Chapter 6
"I have a theory." I announced.
"Well, Heather and Pippin are gone and a theory is more than I have." Lisa said trotting up to us. It was almost funny, at home Lisa never ran unless she had to. It also reminded me of how much our lives had changed. I would never be the same.
"Yeah," Courtney agreed, "How does Lisa saying 'I think Lord of the Rings really happened' get us here?"
"Well, I think we're in an alternate universe." There was no objection so I continued, "When Lisa said that it opened up a portal to the universe. We got sucked through."
"How did Heather and Sam get here?" Courtney asked.
"I think the portal didn't close. That it's still open. The people who are close to us or we talk to, get sucked through spare strands whenever they talk, think, see, and hear Lord of the Rings. Still no objection. "What I also think is that." I paused not knowing how to say this, "that we're connected to our world spiritually which is how the portal didn't close, we're still in the way."
"So, people are playing with us?" Courtney asked. I nodded.
"Okay, people with greater power brought us here because we opened up a portal, I'll buy that. What I don't get is how come Heather and Sam have gone back, but we haven't?" Lisa demanded.
I was silent.
"What! You know everything but this!"
Courtney answered. "We're doing something wrong."
"No, Courtney," Lisa said sarcastically, "We're not doing anything wrong." Then she got serious. "Just by being here we're doing something wrong. We saved Gandalf and."
"We're going to save Boromir." I said.
"What!" Courtney and Lisa both yelled.
"Shhhh!" I yelled seeing Boromir nearby, "We'll let this slide for now, but we really have to get thinking. Let's get some sleep before the mirror."
"This place just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Lisa muttered.
Our 'meeting' ended with us sleeping. Something told me that I wouldn't be getting much sleep soon. I woke up while everyone else was getting into bed. I totally forgot about the mirror and closed my eyes. Then Lisa shook me awake. We got up and hid behind a bush. Slowly I saw Frodo and Sam get up and follow Lady G. We followed a good distance behind them. They went down stairs into a gully while we climbed a branch that went over top of it.
"Well," Lisa said, "I was right. This place does get better and better."
"Better," Courtney whispered, "yeah, that's the first word that comes to mind while hiding in a tree forty feet above the ground."
"Nope, I think it's closer to 45 feet." I added helpfully.
"45 feet to my death."
To make a long story short, we saw both Frodo and Sam look into the mirror. Both of them looked shocked and in disbelief.
"We need someone to go down and look in." Lisa said.
"What?" I said. I was only half-listening.
"Thanks for volunteering Laura." Lisa said pushing me off the branch.
I fell, hit the ground, and said three things. "No problem" was the first thing. "Oh shit" was the second thing. Then the third thing was "Hi Lady G. What's happening?" I swear I saw a smile starting to form.
"Laura?" I heard Frodo gasp. "What were you doing up in that tree?"
"Oh, I thought it was a good place to sleep. Peace and quiet. No one threatening to kill me."
"Look into the mirror, Laura." Galadriel said. For a second I thought she was going to say my last name or where I was from.
I didn't say any smart remarks or crack a joke. I just stepped up and looked into it.
I saw Lisa in Fangorn with Merry and Pippin. I saw Courtney with blood on her and blackness going overhead. Then I saw me wrapped in an Elven cloak, and I knew that I was in Mordor. The very place I didn't want to go. Finally I saw a bluish-hole, and I knew with all my heart that that was the portal. The portal home.
I looked up at Courtney and Lisa. I didn't smile or wave. I was in disbelief. We were going to get separated. And without a doubt I knew we were all going to die. We were going to die in a universe that shouldn't exist.
"So, what did you see?" Lisa asked me the next morning while we were eating breakfast.
I shrugged. "Nothing." I lied.
Courtney believed me, but Lisa didn't. "You can't lie to us Laura. We're all each other have. What you know could be the very thing that could get us home."
"I'll tell you later, but I will say this. We have to be strong if we want to get out alive."
"No duh." Lisa said.
Later that day we all got on the boats and started to sail down the river. I was in a boat with Frodo and Sam. Lisa was in a boat with Merry and Pippin. Courtney was in a boat with Aragorn and Boromir. Gandalf, Gimli, and Legolas were in the last boat.
"Hey Frodo, Sam, have you ever rowed a boat before?"
They both shook their heads.
"Have you never done this before?" Frodo asked.
"Nope, which leads me to my next statement. We're all going to die." I swear their jaws dropped. "I'm kidding!" I hope, I added silently to myself.
Luckily for us, we were heading with the current. So it was pretty much a matter of steering, which I did pretty well. Aragorn's boat was in front, with mine right behind, then Lisa's, then Gandalf's.
We hadn't been traveling long when I noticed Aragorn's boat start to head off to the shore. I followed, wanting to stay alive. We all got out and like a magnetic force Courtney, Lisa, and I stood together. There in front of us was Celeborn and Lady G.
"Let us eat and say our final farewells." Celeborn said and invited us to a sort of picnic.
