I may be in Middle Earth, staying in a really cool castle, and I just happen to be staying in a room across from Frodo Baggins, but I can't stand being in this room any longer!! There's a whole world out there to explore! And for all I know, I may go home today. Can't waste anymore time here, Ariel sat on the bed thinking to herself. She glanced at the window and saw the lovely full moon in the sky, along with all the bright stars. She got up off the bed and stood in front of the window, although not to admire the view.
Yeah, she thought. This should work. There is a ledge below here. Maybe I could sneak…
There was a knock at the door.
Maybe I should sneak... she finished. "Come in!" she called. Already Ariel knew who it was.
"Hello," Frodo began. He shut the door behind him.
"Hi there. What's up?" Ariel greeted.
"Oh, well the moon and stars are out and…"
Ariel laughed. "I didn't mean that literally. It just means, 'What's happening?' or 'Anything wrong?'... Stuff like that."
"Oh," Frodo said, looking down at the ground. Was he embarrassed?
"I'll try to watch what I say, okay?" she gave him a reassuring smile.
"Ah, actually I did come here to ask you something. You see, Aragorn and Lady Arwen are holding a banquet, I suppose, and everyone is going to be there. Even Gandalf is coming. And... well, would you like to come?" Frodo asked.
"Sure, and Kaysie is coming too, right?"
"Yes, Legolas is asking her as we speak," he nodded.
"Yes, of course," Ariel said rolling her eyes.
Frodo gave her an awkward look.
"It's not that I'm jealous or anything," Ariel explained. "It's just that... well, I can't exactly tell you why. Sworn to secrecy, you know."
"Oh?" he said.
"Yeah, but I think it's kind of obvious. You'll see. Um, you know, you don't have to stand against the door like that. You can sit down, if you want to," she added.
"No, thank you. I was just about to go. Is there anything you need?"
Ariel thought for a moment and looked around. Then, she looked down at what she was wearing; a dress. She knew she wasn't going to do any sneaking around (or be comfortable) until she was out of that dress.
"Yes, actually, there is," she finally said.
"Well, ah, what is -"
"I need different clothes," Ariel interrupted.
"Different clothes?"
"Yeah, I really hate wearing dresses; they are such a pain. Could I perhaps have a regular shirt and pants, or shorts, or something? Please?" she asked.
"But... umm..." Frodo began.
"But what?" she asked.
"Those clothes... well... they are usually for a man," he looked at her strangely.
"Are you trying to say something?" Ariel teased.
"I- I'm not trying to offend you or anything..." He looked frightened.
"Hey, chill, okay?" Ariel said through her laughter.
"Chill?" Frodo murmured.
Ariel saw his bewilderment.
"Oh, sorry. I mean relax. I'm not going to attack you or anything." She grinned.
Frodo sighed in relief.
"Look, where I come from, women wear pants, and shorts, and all sorts of clothing guys wear. It's totally normal," Ariel tried to explain.
"Dresses are usually worn on special occasions."
"So, then, do men wear women's clothing in your world?" Frodo asked.
"Ah... yeah! The guys from Scotland wear skirts all the time. Totally acceptable, and they happen to be a bunch of tough guys too. They have log throwing competitions and stuff..."
"How strange..." Frodo said. "Well, I guess you can have some of my clothes then. I'll be right back." He nodded, opened the door, and left.
"Okay," Ariel quickly told him as he walked out the door. "Great, he probably thinks I'm the strangest person he's ever met. Then again, so do a lot of people I meet."
After a while, Frodo came back with some "suitable" clothes for her to wear. So, she changed into them while Frodo waited outside the door for her.
"Much better," she told herself. She decided to keep her necklace under her shirt. "Hey, Frodo!" she called, opening up the door.
"Yes?" he said facing her.
"How about killing some time with me, huh?" Ariel asked. "Not literally," she quickly added. "What I meant was, how about showing me around this place? I've been here for a couple of days now and all I've seen is this room," she said smiling.
"Well, I..." Frodo stuttered.
He's really adorable when he's confused, Ariel thought. "Please!"
"Alright," he nodded. "On one condition though."
"And that is..." she began.
"And that is you have to tell me about where you come from," he said, regaining some confidence.
