Author ~~ Dalagorn

Title ~~ On the way to Bag's End

Date ~~ 7-14-03

Disclaimer: All characters in here are the sole property of J.R.R Tolkien. Any resemblance to characters live or fictitious is completely unintentional, and no, none of the characters resemble me as well.

Jimmy looked around him. It was still the same as usual, thank goodness for that. Wait. Maybe it wasn't. He knew all-nighters were bad for him, but he couldn't help it. The familiar letters flashed across his mind again. He couldn't shake off the familiar graphics, the familiar text flashing slowly across the screen. Password please. Password please. Password please. You're up, signed in as Dalagorn. He woke up with a start.

Ohmigosh! It was the 14th. Snapping his fingers, he tried to recall which day it was.

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

His dad's radio sounded from downstairs. "Well folks, it's a sunny Monday morning, perfect weather ahead for the whole day, a high of 80 degr..."

Monday. He muttered to himself, "Monday? Did I forget something?" He looked across his room to the calendar opposite. There, in bold letters, on the 14th itself was "Book Report! Don't forget!"

All ideas of going back to sleep was quickly dispelled. He had to rush. A movie adaptation was the order for the day. As he quickly put on his shirt and his shorts, he was thinking... "A movie adaptation, where on earth have I seen one?" As this question ran through his head again and again, he started feeling through his pocket instinctively.

Wait. Why wasn't it there? Felt it again. He stopped in his tracks. Why wasn't his lucky photo there? Ever since his parents divorced, he always carried the photo around. That was when they were all so happy... He wasn't particularly superstitious, but he had never gone anywhere with it. Ever. He felt that impending sense of doom that almost everyone feels every single Monday. That was compounded by the fact that he was far from a model student, and besides, it was given about a month ago to do. He thought to himself, "I really should cut down on the playing. I'm not going to pass this year. My life is a wreck. I have nothing now." He needed potassium. In his fit of nervousness, he somehow remembered that potassium helped you think clearer, especially after an all-nighter.

Bananas. Bananas had potassium. Shaking his head vigorously, he realized that he was going to die. Seriously. Miss Stevens was not a happy camper once she found out that he hadn't finished his homework. Lord of the Rings. He could do that. Yeah, that was a movie adaptation. Totally unawares of where he was heading, he bumped his head onto an onrushing lamppost. Everything went dark.

Then, after moments that seemed like eternity, he looked around him. It was the same as usual. Thank goodness for that. Wait. Maybe it wasn't.