Thanks. Peter, you're Aragon. Here's your shield and sword." I tossed him the cardboard cut outs I had made. "Frances, you're Gimli." I smirked. "The Dwarf."

"Hey!" Frances put her hands on her hips. She didn't like it when I made fun of her height.

I shrugged. "Type casting."

"Hey!"

I ignored her. "Ann, you're Merry. Veronica, you're Pippin. Molly, you're Sam."

"How come we have to be guys?" Molly asked, glaring at me from behind her glasses.

"Because you're all cute and short and you're perfect hobbits."

"Hey!" The soon-to-be hobbits clamored.

"Okay. That leaves me, Frodo." I fingered the ring around my neck.

"How come you get to be the hero?" asked Dan, still sore that he has to die.

"Because this is my Independent Reading Project and I get to do what I want. Now let's get going. The first scene is the eight of us getting chased by the Ringwraiths. My dog, Filly, is the Ringwraith. I'll start the camera and then we all have to run screaming through the trees back there. I've got a dog biscuit trailing from my shoe so Filly will chase us."

Shannon looked at my feet. "Aren't hobbits supposed to be barefoot?"

"Yeah, but I'm happy to say my feet aren't hairy and I don't fancy steeping in dog poo while running from Filly. Okay?"

"Okay..." Shannon fitted an arrow to her string, sullenly.

I tied a black blanket around Filly's collar. "Ready everybody? I'll start the camera on three. One, two, three!" I pressed the record button and ran screaming with my friends. Filly barked happily and chased after us, trailing his dark cloak.

I put my arms up over my face as I went crashing through the pine trees that bordered my yard. I kept running as the branches scraped at my face and threatened to tear my clothing. Filly's barking got softer and softer, and I kept running.

That was odd, I should've been through the trees by now, but the branches kept coming.

"Shannon? Dan? Molly?" I called.

"Meg?" They all called back.

"Just keep running!" I gasped, and then suddenly I was through. I toppled onto the grass, struggling for breath.

My friends were sprawled on the ground beside me, all in various stages of disarray. I glanced down at myself, then rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

What had started out as old galoshes were now soft leather boots, and my mother's old nylon warm-ups were tight deerskin pants. My old blouse was now silky and billowing around my wrists, and I was wearing a green vest tied with hemp that I don't remember putting on. I ran a nervous hand through my hair - at least that was the same.

"Uh, guys..." I said, standing up, feeling a cloak settle around my shoulders.

"Megan!" Shannon whimpered. "I can't get my ears off." I looked at my friend. Instead of the old blue jeans and tattered fleece vest, Shannon was wearing flowing green pants and a soft white shirt. And instead of play-school "Let's Be Indians" bow and suction cup arrow, a real hunting bow and a quiver of deadly looking arrows lay on the grass.

I knelt beside her and pushed back her long blond hair. The glue-on ears we had worked so hard to get on in the first place were fused to her real ears so well that I couldn't even see the seam.

"Hold on," I said, and grabbed hold of the pointy part. With a grunt, I tried to yank it off.

Shannon screamed and pain and beat at me. "Stop it, stop it!"

I let go, amazed. "Shannon, those are your real ears..."

I glanced back at my other friends, who were slowly shaking their heads and standing. Dan and Peter reached to their waists and drew swords with shaking hands. Veronica, Ann, and Molly adjusted the clasps of their cloaks with wide eyes. Frances hefted an ax and held it gingerly in front of her.

I turned in a slow circle. Instead of my neighbor's driveway, where we should have ended up, we were standing in the middle of an enormous forest that stretched as far as I could see. I began to shake.

I felt something cold at my neck and I felt my heart beat a little quicker. With a shaking hand, I reached down the front of my shirt and pulled out my golden chain.

Instead of my sister's "Pretty Pretty Princess" ring, there was a small band of gold. I held it up to my eyes, and watched as the fiery letters came to life.

I heard the hammering of hooves in the distance. I grew cold as I realized what that sound meant.

"Fudge!" I yelled. Only I didn't say 'fudge'. Everyone glanced up at me. "Ringwraiths!"

"Don't be stu-" Dan started to say, until he heard the hoofbeats, too.

"RUN!" I screamed. We all turned tail and began crashing through the trees. The underbrush slowly thinned, and then we were all pounding down the bank of a river.

"It's like in the movie!" I said. "Go, go, go! Over the river!"

"And through the woods?" Peter gasped.

"NOW!" I yelled. I watched as my friends plunged through the icy water. Shannon, Dan, Peter, Molly, Veronica, Ann... Damn! Where was Frances? I turned back and saw her stumbling across the sand, trying to lug the ax that was just about as big as she was.


"Frances!" I screamed. I ran to her. "Drop it, drop it!" I wrenched the ax from her hands. "C'mon!"

I practically threw my little friend into the water, just as the Ringwraiths burst through the trees.

I'm not stupid. I read the book AND saw the movie. I knew what happened to Frodo two scenes before this. I should've just jumped on in.

But when that big old black horse came thundering down at me, I couldn't move. I took a swing with the ax, cutting across the legs of the horse. It whinnied and reared, and the dark rider threw his blade at me. I felt fire rip through my shoulder, and it made me reel in pain. I screamed and dropped the ax, falling back into the water.

"Megan!" Peter and Shannon, who were already halfway across, came swimming back. I felt hands pull at me, and they dragged me across the water. We clambered up onto the opposite bank, coughing and gasping.

Trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder, I stood. We all watched as the black riders slowly begin to cross the river.

"Shannon!" I said. "What does she say in the movie? You know, shakalacka-ishba-boom and then water horses come!"

Shannon looked panicked. "I don't know!"

"You're the elf!" I yelled. "Do something!"

Dropping her bow Shannon stretched her hands and fingers out towards the river. "BIG WATER HORSES!" she screamed, screwing her eyes closed and wiggling her fingers. "BIG FREAKIN' WATER HORSES!"

We heard a tremendous roar, and Shannon opened one eye. The flood was coming, just like in the movie. We all leapt backwards as the water crashed around our feet, sweeping the black riders away.

Molly, Ann, and Veronica cheered, waving their little hobbit-swords. I sighed, relieved, then gasped. The pain in my shoulder was unbearable. The world around me started going fuzzy and black dots swam in front of my eyes. I fell to my knees.

"Megan!" Dan said, kneeling beside me. "Are you okay?"

"Does she LOOK okay?" Frances asked, throwing her hands down at me. "God, Dan!"

I took a deep breath. "Find... find Rivendell." I pointed to where the village had been in the movie. "Quickly..."

And then everything went black.