Disclaimer: I don't own Middle Earth and it's characters, or Canada and
England for that matter, but claim ownership of anything and everything
else.
Chapter 1: Moving Day…
I was awoken by the alarm clock blaring in my ear. Turning over, I groaned sleepily and slammed my hand down on the sleep button before curling up under the nice, warm covers once more. "Oh no you don't!" my mother said from the doorway. "We're moving today and you still haven't finished packing up your stuff…" Grumbling, I dragged my feet out of bed and moved to shut the door before packing away the last few things into an empty cardboard box. This definitely wasn't turning out to be a good day.
Actually, I had been dreading this day for the past month, ever since I'd found out that we would be moving halfway across the world for the sake of my dad's new job. After a mid-life crisis, he'd opted to change jobs in the hopes of doing something with his life, and wouldn't you know it, he'd chosen to go into international affairs and would now be working at the Canadian Embassy in London, England. I had made it clear from the start that I was against moving so far away, but only being 15, I didn't have a lot of say in these sorts of things.
After my shower, I felt a little better. I helped my twin brother, Alex, move boxes down the stairs in preparation for the moving crew that was due to arrive within the hour. "You all right?" he asked as we carried one of the bigger boxes between the two of us. I nodded, but the tears that were threatening to burst forth must have been evident, because when we put it down, he gave me a hug. We stayed like that for a few moments before I broke away.
"Thanks," I said. "I just hate the idea of leaving everyone behind and having to start making new friends all over again…"
He smiled. "Cheer up, Sarah, you've still got me. If worst comes to worst, we can both be anti-social together." I laughed – Alex was anything but anti-social and was often considered to be the life of the party. I, on the other hand, was really shy, so it was always that much harder for me to make friends.
We heard the truck pulling into the driveway and Alex sighed. "I guess this is it. Let's finish bringing the boxes down and then we can go and say good- bye to the tree house." I laughed, nodding. The tree house had been our favorite hang out as little kids and held many fond memories. We ran upstairs, passing our dad on the way.
"Did you two hear the movers downstairs?" Dad asked. "They were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago…"
"Yeah," Alex answered. "They were just pulling up a second ago. Sarah and I are just going to finish carting the boxes downstairs…"
My dad smiled, relief evident on his face. "Ok. Just don't take too long – we need to be out of here before noon. We'll be going out for lunch by the car dealership, and then we'll take a taxi to the airport." I rolled my eyes as my dad went through the explanation of what we would be doing that day – he must have gone over it at least half a dozen times yesterday already, and I really wasn't in the mood to hear it anymore. I just wanted to be able to enjoy the last little bit of time here as possible before moving to England, where the only people I'd know (to begin with at least) would be my family. Don't get me wrong, I love them dearly, but the idea of spending a lot of time with my parents over the upcoming month before school started was a little more than I could take right now. I didn't mind the idea of spending time with Alex so much – after all, we were the same age and had been best friends (even if we were siblings also) since we were babies…
The boxes weren't too heavy, and soon finished bringing them down. One of the middle-aged movers (a real slimeball) said I could have a job with them if I felt like it – he even scratched his bulging stomach as he said this, making me feel even more grossed out. I smiled weakly and attempted to avoid him, hiding behind Alex whenever I felt his eyes on me.
I suppose this is as good a place as any to give you some details as to what we look like. I'm 5'5" with steel-blue eyes and straight brown hair that goes down slightly past my shoulders. I'm of slight build and average weight. Alex looks a lot like me – we have the same color eyes and hair (his is really short, though, almost a buzz cut) and he is getting close to 6' in height. He's been working out at the gym a lot lately during his spare time too, and has been trying to talk me into going with him so I can tone up. I'd rather spend my time reading, though, so I've only gone with him a few times.
We slowly walked out towards the tree house, trying to imprint every detail into our minds before leaving it behind. As we neared the tree house, the rain that had been threatening to fall started. We ran the last couple of steps, with Alex reaching cover shortly before I did. He climbed the makeshift ladder first, and held out a hand for me as I neared the top. We quickly ducked inside the tree house and sat down inside to wait out the rain or our parents' calls, whichever came first.
"Remember when we had the sleepover out here?" I asked in an effort to break the silence.