"All right, FOOD!" Lisa yelled. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Merry and Pippin stifle a laugh.
We sat and ate out fill, loving every moment of it. It was the most we'd eaten in the longest time. Finally the time had come for the point I had been waiting for. The gift giving.
Courtney, Lisa, and I (along with the rest of the Fellowship) got an Elven cloak. That all went fine except when Gandalf refused the cloak. We waited for the rest of them to get their gifts and finally it was out turn.
"To you Courtney," Lady G. said, "I give you and ax. The time may come when you need it." She gave Court a really cool looking ax.
"To you Lisa," She continued, "I give you a hat." She gave Lisa a hat that looked exactly like Robin Hood's. It looked exactly like her cloak, but with a brown feather.
"To you Laura, I give a watch." She handed me a case and I opened it. It was a normal watch.
"Thanks Lady Galadriel. But, seriously, where did you get this?"
She smiled, winked, then took Aragorn aside to talk with him.
I looked at the watch and thought about what I was going to use it for. To time myself sailing down a river? I turned it to the stopwatch mode and pressed 'start'. Then the whole world stopped, no, I had sped up so fast that time seemed to stop.
Oh, shit.
I clicked 'stop'.
There was Courtney and Lisa, smiling and staring at me. I took a deep breath.
"Houston, we have a problem." I said. Lisa laughed and Courtney snickered. "You know that movie 'Clockstoppers'? Well." I pointed at the watch which was in my hand. Courtney obviously didn't get it, but Lisa did.
"Holy shit! How is that a problem? All of our problems are solved!" Lisa exclaimed. Courtney finally clicked in.
"Lisa," I stated, "What if the enemy gets this?"
She didn't have anything to say about that. Courtney did.
"Well, this sucks. Right now we have a gift and a curse." She said.
"She states the obvious." I muttered.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Once you hang out with these people, you start doing it too. It's not like I'm immune!"
I put the watch back in its case and put it in my pack. Before we could say anything else we were called back to the boats. I managed to grab five extra lembas packs and put them into my pack. It wasn't exactly stealing.
That night we slept on the shores of the river. We had shifts to keep watch, two at a time. Lisa and Courtney had a shift half way through the night, when I was in a deep-sleep dreaming. And if I had been awake, I would have noticed Lisa steal my watch and put it in her pocket.
Author's note: The watch isn't mine either, it says that in the reading, but just in case! By the way, since this is the first book in LOTR, it's called, since it's altered (but not that much) The Fellowship.
"I have a theory." I announced.
"Well, Heather and Pippin are gone and a theory is more than I have." Lisa said trotting up to us. It was almost funny, at home Lisa never ran unless she had to. It also reminded me of how much our lives had changed. I would never be the same.
"Yeah," Courtney agreed, "How does Lisa saying 'I think Lord of the Rings really happened' get us here?"
"Well, I think we're in an alternate universe." There was no objection so I continued, "When Lisa said that it opened up a portal to the universe. We got sucked through."
"How did Heather and Sam get here?" Courtney asked.
"I think the portal didn't close. That it's still open. The people who are close to us or we talk to, get sucked through spare strands whenever they talk, think, see, and hear Lord of the Rings. Still no objection. "What I also think is that." I paused not knowing how to say this, "that we're connected to our world spiritually which is how the portal didn't close, we're still in the way."
"So, people are playing with us?" Courtney asked. I nodded.
"Okay, people with greater power brought us here because we opened up a portal, I'll buy that. What I don't get is how come Heather and Sam have gone back, but we haven't?" Lisa demanded.
I was silent.
"What! You know everything but this!"
Courtney answered. "We're doing something wrong."
"No, Courtney," Lisa said sarcastically, "We're not doing anything wrong." Then she got serious. "Just by being here we're doing something wrong. We saved Gandalf and."
"We're going to save Boromir." I said.
"What!" Courtney and Lisa both yelled.
"Shhhh!" I yelled seeing Boromir nearby, "We'll let this slide for now, but we really have to get thinking. Let's get some sleep before the mirror."
"This place just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Lisa muttered.
Our 'meeting' ended with us sleeping. Something told me that I wouldn't be getting much sleep soon. I woke up while everyone else was getting into bed. I totally forgot about the mirror and closed my eyes. Then Lisa shook me awake. We got up and hid behind a bush. Slowly I saw Frodo and Sam get up and follow Lady G. We followed a good distance behind them. They went down stairs into a gully while we climbed a branch that went over top of it.
"Well," Lisa said, "I was right. This place does get better and better."
"Better," Courtney whispered, "yeah, that's the first word that comes to mind while hiding in a tree forty feet above the ground."
"Nope, I think it's closer to 45 feet." I added helpfully.
"45 feet to my death."
To make a long story short, we saw both Frodo and Sam look into the mirror. Both of them looked shocked and in disbelief.
"We need someone to go down and look in." Lisa said.
"What?" I said. I was only half-listening.
