Chapter 1: Look! A Magic Portal

It had started out like as any normal day, and Kaysie and Ariel were researching topics for their article reports during their fourth period class. But, because they had mostly researched their topics at home, and were ahead of the class as usual, they decided to just waste that afternoon in class by just looking at the different titles on books, and being extremely bored.

"Hey!" Ariel whispered.

"What is it?" Kaysie ask.

"I've never noticed that door before…"

The door was colored a pure white, which was odd because all the doors were painted black and red.

"Wonder where it goes? Maybe it'll take us away from school. Maybe Bray will be on the other side," Kaysie said with a dreamy sigh.

Oh brother, Ariel thought to herself as she opened the door. "I'm going to go see where it actually leads to… hopefully not Bray."

"You're mean. Just for that maybe I'll stay behind and lock you in the portal," Kaysie said annoyed.

"Actually I wouldn't mind. That would mean no more school and no more annoying people!"  Ariel began as she stepped through the doorway. "Sure is dark in here…"

"Wait! I'm coming too!" Kaysie quickly said.

"Bring some light, would you?" Ariel shouted from the darkness.

A flashlight happened to be sitting on the table right behind Kaysie. She turned around, picked it up, and quickly ran through the portal, trying to catch up with Ariel.

"Got a flashlight!" she shouted. "Let's go!"

"Okay!" Ariel replied, somewhere.

After a few minutes of traveling in the dark, guided by the little flashlight's rays, they finally made it to the end of the tunnel. The girls had found an extremely large flowerbed with all sorts of colorful wild flowers.

"Yay! We made it! Ooh, flowers," was Ariel's first reaction.

"I hope there are no bees. Wait! Do you hear running water?" Kaysie asked.

"Don't say that… it'll made me feel like I gotta go…" Ariel said awkwardly.

"Too much info," Kaysie sighed.

"Hey look! A river! But what's that across the it?" Ariel said, pointing to the gently flowing stream.

"Hm…maybe it's Bray," Kaysie said with hearts in her eyes. "Or it's a cute little bunny rabbit."

"Careful," Ariel cautioned.

"What? Why? It's just a cute little bunny." She gave Ariel a funny look.

"Don't you watch Monty Python? You know, the Killer Rabbit?! It looked just like that one!"

"Weirdo…" Kaysie murmured.

"Whatever… but when it comes after you, don't come crying to me…"

"Aww…but I wanted Bray!!!"

"You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?" Ariel asked.

"Oh well. Maybe next time," Kaysie said, with yet another dreamy sigh.

While Kaysie was stuck in Gaga Land, Ariel looked around to the world around them.

"Hey Kaysie, let's go inside that castle," Ariel said, pointing in the direction of the large castle. "I hope we see Hobbits…"

"Especially Frodo. Let's go find out!"

So, they walked up to the castle, but ran into a little snag. The castle had a moat around it and the drawbridge happened to be up.

"How do we get inside?" Ariel asked disappointed.

"We could swim across…" Kaysie suggested.

Just then, an alligator jumped up out of the water, and landed back in it. They both blocked the water from splashing on them by raising their arms in front of their faces.

"Or not… maybe we could build a boat…" Kaysie said, thinking out loud.

"What do I look like, Noah?" Ariel retorted.

"I don't know what Noah looks like. But if I had a guess…" Kaysie began.

"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?!" Ariel shouted.

"Depends on what you want it to mean. Could be insulting or it may be a compliment…"

How's being compared to a dead guy a compliment? Ariel said to herself. Ariel ignored what Kaysie said and continued with,  "Maybe we can sneak around the back."

"Is there a way around the back? What if the moat goes all the way around the castle?" Kaysie then saw something that would leave them speechless. "Wait… I think I see someone walking around by the entrance on this side of the moat. Let's go ask him for some help."

Ariel looked over and saw the… Hobbit. Immediately, she recognized him.

"It's…it's…" she gasped.

"Frodo!" Kaysie finished. "I…I…I…uh…mmm…"

"You still want to ask him for directions?" Ariel said with a smirk.

"Um…um…ummm… It's Frodo! I can't believe it! It's actually him! I…I…wow." Kaysie's face turned bright red.

"Okay, okay… I'll go and ask him…" She paused. "Are you coming or not?"

"I…I…can't move," Kaysie said short of breath.

"Look, do you want him to talk to us or not?! (You should think about these things)," Ariel reasoned.

"OF COURSE I DO!" Kaysie shouted, and she finally moved. "Yay, I can move again!"

"Okay…weirdo…" Ariel mutters as she begins to walk in the direction of Frodo. She stops to look back at Kaysie, who hasn't taken a step yet, and says,

"Are you coming or not?"

"Yup," Kaysie replies. She hurriedly catches up with Ariel.

They both walk up to Frodo with cherry cheeks and broad smiles on their faces.

"Hello there," Frodo begins.

The girls are caught speechless and their staring at his dashing good looks began to freak him out a little.

"Ah…what are your names?" he asks, trying to strike up some sort of conversation.