DISCLAIMER: I don't own ANYTHING IN THIS STORY! EXCEPT FOR ELORA! THE REST WAS USED FROM THE STORY WRITTEN BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN!
2-13-05: Hello everyone one. I was re-reading this story the other day and all I kept thinking was...God...this is terrible! So, you have to start somewhere right? Anyway, I'm revising all of "A Loss Of Memory". Under a new title and a better story line!(Exactly the same plot as the old one, I'm just reworking it.) New title: When You Wish. This is more for my own personal benefit then anything else, so I don't expect many reviews for it. But just so you know what I'm doing here. :)
Chapter One
The Heart Break
It was raining. It always seemed to be raining since the day it happened. Elora sat very still on her bed as she pressed her hand to the window and stared out into the bleak world. It pounded on the window like a million tiny needles. At least it wasn't thundering...yet. She didn't like thunder. Not anymore. She could still see the way his deep brown eyes has stared up at her as he laid in the mud. So very still, so calm. Ready for what was to come. She hadn't been ready. She had never been ready.
Someone once said, why do we love if we ask for so much pain in doing so? She didn't know. She didn't want to think on it. Because Snowy, her beautiful horse Snowy, was dead. To know what it is like to lose a friend so trustworthy, one who knew all your secrets, wishes, and desires. Who calmed your fears and pulled you through. But he wasn't there anymore. Taken so cruelly by fate from her. It wasn't fair, and yet, was anything ever fair? She had no more tears to cry, no more words to say. Only silence and the patter of the rain. The dull patter of the rain.
Elora was not a particularly stand-out type of girl. She wasn't stunningly beautiful, nor was she hideously ugly. She was just...plain...average. Not extremely different, not one to stand out. She was shy, withdrawn, and quiet. She was tall, standing at around 5'8". Large, and strong. She wasn't fat, nor was she skinny. Just...somewhere in the middle. She had shoulder-length curly, dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. She lived on a small horse farm in the country with her parents and her sister, Kira. Judging by her physical appearance, she looked more older then she actually was, which was fourteen.
Her life evolved around horses, her family, school, and her books. Books. And now, her best friend, her Snowy was gone. He had been named after Theoden's brave mount from Return of the King, one of her particular favorite books. Snowy was jet black with a single white star. Like Black Beauty. He had been named such because he had always seemed to do exactly the opposite of what you wanted. Not for her though, he had liked her. And she had loved him. And now he was gone. She could still see his sad eyes. Waiting. Just waiting silently for the final blow. For the end.
She could see where they had buried him from the window. The rain still pelted it. Three days. He had been gone for three days. So short a time, but it seemed like an eternity. Was it only a few days ago that they had ridden together in the woods? Watching the geese migrate south as winter drew nearer. It hurt suddenly, all that she had been feeling came back to her. All the tears, all the sobs and cries. She needed to get away. Slowly, she turned from the window and picked his framed picture up from her night-table. Grabbing her coat, she stuffed it inside one of the inner pockets of its denim lining.
Without pausing to think on what she was even doing, she threw open her door and ran down the stairs. Her mind was whirling, she couldn't think straight. She just needed to get away, she just needed to be...alone. Her hand was grasping the cold metal knob on the front door when she heard her name.
"Elora?"
She paused, it was her mother.
"Elora, where are you going."
She didn't turn around she could hear her mother's soft tread on the carpet nearing her.
"Out." She said softly.
"Out where?"
She couldn't answer foolish questions now! The replies blurred in her mind.
"Please, just leave me alone..." She whispered.
"Elora, where are you going?" Her mother's voice was sharper now, demanding.
How could she reply? She didn't know, where was she going? Out. She needed to get out. "Leave me alone Mom, please." She begged, her voice more urgent. Her shoulders hunched, tension building inside of her.
"Elora-"
"Why do you care?" She snapped, whirling to face her mother suddenly, her brown eyes flashing.
"Is this about Snowy?" Her mother asked gently, taking another step towards her.
Snowy. The sound of his name took her breath away. The blood was pounding in her head, it was so hot in here. She needed to get out...she needed to get away. Her anger flared, her fists clenched at her side. "Why do you care? You killed him! You did this to him! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Her mother flinched at her harsh words and the stunned look on her face made Elora immediately regret them. But she didn't care...she didn't want to care. Why couldn't she just leave her alone? She whirled and opened the door, darting out to the gravel drive-way. Her feet hit the stones hard as she ran faster and faster to the woods. She could hear her mother frantically screaming her name.
"Elora? ELORA? Come back! Please come back!"
But she didn't stop, she couldn't go back. She needed to get away. She needed to be alone. Elora didn't know where she was nor did she care where she was going. Her brown, curly hair whipped her face. The branches caught her clothes, tore at her arms and face. The sun was almost set the forest was becoming darker, her path harder to see. She splashed into a stream, cold mud splattered all over her body. When at last she felt her lungs would burst if she didn't stop, her legs gave out and she fell to the ground. Her chest was heaving for air, her body shaking, drenched with mud, sweat and blood. She lay there, shivering, and she closed her eyes. She was so tired, her body stilled, the shaking stopped and she lay there.
