AN: I know I've been a very bad, delinquent author. It's not my fault,
really! Finals and stuff have decided to creep right up on me so I'm up to
my elbows in extra school work. I have an entire month off coming up and I
promise to update all the time and, hopefully, get my next story up and
running. Please accept my sincerest apologies. By the by, I can't wait for
Dec. 17th and Return of the King! I keep seeing commercials and stuff and
it just looks so cool!
Somnia: I assure you, I'm no genius. I'm just your average college student with a lot of time on her hands. Thanks for the compliment, though. I greatly appreciate it!
Elainor: You shall see about them returning rather soon. Thranduil just may be a wee bit unnerved by the fact Shannon stood up to him but, I can assure you, he always has something up his sleeve.
Midnight-Insomniac1532: I thank you for your patience. It is now being rewarded!
PixiePea000: Mitch is very much the hot head and I am very fond of cliffhangers. I promise that I will not have a Matrix Reloaded cliffhanger anywhere. Dead annoying ending, really! Anyway, Sir Spiro did take issue with me and I did get screamed at. It's not my fault I don't remember things! Anyway, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith.
Tini-angel: Thank you for your compliment. I wasn't aware of the number of dancers and former dancers that were on this site. I'm glad you liked my little story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
The small family, sans a certain elven prince, returned to their home as if they had never left it. Though their surroundings had not changed, the people who lived within them had.
The blaring noise of cars and the city air bothered Emma. Though she was only there for a short time, the more natural surroundings of Middle Earth had become the norm for her. She found herself drifting back to her time in Middle Earth and deciding that this world, the one she had lived in for her entire life, was not really her world. She belonged in Mirkwood with her own kind. She was determined, though, to stick out her final few months here.
There was no real way Shannon could reconcile her past life with her present. She was not a warrior, not someone who wielded blade in battle. She was a mother who worked for a small advertising firm. She was a stage parent, making sure her daughter looked all well and good when she got on stage, and a wife who acted as a foil for her husband's bad temper.
This inability bothered Shannon as her dreams became more frequent and more powerful. Sometimes, they would come to her during the day, interrupting the daily discourse of her life.
Time passed quickly and, before anyone knew it, it was early June. For Emma and her mother, early June meant one thing and one thing only---the dreaded costume rehearsals.
"You know you're the best looking dancer in this group," Shannon told Emma as they sat and watched the rest of the ballet class scurry to and fro in their costumes.
Emma giggled as she watched the other dancers struggle with their wigs and costumes. There was a great deal of noise and commotion as dancers pinned costume parts together or tried to decide how best to hide their natural hair under a short wig.
This was the first time she had seen the Junior ballet class in their costumes. These girls would be playing other roles in the ballet and had their class at a much later time.
A tall dark skinned girl named Lauren was dressed in boxy looking armor and was sitting with Miss Michelle. They appeared to be trying to affix some type of furry chin-wig to her face. It took Emma a moment to realize that she was supposed to be Gimli the dwarf.
Two girls, very close friends, sat a bit apart from everyone else. They were whispering to each other and adjusting parts of their costumes.
One had a very blank expression on her flat looking face. Emma recognized her as Daniela. Dressed in shabby gray with a long gray wig and beard, Emma supposed that this girl was supposed to be Gandalf the Gray.
Her companion, a girl Emma knew as Melissa, was dressed in a very bulky looking costume with lots of fake fur and a long robe. The somewhat red wig clued Emma that this dancer was supposed to be Bormir.
As chaos over took the floor, Spiro called, "Get up stairs! NOW!"
Looking at her mother with a concerned but knowing expression, Emma ran up the stairs.
She was met at the top of the stairs by a very grumpy looking Spiro. She knew costume rehearsals were not his favorite thing and, as a result of that, forced him to be in possession of a very strong attitude.
"What's going on down there?" he wanted to know.
"Um---half the kids can't get their wigs on and the other half can't get their costumes on either," Emma answered, quietly.
