Author's Note: What would be a good excuse to not write for three weeks? I suppose that obsessive playing of Sims would be insufficiant? I am sorry! Thanks to you guys who have read the first two chapters and liked them enough to follow the story! I know it's a bit generic at the moment, but I'm going to try super hard to make this as unique as possible! This chapter is mostly character developement, but next time 'Miss Sarah' will be meeting a certain wizard along with very special dwarf!

'Bree'

I shut my eyes tightly and opened them slowly. Nope, still said Bree. How did this happen? My head was starting to buzz. It could be an eloborate t.v. show prank, but then why me? It would've been a very expensive trick indeed to build a whole town for it. Mellie was pulling on my hand again, leading me closer and closer to the entrance.

"Miss you really don't look so good, maybe Mr. Bruns will let you lie down on one of the beds for a bit," Mellie said worriedly.

I nodded dumbly as the gate grew ever larger with our approach. The gate itself was wooden and a good three times my height; pretty large for a human town, or so I'd thought. Mellie knocked on the wooden gate with a strength I didn't think existed in those tiny hands and a young man with red hair opened a small hatch in the door. He peered through it to see Mellie, and I suppose what he thought was an oddly dressed woman.

"Where on earth did you find 'er Mellie?"

"She was cryin' in the forest because she was lost and I thought I'd show 'er to Mister Bruns and see if he'd let her have a lie in," she responded enthusiastically. Apparently Mellie liked charity cases. The man squinted his eyes at me suspiciously.

"Mellie, we done told ya' not to mess around wi' the creatures ya' find in the forest,"

"Creature?" I stuttered. The way he growled out the word made me think he wasn't keen on letting me in. And I really wanted that bed Mellie mentioned. It sounded like a good place to have a mental-breakdown. "Miss Sarah isn't a 'creature' Haddon!" my little guide chirped in. "She is really nice and she is lost and she needs our help!" she proclaimed with all the force a five year-old could muster. The ginger-topped Haddon looked me over one more time before sighing resolutley. "Fine, but if she is up to any funny business ya' best believe it Mellie I'll be the one tannin' yer hide!" he threatened while opening the gate, but Mellie didn't pay him any mind as she led me into Bree.

Now I'm aware that many people would love to be magically transported to Middle-Earth. I, too, fantasized about it every so often, but I had never given it a very serious thought. Mainly because I always assumed that I would die immediatly upon arrival, but also because I have no survival skills. I have never shot a bow and arrow, and I have definetly never wielded a sword or knife. I'd sooner cut off a much loved appendage. I've been camping a total of once in my life and I was quite comfortable in the cottage we stayed in. All the amenities were lovely. Basically what I'm getting at is that I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to living in Middle-Earth.

That little spiel leads me into this. Middle-Earth human towns smell to high heaven. The stench hit me full on the face about ten feet into Bree. No wonder Mellie likes traveling to the forest. How could anyone stand to be here for five minutes let alone all day and night? With my hand covering my nose and mouth and my shoes sticking to the muddy path I was having a tough time keeping up with the experienced Mellie. We continued straight down the mud road until she stopped in front of a shady looking building. Mellie turned at me, grinned, and said "Here we are!"

I looked up and saw a sign with almost indistinguishable letters on it. After looking at it for a few more seconds I realized what it said and laughed out loud.

"Of course it's The Prancing Pony, what other possible place could Mr. Bruns work?" I chuckled. I must have seemed somewhat disturbed because the townsfolk were stopping to stare at me. Mellie noticed this and grabbed my hand to pull me inside and out of the sight of her neighbors. "I didn't know ya' could read Miss Sarah!" she whispered excitedly. "Maybe you could teach me? I sure would like to write some letter's to ma' big brother!"

Honestly I was so overwhelmed that I was just nodding to everything she saying. Not nice maybe but come on, what would you have done? I was beyond the point of thinking this was a game show. It was far too elaborate.

The inn was empty and considerably less smelly than the street outside.

"Stay right here Miss Sarah, Mr. Bruns pro'lly in the back takin' inventory," Mellie said. She scampered off and I took a seat in an empty chair. With mud in my socks and waves of disbelief coarsing over me I waited for Mr. Bruns to arrive.