Disclaimer: Just borrowing some of Tolkien's characters...
I have slightly revised this chapter and will be working on the others.
After getting off at the last bus stop, I still had to walk down an empty road to get home. No civilization to be seen, only trees, long green grass and an overcast sky
Something caught the reflection of the late afternoon sun in the grass beside the road. I stopped and stared hoping to get another glimpse. Me, being ever optimistic of finding miscellaneous roadside treasure, went after it. Then tripped on something concealed in the grass, hit my head and...
I slowly opened my eyes; I was face down in the dirt. Groggily I pushed myself up and into a sitting position. I rubbed the side of my head where a bump had formed, my vision was blurry and my head! Oh how my head was aching painfully!
'Pain killers!' I thought. Opening my bag I pulled out a packet… "Damn!" I said out loud. The packet was empty. 'Oh well, I'm only a few minutes from home' I thought as I stood up and brushed myself off.
"Wait... What the! Where am I?" Suddenly realizing the road I was walking along was no longer there. Instead it was replaced by more trees and more long green grass.
'I must be hallucinating. Or I've been kidnapped and dumped in a forest?' I thought to myself, doubtful of either theories.
"Or ...maybe someone is playing a prank on me?" I said loudly, hoping to hear the laughter of a successful prankster. "Really funny!" I stood silent for a minute. Nope, nothing. Only the rustling of a breeze through the grass. Sighing I sat back down and rubbed my eyes, praying that when I opened them I would be back next to the road.
To my disappointment: no road. By this time there was still light, but not for long. What do I do? Stay put? Try and find the road? 'What would Bear Grylls do?' I thought to myself with a grin.
I opted to stay put. Lying back onto the ground and massaging my temples, I looked up at the darkening sky wondering how I got here or where I even was. I could see the first couple of stars coming out. They looked brighter, almost as if someone had taken some windex to sky and gave it a polish.
That's when I heard light footsteps on the ground not far away.
Not knowing what it was I paniced, quickly deciding to hide so I could see it first before it saw me. Picking up my bag I jumped up the nearest tree with low hanging branches. I stayed as still and quiet as possible. Not even allowing myself to breath.
The footsteps stopped. Where did it go? Did it see me? What if it's right behind me! Straining my ears to hear something, anything! Then the footsteps started again, and-
It's humming? A slow throaty tune drifted in the air and after a few seconds a shape came into view. It was a man. He had shoulder length brown hair and a strikingly familiar face…
He was wearing rusty brown pants and a tattered old cloak, but the thing that got me most was the sword hanging off his hip. That's right a sword!
"Who does this guy think he is?" I whispered, barely loud enough to hear myself. He obviously did though. The humming stopped abruptly and before I could even think 'Dammit!' I was yanked out of the tree and forced against the trunk with a knife to my throat.
"Uh hello" came out as a strangled whimper.
"Who are you? And what business does a woman have here on her own, unarmed and unescorted?" he said cautiously while eyeing me up and down.
"My name is Marissa. Please, there's no need for the knife, I am not going to harm you" instinctively I held up my empty palms in surrender.
He looked me directly in the eyes, as it to check I was telling the truth. Then after a moment he wordlessly released me. However I noticed he didn't sheath the knife. "You have not answered my second question"
"I'm lost. Honestly I have no idea how I got here" I glanced around nervously.
"Lost?" he was still eyeing me suspiciously.
"I'm telling the truth. I tripped and hit my head, when I woke the road was gone..." I tried to explain. "Please, I mean no harm!"
"Where are you headed? I know of no towns or villages between here and the house of Elrond in the east"
"Uhm… I was walking to my parents house, it's nearly at the end of the road I was on" I tried to think of other land marks, maybe he could give me directions? "The road, it goes all the way down to the beach? I think the bay is called something like Oyster Bay?"
"You are far from the coast, miss… weeks away from the nearest" Aragorn looked worried. "...Are you well?"
"I feel fine…" I touched the side of my head again. "Just a bump on the head"
"I am known around these parts as Strider" he eyed me one last time before sheathing the knife.
"Strider as in Aragorn? Aragorn son of Arathorn, Isildur's heir?" I blurted the line I had heard so many times before. My stomach started to get that excited butterflies feeling. 'This can't really be him? The makeup and costume is impeccable! Really does feel like I'm in…' I grinned.
It really felt like I was standing in front of the real Aragorn and not the actor. He didn't just look the part, he even smelt the part! Musky like leather and horse mixed with earthy tones of mud and pine.
"Yes… how- how do you know of me?" he seemed taken aback. Oh now how do I explain this? He must be thinking that I am: A. a servant of Sauron and must be destroyed or B. a harmless girl in strange clothing.
"Well..." I took a deep breath, unsure of what to say. "I read about you in a book" is what I decided on; keeping it vague so I didn't sound too crazy. This could have been an elaborate prank for all I knew. I didn't want them to have the pleasure of knowing how convinced I was.
He stared at me in silence for a moment, thinking over was I just said. He raised his eyebrow once or twice before saying "These parts are not safe after nightfall. I would rather not have your death on my hands if I could prevent it. My companions and I have food enough to share and can offer some protection" He turned and started walking back in the direction he came.
"Thank you!" I stuttered. Picking up my bag from where it landed I ran after him trying to keep up. I can see how he got the nickname 'Strider' one step for him was almost two for me.
After several moments of ducking branches and swatting spider webs, I could smell smoke drifting lightly through the cool air followed by the all too familiar aroma of bacon frying. Soon after, I could see glimpses of a camp fire flickering between tree trunks ahead.
I was holding back from squealing when the clearing came into view, there was a Hobbit kneeling over the fire with a fry pan in grip. There was another kneeling close to him eyeing the bacon and giving directions on how to cook it.
I must have been grinning like a maniac by now. Aragorn just looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. I felt like I was going to explode from all the excitement I was holding in!
Another two Hobbits came into view; one was passionately debating some topic while the other looked on with a bemused smirk.
It was at this point I was defiantly going to explode however I just stood there gawping at them. I must've resembled a fish out of water, my mouth moving, trying to form words my brain just wasn't supplying.
We stopped at the edge clearing. The Hobbits paid no attention, absorbed in their own activities. Aragorn cleared his throat and then there was an uncomfortable silence as they stared at me.
"This is Marissa. She will be travelling with us…"
What did you think?