Alex chuckled. "You mean the one where you, Jenny and Karla snuck Mom's make-up kit out here and they held me down while you made me look like a porcelain doll?" I laughed, nodding. I had been grounded for a week for doing that, but it had been worth it. "I'm really going to miss this place – it's got so many memories…" Alex said. I could only nod in return.
Just as suddenly as the rain started, it stopped. I looked down at my watch. "Hey, I think we might have time for a game of tag before we go." He laughed as I 'tagged' him and darted out of the tree house. Once outside, I stopped in shock. Alex ran outside after me, preparing to 'tag' me back. "Where are we?" I whispered.
Our surroundings had changed – no longer could you see the house we had played in as children, or any houses or streets for that matter. Just trees, trees, and more trees as far as the eye could see.
"I don't know…" Alex answered back. "But we'd better try to find out. Mom and Dad'll go insane if they can't find us."
I shivered in fear. "What if we don't find our way back, Alex?"
"Don't worry, Sarah, we'll get back somehow. And at least we've got each other, right? Everything'll be alright, I promise." I looked up at Alex for reassurance and he gave a bright smile. I could see the faintest glimmer of uncertainness in his eyes, though, but chose to ignore it for now.
"I know…" I smiled. "I guess we'd better start to look around though, or who knows how long it'll be before someone finds us…"
As if in answer to my last statement, someone stepped out from behind a nearby tree with an arrow pointed directly at us. "Friend or foe?" he asked – at least, he sounded male, even if he had long hair, something I would normally associate with females.
I found my voice first. "Well, we'd have to be either stupid or suicidal to say that we're foes, so I guess that means we're friends…"
The strange male looked confused. "I don't understand…"
"Well," I said, "you've got an arrow pointed at us and we're unarmed… Unless, of course, you count the limbs in between our hands and our shoulders… I don't really want to die right now, so I'm not suicidal, and if I were a foe, which I'm not, I'd have to be stupid to say that I am one…"
He still looked confused, but nodded. "You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood – why have you come?"
This time, Alex spoke up. "We're sorry if we're trespassing… We just sort of appeared here and are trying to figure out how to get home…"
"I see," the strange male responded. "My name is Haldir, and you will come with me."
Please R&R to let me know what you think. Thanks!
Chapter 1: Moving Day…
I was awoken by the alarm clock blaring in my ear. Turning over, I groaned sleepily and slammed my hand down on the sleep button before curling up under the nice, warm covers once more. "Oh no you don't!" my mother said from the doorway. "We're moving today and you still haven't finished packing up your stuff…" Grumbling, I dragged my feet out of bed and moved to shut the door before packing away the last few things into an empty cardboard box. This definitely wasn't turning out to be a good day.
Actually, I had been dreading this day for the past month, ever since I'd found out that we would be moving halfway across the world for the sake of my dad's new job. After a mid-life crisis, he'd opted to change jobs in the hopes of doing something with his life, and wouldn't you know it, he'd chosen to go into international affairs and would now be working at the Canadian Embassy in London, England. I had made it clear from the start that I was against moving so far away, but only being 15, I didn't have a lot of say in these sorts of things.
After my shower, I felt a little better. I helped my twin brother, Alex, move boxes down the stairs in preparation for the moving crew that was due to arrive within the hour. "You all right?" he asked as we carried one of the bigger boxes between the two of us. I nodded, but the tears that were threatening to burst forth must have been evident, because when we put it down, he gave me a hug. We stayed like that for a few moments before I broke away.
"Thanks," I said. "I just hate the idea of leaving everyone behind and having to start making new friends all over again…"
He smiled. "Cheer up, Sarah, you've still got me. If worst comes to worst, we can both be anti-social together." I laughed – Alex was anything but anti-social and was often considered to be the life of the party. I, on the other hand, was really shy, so it was always that much harder for me to make friends.
We heard the truck pulling into the driveway and Alex sighed. "I guess this is it. Let's finish bringing the boxes down and then we can go and say good- bye to the tree house." I laughed, nodding. The tree house had been our favorite hang out as little kids and held many fond memories. We ran upstairs, passing our dad on the way.
