4.) Stormy Weather - written by Corli, Kel, and Jenny
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The night before classes start, a thunderstorm rumbles through campus.
.
Legolas smelled the rain long before it arrived. He lay alone on his upper bunk, the lights off, listening to the sound of the drops as they began to fall, slowly at first, and then quickly becoming a shower.
It's a bad omen, thought Legolas. Such a storm on the eve of a new beginning signifies turmoil is ahead.
And thinking of turmoil, he suddenly remembered that he had won the "window open / window closed" argument with Gimli earlier, and he sprang out of bed to now close the window before the water ruined one of Gimli's posters.
Wouldn't that be a shame? Legolas considered the evil thought a moment before shutting the window.
It was only then that it occurred to him that Gimli wasn't home yet.
...
"That was great," Arwen said cheerfully to the group of TriChi's that were seated in the circle with her on the floor. "Now let's try it in a round."
And the House was soon filled with lilting treble voices, singing:
Ross, ross, dannen ross
Tog alfirin, tog elanor
Tog mallos, nínim, loth
Ross, ross, dannen ross
Dartha sí si.
...
Faramir was sitting on his mattress on the floor, reading through the first chapters of his textbooks, when the storm came. The rain pounding against the closed windows made him look up just in time to see the first flash of white lightning, followed instantly by blackness as all the lights went out.
Great, he thought to himself, feeling his way around in the dark. He eventually found a candle in one of his unpacked boxes and a lighter in another.
The studio apartment seemed even smaller lit only by candlelight, and Faramir pulled the blankets close around him like a cloak as he returned to his reading.
...
"Pippin, will you please close the window and come to bed?" Merry asked, frowning as he looked up from his book.
Pippin looked towards Merry as a flash of lightning illuminated the room in a stark white glow. He was grinning widely. "Merry, you've got to come see this. It's beautiful!"
"Beautiful is hardly the word I would use, Pip."
1, Brandywine, 2, Brandywine, 3, Brandywine, 4... Merry counted silently until the next ear-splitting crack of thunder. He felt his body tense as the windows rattled.
Another flash of lightning. "Whoa! I think that one hit Old Man Willow!"
The room went completely dark, as all the lights went out. "Or perhaps the transformer," Pippin mused.
1, Brandywine, 2, Brandywine, 3... Merry yelped when thunder rolled directly overhead.
"Merry, what's wrong?" Pippin shut the window and paced the floor to the bed. He climbed up into the bunk and sat on the mattress next to Merry. When another flash of lightning lit the room, Pippin realized that Merry was trembling. "Oh Merry, don't tell me you're still frightened of a little storm, after all these years?"
"A LITTLE storm, Pip? When a tree comes crashing through YOUR bedroom window, we'll see who calls it a little storm!" Merry sulked.
"Merry," Pippin chuckled, "that was fifteen years ago!"
"It makes no difference." Merry pulled the blankets over his head.
"Oh, my poor Merry," Pippin fawned, crawling beneath the blankets. "Let's see if we can't distract you."
...
Eowyn was in bed as well. She was repeating to herself over and over, Don't be a fool. It's just a storm. You don't need to go to Eomer. Yet all her fears and nervousness about starting classes tomorrow had made her edgy, and she desperately wanted to go see her brother in his room upstairs.
And what can HE do? Stop the storm? You're just being childish. You're safe indoors - a little rain won't hurt you.
A loud thunder crash outside her window made her momentarily doubt that sentiment, and she pulled the covers over her eyes.
Don't be a fool. It's just a storm. You don't need to go to Eomer.
...
"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Above the clapping and the yelling, Boromir heard a noise in the other room. Following it to its source, he realized a window had been blown open by the storm, and rain was now blowing in on the newly donated couches that littered the room. Boromir quickly shut the window and went to make sure the others were securely locked as well.
He was just examining the last one when Ohtar stuck his head in. "Boromir! You've got to come quick! Jason is gonna drink ale through a funnel!"
Boromir double-checked the last window lock and then hastily followed Ohtar back into the other room.
...
Legolas wondered if he should do something, but there wasn't much he could do. If he knew where Gimli had gone riding, he could go search for him, but wandering around in the rain to find someone he barely knew seemed a little extreme, even for an elf.
Luckily, he didn't have to consider that course of action for long for suddenly there was Gimli outside the window, walking his stalled motorcycle along the pavement down below, drenched with the rain and looking miserable.
And reeking to high heaven, I imagine, Legolas thought as he went to get out his dry towels and put the kettle on.
...
Frodo sat up in bed, his back against a pillow, his journal on his lap. He loved nights like this, when the storms and turmoil outside the window matched the ones that were constantly raging in his head.
Blow, blow, thou autumn wind, he thought, scribbling down his ideas so he wouldn't forget them in the morning. This will make a great essay for The Ring!
...
The sounds of the storm didn't penetrate the hum of washers and dryers in the basement laundry room. Once he finally gave up trying to rub out the coffee stain from his uniform, Sam returned to ironing shirts for those students who were too lazy and too rich to fold their own, blissfully unaware of the rain.
...