Chapter 1: Where are we????
Becky and her cousin Missy trudged through the woods, both out-of-breath and dragging heavy suitcases with them.
"How-much-longer-till-we-reach-the-house?" Missy managed to wheeze out when they had come to a clearing in the woods.
"You don't wanna know," Becky paused for a second to check her watch and keeled over headfirst onto her suitcase. "Owwie."
Missy didn't waste any time. She plopped down onto the grass and leaned against a big tree.
The two cousins fell silent, contemplating the past few hours.
Becky, Missy, Becky's parents and Missy's parents and Becky's aunt, uncle and cousins had all arrived on this little island this morning by boat. They had had a horrible long hour and a half boat trip in which everyone had gotten soaked to the bone.
Becky had insisted as soon as they'd stepped off the boat that she was not staying soggy and dripping wet like this. So she'd insisted on staying back to change her clothes at the public bathroom and Missy had been forced to stay with her. And to make matters worse their evil family had left them with most of the baggage.
Plus they'd been walking through the woods for four hours and they seemed to be getting no closer to the house.
"You know, we really should get going," Becky said, not even bothering to scrape herself off the suitcase.
"Just now.must take nappy," Missy mumbled and then her eyes closed.
"Good idea," Becky propped up onto her arm.
As the cousins dozed off into a deep sleep, no one noticed the wild swaying of the branches overhead and the soft singing in a fair tongue that filled the air.
The leaves began to fall from the trees and they slowly swished downwards and began spinning in frantic circles in the air.
The singing grew louder and there was a brilliant flash of light.
***
A few hours later, Becky painfully cracked open her eyes, waking up from a wonderful dream. But she soon had to shade her eyes from the bright glare of the afternoon sun.
She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. She grinned stupidly remembering what had happened in the dream but then frowned because she had woken up just when it was getting good.
Then she took a good look at her surroundings.
But why did the forest look so different all of a sudden?
The trees were different; taller and greener. The air was fresher and cleaner and the sky was a lovely blue. She even heard birds chirping happily overhead.
Becky glanced at her watch to see how long she'd slept and her eyes widened in surprise.
The hands of the watch were spinning wildly.
"What in the world?" Becky said, confused. Maybe it had gotten wet or something.
Maybe it had rained while they were sleeping.
Speaking of they, she glanced across to the tree to see her cousin still fast asleep.
She hurried over and quickly shook her awake.
"No. Give me the Aragorn bookmark! Give it to me. My Ranger!" Missy mumbled sleepily.
"Wake up," Becky said, laughing. "I can guess what you were dreaming about." Missy sat up wide-awake and blushing.
"Must've been an interesting dream. You know the dream I just had was about Lord of the Rings too! It was about Leggy," Becky said and began telling Missy (who really wasn't paying attention) all about it.
Becky was the avid the Lord of The Rings fan out of the two cousins. She was a head-over-heels crazy Legolas fan-girl. She was totally obsessed with "Leggykins" and her desktop and screensavers were adorned with him. She spent all her free time, reading the LOTR books or watching the movie or downloading more LOTR stuff.
She also had several Elvish names and knew how to talk some Elvish. She had seen The Fellowship of The Ring thirteen times (she'd made it her goal to see it nine times in honor of the whole fellowship but she couldn't resist watching it over and over again) and she'd seen The Two Towers three times. She'd completely memorized the entire script of the Fellowship of The Ring and the majority of The Two Towers. She knew everything about all the characters.
She had read about a million "You know you're obsessed when." lists and had more than half of the obsessions highlighted.
Missy on the other hand had seen The Fellowship of The Ring once in its entirety and really couldn't care less about seeing the second one. *Fangirls around the universe gasp in horror*. She was an Aragorn fangirl though she was yet to admit it.
"Hey the forest looks different," Missy said, taking in their surroundings.
"Tell me about it. It seems so strange. And look what my watch is doing," Becky held out her wrist for Missy to see.
"That's really strange," Missy said. "But I think we should get going. Our parents are probably wondering what's happened to us."
"Or what's happened to all the food we have," Becky gestured to one of the suitcases which was packed to the brim with cooked food and cans and cans of Coke.
"Out of spite, we should eat everything," Missy said, with an evil glimmer in her eyes.
"We should but let's not," Becky said. "I'm peckish though."
"Yeah," Missy said and Becky dug two sandwiches out of a bag and they started walking and eating.
"Ooh wait!" Becky cried suddenly. 'I left a bag."
They hurried back and they saw something that made them stop in their tracks.
"Are those chairs?" Missy asked, shocked.
All Becky could do was shrug. "What are chairs doing in the middle of a deserted forest?"
"This is too freaky!" Missy said. "I wish I'd gone with them to the house."
"Me too. Suddenly seeming soaked to the bone is not such a bad idea," Becky shivered, glancing around nervously. "This doesn't look familiar at ALL."
"You know, maybe we should go ask those people for some help," Missy indicated to the chairs. "Maybe they could tell us how to get out of these woods."
"Are you sure those are chairs?" Becky asked, gazing doubtfully at them. "They could just be really big rocks.
"What've we got to lose?" Missy asked and without another word headed off towards the ring of chairs.
"We could just get more lost but don't listen to me," Becky muttered under her breath but followed her cousin. The rest hadn't helped them at all and they seemed to be even more tired than before. But nevertheless they trudged on and finally the ring of chairs came into perfect view.
Suddenly Becky let out a little squeal and stumbled forward. Without warning her arm shot out and grabbed Missy's shirt and the cousins went flying into the center of the ring.