"Seems fair," Ariel said as they began the tour. "So what do you want to know about? Do you mean my world in general?"
"Sure, that would be... uh..."
"Cool?"
"Yes, that would be very... cool," he said with a smirk.
Ariel giggled. "Right... well, in general, where I come from is very fast paced. No time for resting, always: find a job, settle down, and raise a family. There's really not enough time to enjoy life." She looked over at Frodo.
"Hey, but where I come from isn't all bad. In fact, there are a lot of conveniences too. Like... oh, you can send someone a letter in about five seconds, no matter where they are!"
"Impossible," said Frodo.
"It's true! And no one really travels on foot or by horse any more. Mostly by cars or trains... but, you probably don't know what those are..."
"Not really..."
"Sorry... what else is there... oh yeah, there are machines that wash clothes on their own and you can can practically get everything in these things called vending machines... just insert some money, and out pops whatever you asked for."
"Including meals?"
"Yep."
"Amazing!"
"I know."
As they walked on, Ariel explained to Frodo about her world. They now had toured most of the castle. Suddenly, Frodo stopped in front of a certain door. This door was heavily engraved and seemed more important than the rest.
"This room," Frodo explained, "Belongs to Aragorn and Lady Arwen."
Ariel looked up and saw two guards looking off into space.
What a boring job...
Then, she peered ahead of them only to see two familiar faces.
"I guess we weren't the only ones killing time," she said.
"What do you mean?" Frodo asked.
"Look." Ariel pointed up ahead. "It seems to be Kaysie and Legolas, Frodo."
"So it is," he said as they approached.
Instead of warm greetings, they stood there awkwardly as if they were guilty of something.
I guess Kaysie really likes dressing up as an elf, Ariel thought.
Legolas spoke first, almost with a smile on his face. "Hobbits, I suppose, are faster in some areas than elves."
"Oh, no. It's not like that," Frodo quickly said. He blushed.
"Then perhaps an explanation. It seems your affection for her is not hidden."
Ariel remembered that she was wearing some of Frodo's clothes.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's definitely not like that. And that's not funny!" she exclaimed, pointing up at Kaysie.
Suddenly, they all heard a long scream and then a thud noise coming from Aragorn and Arwen's room. The guards rushed inside.
"That scream sounded all too familiar," Ariel said.
"Wait! Do you know who that sounded like?" Kaysie asked.
"Sarah!" they both exclaimed.
Ariel and Kaysie both ran inside the room.
"You're not allowed to be in here!" one of the guards said.
Ariel first saw Aragorn (who was shocked) on one side of the room, Sarah sitting in the middle of their bed, and Arwen (who was also shocked) on the other side of the room.
"It's alright. They may stay," Aragorn spoke up.
"What happened?" they both asked.
Sarah's eyes widened when she saw Ariel.
"What?" Ariel mouthed.
"Ariel! You're... you're... you're... short!" Then, she fainted face forward.
"Glad she noticed," Ariel said.
Ariel and Kaysie rushed over to Sarah to see if she was okay. Just then, Frodo and Legolas entered the room.
"Another one?" Legolas said quietly.
"The more, the merrier, as they say," Frodo replied.
"As they say," Legolas repeated.
"Sarah..." Ariel said, shaking her awake.
"Wha- quit shaking me!" Sarah said as she came to.
"How did you get here?" Kaysie asked.
"I don't know! I just heard these voices..."
"Great... schizophrenic elf..." Ariel said.
"I'm not an elf!"
"You are now," Kaysie told her.
Sarah felt her ears. Sure enough, they were pointy.
"I suppose we must find you a room," Aragorn said, walking towards them.
Sarah's heart rate increased so much that she fainted... again. Aragorn picked her up into his arms and carried her off. When he lifted her up, she dropped two books. Ariel noticed them and picked them up.
"Do you think Sarah would mind if I borrowed these?" Ariel asked.
"Yes, I think she would," Kaysie answered.
Ariel just shrugged and said, "I'll give them back eventually."
"Eventually..." Kaysie replied.
Ariel glared at her, but held her tongue. Instead, she bid goodnight and apologized to Arwen for all of the inconveniences.