"Did you two hear the movers downstairs?" Dad asked. "They were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago…"
"Yeah," Alex answered. "They were just pulling up a second ago. Sarah and I are just going to finish carting the boxes downstairs…"
My dad smiled, relief evident on his face. "Ok. Just don't take too long – we need to be out of here before noon. We'll be going out for lunch by the car dealership, and then we'll take a taxi to the airport." I rolled my eyes as my dad went through the explanation of what we would be doing that day – he must have gone over it at least half a dozen times yesterday already, and I really wasn't in the mood to hear it anymore. I just wanted to be able to enjoy the last little bit of time here as possible before moving to England, where the only people I'd know (to begin with at least) would be my family. Don't get me wrong, I love them dearly, but the idea of spending a lot of time with my parents over the upcoming month before school started was a little more than I could take right now. I didn't mind the idea of spending time with Alex so much – after all, we were the same age and had been best friends (even if we were siblings also) since we were babies…
The boxes weren't too heavy, and soon finished bringing them down. One of the middle-aged movers (a real slimeball) said I could have a job with them if I felt like it – he even scratched his bulging stomach as he said this, making me feel even more grossed out. I smiled weakly and attempted to avoid him, hiding behind Alex whenever I felt his eyes on me.
I suppose this is as good a place as any to give you some details as to what we look like. I'm 5'5" with steel-blue eyes and straight brown hair that goes down slightly past my shoulders. I'm of slight build and average weight. Alex looks a lot like me – we have the same color eyes and hair (his is really short, though, almost a buzz cut) and he is getting close to 6' in height. He's been working out at the gym a lot lately during his spare time too, and has been trying to talk me into going with him so I can tone up. I'd rather spend my time reading, though, so I've only gone with him a few times.
We slowly walked out towards the tree house, trying to imprint every detail into our minds before leaving it behind. As we neared the tree house, the rain that had been threatening to fall started. We ran the last couple of steps, with Alex reaching cover shortly before I did. He climbed the makeshift ladder first, and held out a hand for me as I neared the top. We quickly ducked inside the tree house and sat down inside to wait out the rain or our parents' calls, whichever came first.
"Remember when we had the sleepover out here?" I asked in an effort to break the silence.
Alex chuckled. "You mean the one where you, Jenny and Karla snuck Mom's make-up kit out here and they held me down while you made me look like a porcelain doll?" I laughed, nodding. I had been grounded for a week for doing that, but it had been worth it. "I'm really going to miss this place – it's got so many memories…" Alex said. I could only nod in return.
Just as suddenly as the rain started, it stopped. I looked down at my watch. "Hey, I think we might have time for a game of tag before we go." He laughed as I 'tagged' him and darted out of the tree house. Once outside, I stopped in shock. Alex ran outside after me, preparing to 'tag' me back. "Where are we?" I whispered.
Our surroundings had changed – no longer could you see the house we had played in as children, or any houses or streets for that matter. Just trees, trees, and more trees as far as the eye could see.
"I don't know…" Alex answered back. "But we'd better try to find out. Mom and Dad'll go insane if they can't find us."
I shivered in fear. "What if we don't find our way back, Alex?"
"Don't worry, Sarah, we'll get back somehow. And at least we've got each other, right? Everything'll be alright, I promise." I looked up at Alex for reassurance and he gave a bright smile. I could see the faintest glimmer of uncertainness in his eyes, though, but chose to ignore it for now.
"I know…" I smiled. "I guess we'd better start to look around though, or who knows how long it'll be before someone finds us…"
As if in answer to my last statement, someone stepped out from behind a nearby tree with an arrow pointed directly at us. "Friend or foe?" he asked – at least, he sounded male, even if he had long hair, something I would normally associate with females.
I found my voice first. "Well, we'd have to be either stupid or suicidal to say that we're foes, so I guess that means we're friends…"
The strange male looked confused. "I don't understand…"
"Well," I said, "you've got an arrow pointed at us and we're unarmed… Unless, of course, you count the limbs in between our hands and our shoulders… I don't really want to die right now, so I'm not suicidal, and if I were a foe, which I'm not, I'd have to be stupid to say that I am one…"
He still looked confused, but nodded. "You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood – why have you come?"
This time, Alex spoke up. "We're sorry if we're trespassing… We just sort of appeared here and are trying to figure out how to get home…"
"I see," the strange male responded. "My name is Haldir, and you will come with me."
Please R&R to let me know what you think. Thanks!