It seemed like eternity before she once more opened her eyes. It was pitch black. She slowly stood as panic began to rise is in her chest. Where am I? It was then she realized... she didn't know. She spun around and around trying to figure out where she was. She ran foward, not knowing in which direction she was running. Her eyes searching for a light... a sign of something familiar.
"MOM!" She shouted, "MOM?"
No one answered.
Suddenly, she was airborne. Flying through the air with startling speed. Elora raised her arms to protect her face. There was a bright flash, then hit the ground painfully, and then there was darkness.
She hurt all over and lay very still for a moment, breathing heavily. Her head throbbed, she could feel a trickle of blood run down her face. She put her hand to her head and winced. There was a small gash on her forehead above her left temple, she had split her lip as well. Everything else hurt enough to be broken...so far nothing was.
Oh well, can't do anything about it anyway. It's pitch black, I have no idea where I am, and I could be miles away from civilization. How far did I run? It seems like hours. Things couldn't possibly be better.
She felt her pocket for Snowy's picture but she didn't feel the reassuring touch of the smooth wood. In fact, she didn't feel anything at all. It was gone. She sat bolt upright and began to search the ground frantically for it. Yet the tall, tan grass revealed no signs of the brown mahogany frame, or of the image of his face . She felt her pocket again, she could feel the lock of black mane she had always kept there...for good luck. But there was no picture.
She could feel the sun's heat on her back. Is it noon already? It was so hot. Then, Elora froze, it was dark just a minute ago. She looked up but the sun blinded her. And since when do woods has tall grass? She looked around, or plains? Our woods didn't have plains, what woods do? And another thing, there was no woods around here. Only rocky, grassy plains that stretched on for miles and miles. Her loose dark, brown shirt had begun to cling forcefully to her as the sun rose higher in the sky. What could she do?
I'm lost.
Her clothes were grimy and torn, her body bruised, and she was lost. Perfect. She stood up, swaying slightly at first before she shaded her eyes and looked around. But all she saw were plains, plains that stretched on and on for miles. Wait, she could see a forest... and a large column of smoke rising in front of them. She shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot. But what other choice did she have? I want to go home. She started walking very slowly through the tall grass, dragging her booted feet and stumbling over an innumerable amount of rocks that remained hidden from her view. The gash on her forehead hadn't clotted as of yet, so the tiny stream of blood still trickled down her cheek.
She was so thirsty but didn't even hope to imagine there was a stream or anything nearby. So she kept walking. Soon her mouth and lips were parched, and the smoke column was still so far away.
It has been about two hours past when she stopped to catch her breath.
That's when she saw them. Three horses, three horses standing on the rise. All bearing riders.
The first horse was pure white, the second brown, and the last was a dappled grey. They were still ways off, so she couldn't distinguish the riders at all. One thing she did know however, was that they had seen her. For they had stopped moving for a moment, and now they were riding hard towards her. Elora looked left or right, there was no where to go. Only this sea of grass. Damn. They were riding for her, riding hard. She contemplated running in the opposite direction for about two seconds, and then she just stood there and waited.
They stopped four or five feet away. Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed with confusion. God, they look like something straight out of a book. A weather-beaten man sat astride the brown horse. His hair was dark, his clothes were torn and muddied, and his eyes were light. A silver grey, she saw wisdom in them. But no emotion was written on his face. None at all. It was he who spoke first.
"Might I ask who you are?" He asked, his voice was deep and firm. And his face...she had seen it before somewhere...
She blinked, looking up at him. "I...I...I...was trying to find my way home." Her voice came out barely above a whisper. She wanted to speak louder...but she just couldn't. Did that even make sense? The silent figures were eyeing her with narrowed eyes.
"And where is your home child?" came another voice, this time from the white horse. This figure was met with her brows raised. He wore a long, flowing robe. A sword strapped to his waist and along, white staff in his hand.
"I don't know. I'm lost." She answered quietly, she looked in turn at each figure before asking. "Could you tell me where I am?" The question in and of itself sounded stupid, she knew it. But she was at a loss for words. And the throbbing in her head was becoming more painful as blood continued to drip down her face.
"Rohan." The man on the brown horse said. He talked funny...it was almost like he was speaking English...but not. Then it slowly came to her, like fog rolling in over a moor. Rohan...Rohan...
Oh My God...it can't be...
.."Milady? Milady?" Asked the man from the white horse. The one in the robes. It was all starting to click, the weird language, this place, these people. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't! The fog was rolling in and blanketing her mind strongly now. She blinked and shook her head to clear it, she needed to think! But it refused to leave...
"Rohan..." She whispered. It was then that she swayed violently, the throbbing in her head too much to ignore. And all she could recall as the black curtain closed around her, was the tall grass...blowing and swaying in the breeze. I'm in the Lord of the Rings.
TO BE CONTINUED...