As they left the room, Kaysie said,
"Hey, lemme see one of those books."
"Why? So you can just chunk one at my head?"
"And?"
"I need this head, mind you."
"No comment..."
"Are you sure you two aren't related? Frodo asked.
They had forgotten that Frodo and Legolas were right behind them. They blushed.
"No, we're sure," Kaysie said.
"Hey, the only one missing now is Ashley!" Ariel noticed.
"Shh. Don't jinx us with such a burden. That's all we need is her running around, talking non-stop about..." Kaysie looked at them.
"Huh? Oh, well... sheez, you're ear gets numb after a while..."
They both laughed.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask; when is this dinner thing?" Ariel asked.
"Tomorrow evening," Frodo said.
"Right, so, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow evening," she said to Kaysie and Legolas.
They said their goodnights and then each headed off to their own rooms.
***
So, the morning soon came and the afternoon came with it. Frodo came to see Ariel earlier than she expected.
"Well, I was hoping to introduce you to everyone when they arrived," he explained.
"Really? Who's coming now?" she asked.
"Sam, Merry, and Pippin should be the first to arrive, since they wrote and said that they left as soon as they received their invitations."
"Sam, Merry, and Pippin?" Ariel asked.
"That's right. They were in that story you read about the War of the Ring, right?"
"Yes! Samwise the Brave, Meriadoc the Mighty, and Peregrin- ah, he's kinda clumsy, but means well. Right?" she said almost reciting.
"Amazing! You know so much for not being from this world!"
"Actually, I would call it creepy... this just proves how much of a life I don't really have. Well, who knows... maybe being a nerd will pay off one day..."
"A nerd?"
"Means you know stuff other normal would think boring..."
"Oh... maybe we should go and wait for them at the main entrance," Frodo suggested.
"Excellent idea!"
They walked many flights, or so Ariel thought, of stairs. When they reached the bottom, they saw Sarah rushing towards them.
"Uh- oh..." Ariel said aloud.
"She looks upset..." Frodo said.
"She always looks like that."
"Ariel! Where are my books? Kaysie said you 'borrowed' them!" Sarah exclaimed.
"She's upset..." Ariel said to Frodo.
"Darn right, I'm upset! Now where are my books?"
"Haven't you heard the term 'pick on someone your own size'?"
"Haven't you heard the term 'give me back my books or I'll smash your face in'?"
"Oh, actually now that you mention it, I have." Ariel laughed uneasily. "Yeah, but... my new pet dragon ate them."
"You have a new pet dragon?"
"Yes, Sarah. I have a pet dragon." Ariel held back a grin.
"But-," Frodo began.
"Shh…"
"How did you get a pet dragon?" Sarah asked.
"Uh... Frodo caught him..."
"What!" Frodo exclaimed.
Ariel snuck past Sarah and ran to the other side of the room.
"I did no such thing," Frodo tried to tell her.
Sarah looked for Ariel and then spotted her.
"You lied to me!" Sarah exclaimed.
Ariel jumped on a nearby window ledge.
"Duh! Don't tell me you fell for it! There hasn't been a dragon in Middle Earth since Smaug was killed!"
"You know about Smaug?" Frodo asked.
"Yeah! He's in 'There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Tale'."
"Uncle Bilbo's book?"
"Yep!"
Sarah felt embarrassed.
"I can't believe you tricked me!" she said, while running towards Ariel.
Just then, an arrow sped on by and pinned Sarah's sleeve to the wall.
"What the-?" she said.
Ariel looked over and saw Legolas with his bow in his hands and Kaysie standing right beside him.
"Honestly, I don't understand why someone would pick on such a small creature," Legolas said.
"I'm not that small!" Ariel told him. "But thanks."
He nodded.
"Just face it, you are tiny..." Sarah said, pulling the arrow out of her sleeve.
Ariel hopped down and stuck her tongue out at Sarah.
"Why did you do that?" Frodo asked Ariel as she sat down next to him at the foot of the stairs.
"Well, she forgot about her books, didn't she?" she grinned.
Frodo shook his head.
And so, the five of them continued their conversations as Sam, Merry, and Pippin came into view in the window next to the entrance.