Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, or any characters/
celebrities mentioned. Please do not use the name Eldarwen because it is a
character of my imagination. Please read and review! The more reviews, the
faster I update. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
My family and I walked the ten yards from our summer home to the shoreline like we did almost everyday of every summer. It was going to be another fun filled day at the beach. My fifteen-year-old brother, Jason, went out and started to surf. Normally, I would have followed suit because I come from a family of surfers. Today, though, seemed different. I felt the winds of change, I felt it in the water, I felt it in the sand beneath my feet. Something was not right. A sense of foreboding filled my heart. In the distance Vicki, my twenty-one year old sister, pulled up into our driveway. Twenty seconds later, my other brother Zach, who was twenty-two, parked on the driveway next to my sister's car. A change in the wind.
I decided to just stand in the water and let the waves swarm around me. Even the waves that I knew so well seemed to be different. For a time, I forgot about my sense of foreboding. My heart felt at ease in the water where I belonged. Soon, judging by the position of the sun, it was time for lunch. I decided to dry off and get the family so we could start making our sandwiches. A change in the wind.
'Is it time for lunch already?' asked my mum. She and Vicki were sunbathing like they usually do.
'Are you even going to give me a hug gurlie?' Vicki asked, 'I have not talked to you in so long and all you do is tell me that it is lunchtime!' She grinned and sat up. Vicki always talks proper because it is her "job as a model to set a good example for teenage girls who are uncomfortable with their bodies because only two percent of the world's population are born with supermodel bodies." She is dedicating her life's work to prove that there are more important things than how one looks.
I gave her a hug and began to laugh. 'You knew I would greet you properly.'
'Of course I did! Lets dig in! I am starved half to death.'
'So supermodels really do eat!' I laughed.
Laughing, Vicki put her arm around my shoulders, squeezed me, and dragged me into the kitchen. For someone who looks pretty for a living, she sure is strong. Soon the guys came in and we threw all possible sandwich ingredients on the table. Everyone sat down around the table and helped themselves to the food. Before you knew it, we were all laughing and having a good time.
During one of those sudden silences, I asked, 'So Vicki, did Elijah (pronounced E-lide-jah) get that movie offer?'
'Elijah did get the movie offer. He really wanted it too. The only real downside is that Mandy Moore is in it.'
'Ugh!!!' we said in unison.
'Now girls,' my mum said, 'be nice. I am sure she isn't as bad as you say she is.'
'What we say about her is an understatement,' I blurted.
'She is right you know,' explained Vicki jumping to my defense. 'I think she has a bigger hate club than fan club.'
'Oh, psot ti*, both of you. Vicki, that is not helping your life's mission,' said my mother. We all started to laugh.
'How is Tom, Riley?' Vicki inquired.
'He is doing good,' I replied. 'Although, my feelings towards him aren't.'
'YOU BROKE UP WITH HIM?' she shrieked, 'I thought you told me everything!'
'You're jumping to conclusions. I have not broken up with him. I just feel that we have started to go downhill, that's all. I haven't done anything yet. I think. I just don't want to talk about it anymore ok?'
'Ok, fine. I am done.' Vicki just sort of stared at me for a few seconds and continued to eat her sandwich.
After that, the talk came to a halt and we ate the rest of lunch in silence. Once we were done, we started to load the dishwasher. My brothers and my dad decided to go surfing, again. I was about to go walk back out to the water when my sister grabbed my shoulder, 'I want to talk for a few minutes.'
'Sure,' I said.
She pulled me upstairs into our room and I sat on the bed. Vicki pulled up a chair in front of me and I knew it was time for a 'sisterly bonding moment', as she would call it. Basically, she was going to start interrogating me about the whole Tom affair.
'So tell me the deal with you and Tom.' Man, I'm good!
'I just feel like we've come to a stop, you know. I mean, take the day that you and Elijah started dating. Remember how when you would see him after that day, you'd get butterflies in your stomach, but in a good way? And while that feeling lasted, you'd feel like stopping time so you could keep that moment alive? Well, I still get that feeling. except not for Tom. Actually, the feeling is for Tom, but not for the Tom you know.'
At this point she gasped, realizing whom I was talking about. 'Oh, I get it.'
'Is that all you're going to say?' I asked her.
'Well, I do not want to give you too much advise. Your future is in your own hands.'
'So your pulling the old, "Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes" kind of a thing,' I said.