"Thanks for volunteering Laura." Lisa said pushing me off the branch.
I fell, hit the ground, and said three things. "No problem" was the first thing. "Oh shit" was the second thing. Then the third thing was "Hi Lady G. What's happening?" I swear I saw a smile starting to form.
"Laura?" I heard Frodo gasp. "What were you doing up in that tree?"
"Oh, I thought it was a good place to sleep. Peace and quiet. No one threatening to kill me."
"Look into the mirror, Laura." Galadriel said. For a second I thought she was going to say my last name or where I was from.
I didn't say any smart remarks or crack a joke. I just stepped up and looked into it.
I saw Lisa in Fangorn with Merry and Pippin. I saw Courtney with blood on her and blackness going overhead. Then I saw me wrapped in an Elven cloak, and I knew that I was in Mordor. The very place I didn't want to go. Finally I saw a bluish-hole, and I knew with all my heart that that was the portal. The portal home.
I looked up at Courtney and Lisa. I didn't smile or wave. I was in disbelief. We were going to get separated. And without a doubt I knew we were all going to die. We were going to die in a universe that shouldn't exist.
"So, what did you see?" Lisa asked me the next morning while we were eating breakfast.
I shrugged. "Nothing." I lied.
Courtney believed me, but Lisa didn't. "You can't lie to us Laura. We're all each other have. What you know could be the very thing that could get us home."
"I'll tell you later, but I will say this. We have to be strong if we want to get out alive."
"No duh." Lisa said.
Later that day we all got on the boats and started to sail down the river. I was in a boat with Frodo and Sam. Lisa was in a boat with Merry and Pippin. Courtney was in a boat with Aragorn and Boromir. Gandalf, Gimli, and Legolas were in the last boat.
"Hey Frodo, Sam, have you ever rowed a boat before?"
They both shook their heads.
"Have you never done this before?" Frodo asked.
"Nope, which leads me to my next statement. We're all going to die." I swear their jaws dropped. "I'm kidding!" I hope, I added silently to myself.
Luckily for us, we were heading with the current. So it was pretty much a matter of steering, which I did pretty well. Aragorn's boat was in front, with mine right behind, then Lisa's, then Gandalf's.
We hadn't been traveling long when I noticed Aragorn's boat start to head off to the shore. I followed, wanting to stay alive. We all got out and like a magnetic force Courtney, Lisa, and I stood together. There in front of us was Celeborn and Lady G.
"Let us eat and say our final farewells." Celeborn said and invited us to a sort of picnic.
"All right, FOOD!" Lisa yelled. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Merry and Pippin stifle a laugh.
We sat and ate out fill, loving every moment of it. It was the most we'd eaten in the longest time. Finally the time had come for the point I had been waiting for. The gift giving.
Courtney, Lisa, and I (along with the rest of the Fellowship) got an Elven cloak. That all went fine except when Gandalf refused the cloak. We waited for the rest of them to get their gifts and finally it was out turn.
"To you Courtney," Lady G. said, "I give you and ax. The time may come when you need it." She gave Court a really cool looking ax.
"To you Lisa," She continued, "I give you a hat." She gave Lisa a hat that looked exactly like Robin Hood's. It looked exactly like her cloak, but with a brown feather.
"To you Laura, I give a watch." She handed me a case and I opened it. It was a normal watch.
"Thanks Lady Galadriel. But, seriously, where did you get this?"
She smiled, winked, then took Aragorn aside to talk with him.
I looked at the watch and thought about what I was going to use it for. To time myself sailing down a river? I turned it to the stopwatch mode and pressed 'start'. Then the whole world stopped, no, I had sped up so fast that time seemed to stop.
Oh, shit.
I clicked 'stop'.
There was Courtney and Lisa, smiling and staring at me. I took a deep breath.
"Houston, we have a problem." I said. Lisa laughed and Courtney snickered. "You know that movie 'Clockstoppers'? Well." I pointed at the watch which was in my hand. Courtney obviously didn't get it, but Lisa did.
"Holy shit! How is that a problem? All of our problems are solved!" Lisa exclaimed. Courtney finally clicked in.
"Lisa," I stated, "What if the enemy gets this?"
She didn't have anything to say about that. Courtney did.
"Well, this sucks. Right now we have a gift and a curse." She said.
"She states the obvious." I muttered.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Once you hang out with these people, you start doing it too. It's not like I'm immune!"
I put the watch back in its case and put it in my pack. Before we could say anything else we were called back to the boats. I managed to grab five extra lembas packs and put them into my pack. It wasn't exactly stealing.
That night we slept on the shores of the river. We had shifts to keep watch, two at a time. Lisa and Courtney had a shift half way through the night, when I was in a deep-sleep dreaming. And if I had been awake, I would have noticed Lisa steal my watch and put it in her pocket.
Author's note: The watch isn't mine either, it says that in the reading, but just in case! By the way, since this is the first book in LOTR, it's called, since it's altered (but not that much) The Fellowship.