Spiro cursed loudly in both English and Greek. Then he headed back down their stairs with all the bluster of a hurricane.
Emma knew that Spiro had been getting frustrated with the class. She didn't really know why but something told her that it had something to do with the "staff." Shrugging, Emma climbed up the final few stairs and entered the upstairs classroom.
She took one look around the room, morning sunlight filtering in through the shaded windows, illuminating little patches on the hardwood floor. The banks of overhead lights were off and the back door was open, letting in a fresh breeze and creating a larger pool of sunlight.
"I really hate being up her alone," Emma mused.
She'd never liked being in the upstairs classrooms by herself. She was accustomed to someone else, even if the other person was busy ignoring her, being in the room with her.
Then she noticed the figure sitting in the pool of sunlight nearest to the back door.
Dressed as a mortal man, once again, was her brother. He looked thoroughly uncomfortable in his outfit but managed a smile when he saw that Emma had, finally, noticed him.
Skipping over, Emma gave Legolas a huge hug. She had missed him very badly, since leaving Middle Earth.
"I missed you, too, little elf," Legolas said with a laugh as he returned the hug, "how have you been?"
"We've been good. My mom and I really miss it. What brings you here?" Emma, excitedly, replied.
"Just to check on both yourself and your mother. I also bring word from a certain king. He hopes that when you come home you will give him the honor of dancing for him once again," Legolas recalled.
Emma gave a quiet laugh, not wanting anyone to hear her talking to the other figure in the room, and commented, "Please tell the king I have lots of dances for him and it would be my pleasure to show him another."
Listening with keen ears to make sure no one was on, near, or coming up the stairs, Emma brought up the topic of their shared home world.
"How is everything back there?" she questioned, "Is your father still mad at my mom and stuff?"
"I do believe he is better. It seems like he has decided to accept what has transpired and move on from there. I sense that he is planning something and that can not be a good thing. Other than that, everything is well and I await your arrival," he answered.
"I really can't wait to go back. I never noticed just how gross it is here. I all the dirt and the noise anymore," Emma admitted, "I want to go back where there are trees and clean things."
Legolas smiled at the little elf sitting before him. He felt the same way every time he came to her world.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Legolas questioned, taking note of her strange mode of dress.
"It's costume rehearsal day. We have to do the whole dance a few times in our costumes," Emma explained.
There was the familiar sound of people coming up the stairs, causing the two elves to end their conversation. There was no need for the people she danced with discover that they had two very nonhuman visitors in their midst.
Daniela, Melissa, and Lauren appeared in the doorway.
Melissa, though younger than Emma by about two years, threw the elven clad child a glare and announced, "Spiro said to for you to get your prop and start stretching."
Lauren and Daniela did as they were told, rushing to a very large cardboard box and pulling out strange looking items. Melissa, once the other two had cleared the way, walked over and did the same. She threw another glare in Emma's direction as she walked past.
While the other three girls were engrossed in their stretching, Emma went over to the box and pulled out her prop. Her prop, as it was, consisted of a very small bow and an empty quiver.
Choosing a spot closest to her brother's seat, Emma sat on the floor and began to stretch.
"What kind of sad weapon is that?" Legolas questioned, seeing the items Emma left on the floor.
"It's a prop, just something we use on stage to make our dance look better," Emma replied.
Legolas retrieved the "prop" items and looked them over.
"This is very unlike what I use back home. When we go back, I will show you what proper elves use," he promised, placing the items back on the floor.
He was about to say something more when Emma shook her head. There was a very large group coming up the stairs.
The rest of the ballet class entered the room without as much as a word. Spiro was the last up, slamming the door behind him.
After berating the class about their overall bad attitudes, Spiro made them run through the dance.
His words were still resonating in the minds and hearts of his dancers. The run though was far from the organized, rhythmically perfect dance he had created. It was sloppy and ill timed. Their hearts were just not in the movement.
The music died down, the final chords being played and the last three dancers---Kim, Emma, and Lauren---exited.
