The falling girls had several mood swings as they descended through the time warp.  From one moment to the next, it was unclear whether they would be ecstatic that they were still alive, crying over their imminent doom, engrossed in toying with Emily's iPod, worried about how their friends and family would react to their disappearance, singing "Free Falling" with their arms spread out like birds, or scared that they would wind up right back at school.  Mrs. Tocci had passed out, as she frequently did.

"You know, it's kind of odd," Emily mused aloud.  "We're not dead yet.  I wonder if the time at which you die before impact is directly proportional to the amount of space through which you have to plummet…"

"Um… yeah!" Laura answered hesitantly.

"Oh well!"  Emily shrugged and spread her arms.  "And I'm freeeeeeee, free fallin'!  Yeah, I'm freeeeeeee, free fallin'!"

A general chorus of "freeeeeeee"s went out for a few minutes.  Then there was complete and utter silence, except for the rush of air around them.

"Guuuuuuuyysss…" Paula whined, "I don't wanna die!"

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fiiiiiine!" Rachel belted out.

This, of course, set Paula off, and few could maintain the standard of perfection that was held to "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" à la Paula, but they all tried.

Nearly everyone was singing… "Birthday party cheesecake jelly bean…"

"BOOM!"

"What was that 'BOOM!'?"  Laura asked quietly.

"It was part of the song, stupid!" Rachel said, continuing to sing, but she was the only one who did.  The other girls looked around in confusion, and Mrs. Tocci was passed out.

 "Down there… look… two falling things…" Laura whispered as she caught sight of them.

"Wait… you mean that big, fiery, monster dude and the old guy with a large stick knew the words to 'It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)?'"  Julianna asked, squinting in the dark, having spotted the two entangled beings, also falling through space, some short distance below them.  They seemed to be very occupied in a petty argument of some sort, the culmination of which was a series of "BOOM!"s, varying in volume.

 "Those aren't just any falling things!" Kathleen exclaimed, having had an epiphany.  "It's Gandalf and the Balrog!"

"Are you sure it's not just one of those Lord of the Rings reenactment things with Tolkien fanatics dressed up as orcs representing over 40 major nations?" Paula asked skeptically.

"No!" Kathleen shook her head vehemently.  "We're under the Mines of Moria!"

"Riiiiight, and the fact that we fell into this yawning abyss has some greater point involving us saving all of mankind!" Emily snorted.

"Yeah, and Legolas is going to fall madly in love with Paula!" Julianna added.

Paula meeped happily and poked Julianna, laughing, "And Mrs. Tocci will have Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights's baby!"

"And I'll get to go to England and meet beautiful boys with accents!" Laura said excitedly.

"Oh, of all the ridiculous things!" Emily laughed hysterically.  "You know what else?  All this will also eventually be considered foreshadowing!"  She wiped a tear away from her eye, she was laughing so hard.  "Yeah, Kathleen, sure, we time warped our way under the Mines of Moria!"

The girls doubled over in hearty laughter, except for Kathleen who was slightly angered at her idea's rejection.

"Whoaaaa!  There's a light down there!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Hey, hey Rachel, are you sure it's not just 'the Balrog?'  Hahaha!"  Emily was beside herself.

"No, no!  It's a white light!" Paula said dreamily, "Head towards the liiiiiiight!  Head towards the liiiiiiight!"

(D-D-D-Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to iPods [but they're absolutely fantastic, and you should buy one right away, and spread the word!  Gooooo iPod!], "Free Falling" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" by REM, whoever originated "Head towards the liiiiiiight," or the reenactment of fictional events in The Lord of the Rings.  Though I do not own the last part, that's not to say I wouldn't consider participating.  Anyone else wanna come?  We could reenact Gandalf falling into the pit!  Yesss!)