Becky and her cousin Missy trudged through the woods, both out-of-breath and dragging heavy suitcases with them.
"How-much-longer-till-we-reach-the-house?" Missy managed to wheeze out when they had come to a clearing in the woods.
"You don't wanna know," Becky paused for a second to check her watch and keeled over headfirst onto her suitcase. "Owwie."
Missy didn't waste any time. She plopped down onto the grass and leaned against a big tree.
The two cousins fell silent, contemplating the past few hours.
Becky, Missy, Becky's parents and Missy's parents and Becky's aunt, uncle and cousins had all arrived on this little island this morning by boat. They had had a horrible long hour and a half boat trip in which everyone had gotten soaked to the bone.
Becky had insisted as soon as they'd stepped off the boat that she was not staying soggy and dripping wet like this. So she'd insisted on staying back to change her clothes at the public bathroom and Missy had been forced to stay with her. And to make matters worse their evil family had left them with most of the baggage.
Plus they'd been walking through the woods for four hours and they seemed to be getting no closer to the house.
"You know, we really should get going," Becky said, not even bothering to scrape herself off the suitcase.
"Just now.must take nappy," Missy mumbled and then her eyes closed.
"Good idea," Becky propped up onto her arm.
As the cousins dozed off into a deep sleep, no one noticed the wild swaying of the branches overhead and the soft singing in a fair tongue that filled the air.
The leaves began to fall from the trees and they slowly swished downwards and began spinning in frantic circles in the air.
The singing grew louder and there was a brilliant flash of light.
***
A few hours later, Becky painfully cracked open her eyes, waking up from a wonderful dream. But she soon had to shade her eyes from the bright glare of the afternoon sun.
She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes. She grinned stupidly remembering what had happened in the dream but then frowned because she had woken up just when it was getting good.
Then she took a good look at her surroundings.
But why did the forest look so different all of a sudden?
The trees were different; taller and greener. The air was fresher and cleaner and the sky was a lovely blue. She even heard birds chirping happily overhead.
Becky glanced at her watch to see how long she'd slept and her eyes widened in surprise.
The hands of the watch were spinning wildly.
"What in the world?" Becky said, confused. Maybe it had gotten wet or something.
Maybe it had rained while they were sleeping.
Speaking of they, she glanced across to the tree to see her cousin still fast asleep.
She hurried over and quickly shook her awake.
"No. Give me the Aragorn bookmark! Give it to me. My Ranger!" Missy mumbled sleepily.
"Wake up," Becky said, laughing. "I can guess what you were dreaming about." Missy sat up wide-awake and blushing.
"Must've been an interesting dream. You know the dream I just had was about Lord of the Rings too! It was about Leggy," Becky said and began telling Missy (who really wasn't paying attention) all about it.
Becky was the avid the Lord of The Rings fan out of the two cousins. She was a head-over-heels crazy Legolas fan-girl. She was totally obsessed with "Leggykins" and her desktop and screensavers were adorned with him. She spent all her free time, reading the LOTR books or watching the movie or downloading more LOTR stuff.
She also had several Elvish names and knew how to talk some Elvish. She had seen The Fellowship of The Ring thirteen times (she'd made it her goal to see it nine times in honor of the whole fellowship but she couldn't resist watching it over and over again) and she'd seen The Two Towers three times. She'd completely memorized the entire script of the Fellowship of The Ring and the majority of The Two Towers. She knew everything about all the characters.
She had read about a million "You know you're obsessed when." lists and had more than half of the obsessions highlighted.
Missy on the other hand had seen The Fellowship of The Ring once in its entirety and really couldn't care less about seeing the second one. *Fangirls around the universe gasp in horror*. She was an Aragorn fangirl though she was yet to admit it.
"Hey the forest looks different," Missy said, taking in their surroundings.
"Tell me about it. It seems so strange. And look what my watch is doing," Becky held out her wrist for Missy to see.
"That's really strange," Missy said. "But I think we should get going. Our parents are probably wondering what's happened to us."
"Or what's happened to all the food we have," Becky gestured to one of the suitcases which was packed to the brim with cooked food and cans and cans of Coke.
"Out of spite, we should eat everything," Missy said, with an evil glimmer in her eyes.
"We should but let's not," Becky said. "I'm peckish though."
"Yeah," Missy said and Becky dug two sandwiches out of a bag and they started walking and eating.
"Ooh wait!" Becky cried suddenly. 'I left a bag."
They hurried back and they saw something that made them stop in their tracks.
"Are those chairs?" Missy asked, shocked.
All Becky could do was shrug. "What are chairs doing in the middle of a deserted forest?"
"This is too freaky!" Missy said. "I wish I'd gone with them to the house."
"Me too. Suddenly seeming soaked to the bone is not such a bad idea," Becky shivered, glancing around nervously. "This doesn't look familiar at ALL."
"You know, maybe we should go ask those people for some help," Missy indicated to the chairs. "Maybe they could tell us how to get out of these woods."
"Are you sure those are chairs?" Becky asked, gazing doubtfully at them. "They could just be really big rocks.
"What've we got to lose?" Missy asked and without another word headed off towards the ring of chairs.
"We could just get more lost but don't listen to me," Becky muttered under her breath but followed her cousin. The rest hadn't helped them at all and they seemed to be even more tired than before. But nevertheless they trudged on and finally the ring of chairs came into perfect view.
Suddenly Becky let out a little squeal and stumbled forward. Without warning her arm shot out and grabbed Missy's shirt and the cousins went flying into the center of the ring.