Hello! I like to eat ice-cream. Now, here's the fourth chapter of…(Bum-bum-BUMMM!)

THE LONG ROAD TO HAPPINESS!

Disclaimer: I own nothing L.O.T.R….


Laura yawned and stretched. Her eyes slowly opened to see the indigo of night and the speckle of stars in the canopy of sky. She yawned again and sat up. What a glorious night. She remembered chasing the butterfly into the woods, then...nothing. Just then, her stomach growled. Man she was hungry. She riffled through her pack."Oh, yeah. I didn't bring any food. Idiot." she whispered.

"Who's there?" cried a voice to her left. With a yelp, she leaped up and raised her hands in a defense stance. She turned a few times, trying to get a hold of where her mystery person was.

"I wish I had some light." She hissed.

"Your wish is my command," said a deep voice to her right. Then light flooded the clearing showing exactly what and who she was dealing with. Her mouth dropped open and stayed open for a long time. The first speaker was a young girl who was plumb and sort-of pale. Her hair was curly and fiery red. Her eyes were a vivid green and she had quite a few cute freckles. But the strangest thing was that she was full, I mean, curves in all the right places. They stared at each other for a few minutes. The girl was very scared looking.

Ruby stared at this tall stranger. He was gorgeous. Tall, he had straight hair, he was skinny and his eyes were a mysterious gray and he looked very strong and what a tan! She wondered if she should say something.

'This is one of the Big People. They've never seen anything like me before. I'd better be friendly and polite. You never know...'

But they still stared at each other, each considering whether they should make contact. Just then, Laura remembered the other voice. She whipped her head around. There he sat. But, there was something very familiar about him. He was dressed in gray, had bristling eyebrows, piercing gray eyes, a gray beard, and a staff…it came it her.

"Gandalf?" she practically whispered his name.

He inclined his head in a nod.

"But...but…but…" This was too unbelievable!

He did one of his rare smiles, and Laura almost fainted. It was amazing how like the pictures of Sir Ian McKellen he looked. Laura turned back to the girl who was now staring at Gandalf.

"I know you," she said. "You're that wizard that is responsible for Mr. Bilbo going off on adventures. Disturber of the Peace." she spat. Gandalf just smiled once more.

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" Laura asked.

"Yes," the girl snapped, obviously out of her league.

"Wait," Laura said. "You're a Hobbit, aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

Laura shrieked, causing Gandalf and the girl to cover their ears.

"OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! Do you know Frodo?"

"Know him? My brother is best friends with him and his cousins, Merry and Pippin."

"OMIGOSH!" She continued to scream, jumping up and down with sheer delight.

"Calm down, please!" Ruby cried. Was he having a spell of illness?

"Okay, okay," she said, taking deep breaths. "Okay, I'm calm." She let off a small squeak, then remained silent.

"Now, may I introduce myself?"

"Wait," Laura said, digging in her backpack. She came out with the scrapbook of the Lord of the Rings. She flipped through it, stopping somewhere in the middle.

"Does Frodo look anything like this?"

Ruby stared at the picture for a few seconds her mouth open.

"How-how did y-you get a portrait of F-Frodo? And Merry? And Pippin? AND Sam?"

"Let's just say I have my sources. You're sure they look like this?"

"Absolutely, why-?"

"Oh, no reason." She said calmly, as the inside of her head screamed and screamed with pleasure. Ruby put her hands to her head. This was too strange. She didn't know where she was, she had no idea who this strangely dressed man was, and what was Gandalf doing here?

Just to make things simpler on herself, she asked, "Can I introduce myself now?"

"Yeah," Laura said, with a smile.

"My name is Ruby Nymhadora Hillsoil. Call me Ruby."

"I'm Laura Miller. Call me Laura." Laura said, repeating the way that she had said it.

"You're a GIRL?" Ruby was flabbergasted. A girl? But she looked like a boy! And she was dressed in boy clothing!

"Um, duh?"

"I'm sorry. Pleasure to meet you."

"Enchanted."

Gandalf smiled to himself. Things were going exactly according to plan. Each was the other's polar opposite. Each could do wonders in the others body. He saw how they had been staring at each other. He had been watching them for a long time. Laura was tough, smart and aware. But, underneath the tough exterior she had a heart as big…as big…as…well, Middle Earth. She needed to learn how to let that heart come out and have its own glory. Ruby on the other hand, was lady-like, polite and sweet. But she also needed to learn how to stand up for herself. Richard was perfect for that.

"Um…how old are you?" Ruby asked Laura

"Quince."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh…sorry, fifteen."

"You are only fifteen?"

"Yeah, well, how old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"WHAT?"

Gandalf spoke again.

"She is 22 in Middle Earth years, only fifteen in your years."

"We're the same age," Laura said, starting to smile.

"Now that you both know each other, may I suggest something? How would you two like to switch bodies?" said Gandalf.


Okay, tune in later for the next chapter!