The dancers stood frozen in their places, some expecting the best, most expecting the worst. Those expecting the worst were the veterans who knew just what was going to happen next. What was about to happen was something of a yearly ritual and would be very unpleasant this year considering the state of their dance.
Somnia: I assure you, I'm no genius. I'm just your average college student with a lot of time on her hands. Thanks for the compliment, though. I greatly appreciate it!
Elainor: You shall see about them returning rather soon. Thranduil just may be a wee bit unnerved by the fact Shannon stood up to him but, I can assure you, he always has something up his sleeve.
Midnight-Insomniac1532: I thank you for your patience. It is now being rewarded!
PixiePea000: Mitch is very much the hot head and I am very fond of cliffhangers. I promise that I will not have a Matrix Reloaded cliffhanger anywhere. Dead annoying ending, really! Anyway, Sir Spiro did take issue with me and I did get screamed at. It's not my fault I don't remember things! Anyway, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith.
Tini-angel: Thank you for your compliment. I wasn't aware of the number of dancers and former dancers that were on this site. I'm glad you liked my little story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
The small family, sans a certain elven prince, returned to their home as if they had never left it. Though their surroundings had not changed, the people who lived within them had.
The blaring noise of cars and the city air bothered Emma. Though she was only there for a short time, the more natural surroundings of Middle Earth had become the norm for her. She found herself drifting back to her time in Middle Earth and deciding that this world, the one she had lived in for her entire life, was not really her world. She belonged in Mirkwood with her own kind. She was determined, though, to stick out her final few months here.
There was no real way Shannon could reconcile her past life with her present. She was not a warrior, not someone who wielded blade in battle. She was a mother who worked for a small advertising firm. She was a stage parent, making sure her daughter looked all well and good when she got on stage, and a wife who acted as a foil for her husband's bad temper.
This inability bothered Shannon as her dreams became more frequent and more powerful. Sometimes, they would come to her during the day, interrupting the daily discourse of her life.
Time passed quickly and, before anyone knew it, it was early June. For Emma and her mother, early June meant one thing and one thing only---the dreaded costume rehearsals.
"You know you're the best looking dancer in this group," Shannon told Emma as they sat and watched the rest of the ballet class scurry to and fro in their costumes.
Emma giggled as she watched the other dancers struggle with their wigs and costumes. There was a great deal of noise and commotion as dancers pinned costume parts together or tried to decide how best to hide their natural hair under a short wig.
This was the first time she had seen the Junior ballet class in their costumes. These girls would be playing other roles in the ballet and had their class at a much later time.
A tall dark skinned girl named Lauren was dressed in boxy looking armor and was sitting with Miss Michelle. They appeared to be trying to affix some type of furry chin-wig to her face. It took Emma a moment to realize that she was supposed to be Gimli the dwarf.
Two girls, very close friends, sat a bit apart from everyone else. They were whispering to each other and adjusting parts of their costumes.
One had a very blank expression on her flat looking face. Emma recognized her as Daniela. Dressed in shabby gray with a long gray wig and beard, Emma supposed that this girl was supposed to be Gandalf the Gray.
Her companion, a girl Emma knew as Melissa, was dressed in a very bulky looking costume with lots of fake fur and a long robe. The somewhat red wig clued Emma that this dancer was supposed to be Bormir.
As chaos over took the floor, Spiro called, "Get up stairs! NOW!"
Looking at her mother with a concerned but knowing expression, Emma ran up the stairs.
She was met at the top of the stairs by a very grumpy looking Spiro. She knew costume rehearsals were not his favorite thing and, as a result of that, forced him to be in possession of a very strong attitude.
"What's going on down there?" he wanted to know.
"Um---half the kids can't get their wigs on and the other half can't get their costumes on either," Emma answered, quietly.
Spiro cursed loudly in both English and Greek. Then he headed back down their stairs with all the bluster of a hurricane.
Emma knew that Spiro had been getting frustrated with the class. She didn't really know why but something told her that it had something to do with the "staff." Shrugging, Emma climbed up the final few stairs and entered the upstairs classroom.
