Chapter 2- Awakening
Hayley's eyes blinked opened with a start, her eyes darted around taking in the radiance of her new surroundings. The trees, although clouding her vision from the sky, allowed the bright light of the sun to escape through the gaps between the leaves, blinding her as she gazed out into the open. She rolled over onto her side, groaning in agitation, her leg hurt, but why? Had something happened to her? Her thoughts were interrupted by two boys…no, men…no, short men with hairy feet.
"Hello" said the shorter one, merrily
Hayley felt a wave of shyness overtake her by this sudden interaction, she was still yet to figure out what had occurred, the last thing she remembered was…actually she didn't remember what the last thing she remembered was. In a hope of remembrance, she inspected the clothing that she was wearing, her school uniform, but it was too big on her, and her feet! She jumped nearly a foot off the ground when she saw them. Oh, her feet, they were hairy just like the little short men. Her gaze turned to the two…people.
"Where am I? Who are you...wait no! What am I?" she gasped in horror at her question, she had defined herself as a what.
The two people looked at each other before smiling warmly at her.
"I think you've hit your head, silly, we are hobbits." said the taller of the two
"What the DUCK is a Frobbit?" Hayley squealed
"A hobbit, my fine lady, is what you are, in case you haven't noticed" The taller hobbit laughed
A silence fell between them, each one staring at another, curiosity and confusion stirring in their eyes.
"Who are you?" Hayley asked in a softer tone than she had earlier
"Oh, Pip, how rude of us, we didn't introduce ourselves" said the taller "I, my good hobbit, am Meriadoc Brandybuck and this here is Peregrin Took"
"But you can just call us Merry and Pippin" said the latter
"Fantastic!" Merry smiled at her "Now what would a pretty little hobbit such as yourself be doing out here all by herself?"
"I…I'm…I'm lost" she stuttered
"Well then, Lost, you'll just have to come with us!"
"Where are we going?" Hayley asked as the two hobbits each held out an arm and pulled her to her feet.
"Well," said Merry "I think we best get you some better fitted clothes before we do anything else"
"Yes, off we go" said Pippin, grabbing her arm and pulling her along, but as she started to walk, her sore knee pained and she stumbled.
"Are you okay?" asked Pippin
"My knee hurts, but I can't think why…" Hayley frowned
But then it all flooded back to her, the speeding, the accident…
"VANESSA!" she screamed in realisation
"Pardon?" asked Pippin
"My friend, have you seen her?"
Merry and Pippin exchanged glances
"What does she look like?" asked Merry
"She's tall, long dark hair, silver-blue eyes and a pale complexion"
The two hobbits frowned, sadly
"No, we haven't seen her." said Merry
"But we can help you look for her if you like! Say, she might be at Bilbo's party already!" Pippin said excitedly.
"Come on, Lost, let's go!" yelled Merry
The hobbits laughed and began to stagger out of the forest, urging her to follow. Hayley spared one last glance at the place where she had woken; there was not a trace of her friend. She sighed sadly before following the hobbits.
