On my left thigh a hand appeared. It had long fingers and they were slightly spread apart. The palm was up. A single tear for my left eye crawled down to my cheek bone. It hung there, crystal clear, for a single second and then fell into the hands palm. It curled around it. It was closed for a second and then it opened, no tear in sight. I gently placed my hand in his. I knew it was Grothon's hand. He was the only one to my left. I desperately needed comfort and he was the only one who had noticed my tears. I laid the tips of my fingers into the palm of his hand and after a few seconds slip my hand up and curled my fingers between his.
We held hands the rest of the meal. I only had to look up once, when Lord Elrond introduced me to the others. When I looked up for that Grothon held my hand tighter, almost to the point that it hurt. Almost. About half way through the meal I stopped crying. I had ate little while I cried, just to make no one ask any questions. Now that I was through though I ate my fill, but never let go of Grothon's hand.
He squeezed my hand and then slipped out of my hand. "I must go speak to some of the guards." He stood and glided away, not looking back at me. My eyes followed him to the arch and then snapped back to my lap. The meal was almost over as far I could tell. I wanted to believe that I could, and would, survive the rest of the meal without him. I just couldn't though. I was already feeling the fears and insecurities rushing back.
Lord Elrond stood and beckoned to me. Arwen leaned over and whispered in my ear to follow him. I stood up, causing the chair to squeal as I pushed it back. I winced and don't look up. I kept my head down till I could see Lord Elrond's feet in my field of vision. He walked out of it, forcing me to look up at him to follow him. He seemed to know that I don't want to look up and stayed just outside of my line of sight after that first sighting of his feet. I had no choice but to look up. He led me to an overlook. It had an arch at the edge of the cliff, as if whoever stood there was about to spread their wings and jump off the side.
It was dusk at this point. Lord Elrond and the gray man were outlined in the fading sun. They both looked like they had halos hanging around their heads. I assumed that if I put my back to the fading sun I would look the same way. All I could assume that they saw right now was me squinting at them as the sun blinded me. I'm sure that the sun was shining through my brown hair as well and giving it a similar affect. I suspected it looked like brown mud though. I wanted to fade into the background. I didn't like the way the gray man was looking at me. To him I was an intricate puzzle that he was stumped on. The same frustration that showed when you were looking for your car keys, was on his face. I was almost a hundred percent positive that they didn't have car keys here though.
"Who are you? Speak and do not lie." His voice boomed. It echoed off of the mountains behind us. I was surprised that in this peaceful place no one came running to see what the uproar was. I flinched. I wasn't expecting for that loud of a voice to come out of such an old mans mouth. I resisted the desire to draw myself into the vines behind me and hope they hid me. I knew they wouldn't.
I opened my mouth to answer in the calmest voice I could. " I am Nikki. I don't know where I am, how I got here, or why I'm here. Everything is so confusing. I'm lost. I'm tired. I am alone here. I know no one. I want to go back to my parents." With each statement my voice quavered a little more till it finally broke on the finally word.
I wanted to fall to my knees and sob. But I refused to cry in front of these people. I had lost control at dinner and I didn't plan on letting it happen again. I took a few deep breaths. In my mind I saw bottle with wooden sticks in it. With each breath I created a model boat. With the last few I placed a small person that represented each of my fears and problems. I imagined filling it with water and put a cork in the top. I would let my worries drown.
A few moments passed as the echo of my words sunk in. The gray man looked deep into my eyes. " I am Gandalf the Grey. I did not mean to upset you so." He leaned on his staff. " You must understand though, you. You should not be here. You came from a different world. You come from a different time period. You... We have no clue why you are here."
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." I laughed. I thought back to the hour before that fateful jog.
FLASHBACK
"Mom?"
"Yes honey? What's wrong?" My mother came and sat down next to me on the couch.
"I'm thinking of quitting track. I am just not sure how I can keep up with everything in my life. I am not doing as well in schools as I want to be doing. I am also looking for a job. I don't think that anybody that is accepting applications will look to kindly on my doing sports till after six at night. I mean... I couldn't work till pretty late at night. It will look good on my résumé to have participated in sports for this long. My coach is one of my references though. If I quit, what will she say about me then? I don't know what to do. I love sports. I love to run. I love to compete. What should I do?"
My mom wiped away the single tear that had fallen from my eye. "I think the choice is yours. Go for a run. I know it clears your head. " She patted my back.
I glared at her retreating form. What kind of vague bull crap was that? I didn't want her to fix the problem. I knew what I was going to do. I had just wanted to complain about the hard choice that I had been forced to make. I knew that my mom was right. I should go for a run. It would eat away at all of my frustrations.
So, I suited up.
END FLASHBACK