She took one look around the room, morning sunlight filtering in through the shaded windows, illuminating little patches on the hardwood floor. The banks of overhead lights were off and the back door was open, letting in a fresh breeze and creating a larger pool of sunlight.
"I really hate being up her alone," Emma mused.
She'd never liked being in the upstairs classrooms by herself. She was accustomed to someone else, even if the other person was busy ignoring her, being in the room with her.
Then she noticed the figure sitting in the pool of sunlight nearest to the back door.
Dressed as a mortal man, once again, was her brother. He looked thoroughly uncomfortable in his outfit but managed a smile when he saw that Emma had, finally, noticed him.
Skipping over, Emma gave Legolas a huge hug. She had missed him very badly, since leaving Middle Earth.
"I missed you, too, little elf," Legolas said with a laugh as he returned the hug, "how have you been?"
"We've been good. My mom and I really miss it. What brings you here?" Emma, excitedly, replied.
"Just to check on both yourself and your mother. I also bring word from a certain king. He hopes that when you come home you will give him the honor of dancing for him once again," Legolas recalled.
Emma gave a quiet laugh, not wanting anyone to hear her talking to the other figure in the room, and commented, "Please tell the king I have lots of dances for him and it would be my pleasure to show him another."
Listening with keen ears to make sure no one was on, near, or coming up the stairs, Emma brought up the topic of their shared home world.
"How is everything back there?" she questioned, "Is your father still mad at my mom and stuff?"
"I do believe he is better. It seems like he has decided to accept what has transpired and move on from there. I sense that he is planning something and that can not be a good thing. Other than that, everything is well and I await your arrival," he answered.
"I really can't wait to go back. I never noticed just how gross it is here. I all the dirt and the noise anymore," Emma admitted, "I want to go back where there are trees and clean things."
Legolas smiled at the little elf sitting before him. He felt the same way every time he came to her world.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Legolas questioned, taking note of her strange mode of dress.
"It's costume rehearsal day. We have to do the whole dance a few times in our costumes," Emma explained.
There was the familiar sound of people coming up the stairs, causing the two elves to end their conversation. There was no need for the people she danced with discover that they had two very nonhuman visitors in their midst.
Daniela, Melissa, and Lauren appeared in the doorway.
Melissa, though younger than Emma by about two years, threw the elven clad child a glare and announced, "Spiro said to for you to get your prop and start stretching."
Lauren and Daniela did as they were told, rushing to a very large cardboard box and pulling out strange looking items. Melissa, once the other two had cleared the way, walked over and did the same. She threw another glare in Emma's direction as she walked past.
While the other three girls were engrossed in their stretching, Emma went over to the box and pulled out her prop. Her prop, as it was, consisted of a very small bow and an empty quiver.
Choosing a spot closest to her brother's seat, Emma sat on the floor and began to stretch.
"What kind of sad weapon is that?" Legolas questioned, seeing the items Emma left on the floor.
"It's a prop, just something we use on stage to make our dance look better," Emma replied.
Legolas retrieved the "prop" items and looked them over.
"This is very unlike what I use back home. When we go back, I will show you what proper elves use," he promised, placing the items back on the floor.
He was about to say something more when Emma shook her head. There was a very large group coming up the stairs.
The rest of the ballet class entered the room without as much as a word. Spiro was the last up, slamming the door behind him.
After berating the class about their overall bad attitudes, Spiro made them run through the dance.
His words were still resonating in the minds and hearts of his dancers. The run though was far from the organized, rhythmically perfect dance he had created. It was sloppy and ill timed. Their hearts were just not in the movement.
The music died down, the final chords being played and the last three dancers---Kim, Emma, and Lauren---exited.
The dancers stood frozen in their places, some expecting the best, most expecting the worst. Those expecting the worst were the veterans who knew just what was going to happen next. What was about to happen was something of a yearly ritual and would be very unpleasant this year considering the state of their dance.