Chapter 2

Dumped

(Jessie Brown)

The hobbits slipped through some strange curtain and onto the ground that seemed to be moving. Frodo quickly hopped off and found much more stable ground. He watched as a black path slid across the room, dragging his friends and strange bags. He found Merry trying to open one.

"What are you doing?" Frodo asked.

"Trying to figure out how to open this." Merry replied.

"What if that belongs to someone?" Frodo asked.

"Good point," Merry said, and hopped off before he could disappear behind another curtain. "Wow, this floor is really cold."

"I know," Frodo said, looking down at his bare feet. He noticed they were smaller and most of the fur was gone. He felt bald.

"My clothes feel tight." Pippin complained as he came out of the curtain.

"Mine do too," Merry agreed. "Is this what it feels like to be human?"

"What's going on?" Rosie asked as she came out of the curtain. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. "What a strange place…the ground beneath me moves." She hopped off and walked over to her friends. "Where's Sam?"

"He should be coming." Merry replied.

With that, they heard shouting coming from the curtain.

"Ow!"

"Get out of here! You're not supposed to be here! Out, or else I'll call security!"

Sam quickly crawled out. He was panting and his eyes were filled with surprise.

"What happened back there?" Rosie asked.

"Don't ask," Sam replied. "Where's Gandalf?"

"I'm here!" The old Wizard said- but he looked nothing like one. His beard and hair were much shorter. He had on a strange outfit…it looked like a nice suit a hobbit would wear on special occasions. "It's much easier to bring an infant into this world than five fully-grown hobbits."

"Gandalf…?" Pippin went to ask but found a loss of words.

"Yes, I have changed." Gandalf said. "I don't know how any of you can breathe, so here are some new clothes." He tossed the hobbits- or humans- a bundle of clothes. He led them around the large building. The ground was unbearably cold. They found themselves surrounded by people, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Their hair was occasionally crazy, some didn't even have hair. The place was loud, and almost everyone there was dragging or holding a strange, rectangular bag.

They finally came across two rooms. They each had a similar picture on it.

"Rosie," Gandalf said, addressing the lass. "In this room are stalls. Go inside one of the rooms and change into these clothes."

Rosie nodded, but her face was uncertain.

"Do not fear," Gandalf said. "It is safe. You may also use the restroom if you need."

Again, Rosie nodded, but confusion showed on her face. She walked into the room.

"Come with me," The Wizard said, turning to the boys. He led them into the other room. The floor was made with a strange, cold stone, and there were multiple doorways.

"Go into those stalls and change your cloths." Gandalf instructed.

Each of the boys obeyed him and went into a separate stall. Gandalf stood and waited for them. Frodo was the first to emerge. He looked at himself in the mirror and examined his clothes. He wore a green, short-sleeved shirt and strange blue pants. The others came out with similar pants. Pippin had a blue shirt, Merry in red, and Sam in light gray. They left the strange room and met Rosie. She had on blue pants as well and was looking around nervously. Her shirt looked no different than a blouse, but it was very simple. She kept looking down at her pants, unsure what to make of them.

"Don't worry, Miss Cotton." Gandalf reassured. "You'll get used to it." He led them outside into the world.

They boarded a strange machine Gandalf had called: The tracks. All five hobbits clung for dear life. The seats were all taken, and Frodo wondered how anyone could be so comfortable in such a place. The tracks finally stopped in a small city. Gandalf led the hobbits off and into the strange new world.

~jb~

Tammy was driving in her red sports car and listening to her music as always. She turned it up real loud and was dancing and singing at the top of her lungs. School had been incredibly stressful, and it was only the end of the first week.

Senior year…Tammy vowed to make it the best year of her life. She danced in her car until all her stress was gone. She came to a stoplight and turned on her music even louder. She tossed her head from side to side, flinging her hair around, and enjoying herself. She stopped dead when she noticed a group of pedestrians on the crosswalk; they were walking with much caution while giving her a queer look. Whoops.

She noticed there was an elderly man in a suit. The rest looked like they were all in their teens and they all had curly hair. Tammy guessed they were all related until she noticed the only girl was holding a boy's hand. Tammy grabbed the steering wheel and pretended nothing had happened.

She was however, repulsed by a boy's appearance. His face looked young and incredibly pale, and his hair was dark and messy looking- like James Potter. She really couldn't say…but he seemed strange, and not just in appearance.

Once they had passed out of her sight, she shook her head and began to laugh. She could only imagine Samantha in the car with her. She still would have been dancing; she would've wanted them to give her odd faces. Tammy laughed at the thought and continued driving home.

Her house was large with nice windows and a u-driveway. The house was white with a dark-gray rooftop. Tammy's adopted parents were rich. They finally made it official her sophomore year, it was Tammy's sixth foster home, and this time, it wasn't a disappointment.

All right…maybe it was.

The truth is her adopted parents had no time for her. They were always working or at meetings or out of town. Or whatever! Tammy was surprised she was still sane. At school, she was confident, happy, and daring. At home, she was quiet, sad, and lonely.

When Tammy was born, her parents dumped her at a house. Not knowing what to do, the owners of the house brought her to a foster system. She had a family until she was three, but then they had children of their own and she was dumped at the foster system again. When she was finally in kindergarten, they had found her another family for four years until they were tired of her. When she was nine, she lived in a mansion for three years, but they gave her up. She had lived with abusive foster parents when she was twelve and then spent two years at a house with horses. The foster parents had to pay to help their horse, which was a sad parting for Tammy. She had been given up so many times because she couldn't sit still to save her life. She was too restless.

But when she was fifteen, Ruth and John had taken her in as a foster child for a while. When her sophomore year in high school had come to an end, they finally decided to adopt her. Tammy had to admit, she was happy about that, but she wished they would spend more time with her.

Tammy worked on her homework and then took a nap. She crashed onto her bed, curled up, and fell asleep.

Ivy, run! Get out of here!

Hush child…

Run Ivy, get out of-

Be safe, I love you little one.

We must find her!

I want him to suffer!

Tammy sat up with a jolt. She gasped and placed a hand on her heart. It was the dream again. It had been a while sense she had that dream. There was someone running with a baby in her arms and placing her in a chest, a tall man, dressed in all black, and a strange fire…

The scary thing was…Tammy could've sworn she was seeing it all through the baby's eyes. She had no idea why. To calm herself down, she sang a tune she had always known. She didn't know the words, but it was a tune which seemed all too familiar, only to her mind.

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