'Exactly. You should do what ever you feel is right, and what ever that may be, I know you will think of the right answer. Whether you break the relationship or continue, it is going to be a new chapter in your life. You and Tom have almost been dating for two years. If you decide to break it, do not do it because of the other Tom. You have only met him once. Remember, Tom will be effected.'
'I knew you were going to say that,' I responded. 'Then I know what I must do, it's just, I'm afraid to do it.'
'Well, lets go outside and have a fun time. We can talk some more on the day before we leave.'
We got up and walked outside. My sister resumed her sunbathing with Mum and I walked towards the shoreline. As I was halfway towards the shore, I got the sensation that I was walking (almost floating) weightlessly towards the shore. I could not figure out why this was. Little did I know, this was but the first mystery that would be revealed to me. I looked behind me and saw, or didn't see, a strange sight. No footprints. The first five yards from the house I saw my footprints, which faded as they reached toward the shoreline. Where were my footprints? Why did they fade to nothing?
I noticed, too, that my sisters talking seemed to get louder. Yet, she did not raise her voice. My fathers voice, which I could not hear at first, came in clear while he was mid sentence. I looked back and suddenly became dizzy. Everything became fuzzy, and then came in clearer than it was before my dizzy spell. What was happening to me? With every step I took toward the shoreline my sense of sight and hearing increased more and more. It was exhilarating, yet scary at the same time.
A few seconds after I reached the water, a tiny boat, looking no bigger than an ant, came into view. Little did I know, that boat would change my life.
* Stop it
Chapter 1
My family and I walked the ten yards from our summer home to the shoreline like we did almost everyday of every summer. It was going to be another fun filled day at the beach. My fifteen-year-old brother, Jason, went out and started to surf. Normally, I would have followed suit because I come from a family of surfers. Today, though, seemed different. I felt the winds of change, I felt it in the water, I felt it in the sand beneath my feet. Something was not right. A sense of foreboding filled my heart. In the distance Vicki, my twenty-one year old sister, pulled up into our driveway. Twenty seconds later, my other brother Zach, who was twenty-two, parked on the driveway next to my sister's car. A change in the wind.
I decided to just stand in the water and let the waves swarm around me. Even the waves that I knew so well seemed to be different. For a time, I forgot about my sense of foreboding. My heart felt at ease in the water where I belonged. Soon, judging by the position of the sun, it was time for lunch. I decided to dry off and get the family so we could start making our sandwiches. A change in the wind.
'Is it time for lunch already?' asked my mum. She and Vicki were sunbathing like they usually do.
'Are you even going to give me a hug gurlie?' Vicki asked, 'I have not talked to you in so long and all you do is tell me that it is lunchtime!' She grinned and sat up. Vicki always talks proper because it is her "job as a model to set a good example for teenage girls who are uncomfortable with their bodies because only two percent of the world's population are born with supermodel bodies." She is dedicating her life's work to prove that there are more important things than how one looks.
I gave her a hug and began to laugh. 'You knew I would greet you properly.'
'Of course I did! Lets dig in! I am starved half to death.'
'So supermodels really do eat!' I laughed.
Laughing, Vicki put her arm around my shoulders, squeezed me, and dragged me into the kitchen. For someone who looks pretty for a living, she sure is strong. Soon the guys came in and we threw all possible sandwich ingredients on the table. Everyone sat down around the table and helped themselves to the food. Before you knew it, we were all laughing and having a good time.
During one of those sudden silences, I asked, 'So Vicki, did Elijah (pronounced E-lide-jah) get that movie offer?'
'Elijah did get the movie offer. He really wanted it too. The only real downside is that Mandy Moore is in it.'
'Ugh!!!' we said in unison.
'Now girls,' my mum said, 'be nice. I am sure she isn't as bad as you say she is.'
'What we say about her is an understatement,' I blurted.
'She is right you know,' explained Vicki jumping to my defense. 'I think she has a bigger hate club than fan club.'
'Oh, psot ti*, both of you. Vicki, that is not helping your life's mission,' said my mother. We all started to laugh.
'How is Tom, Riley?' Vicki inquired.
'He is doing good,' I replied. 'Although, my feelings towards him aren't.'
'YOU BROKE UP WITH HIM?' she shrieked, 'I thought you told me everything!'
'You're jumping to conclusions. I have not broken up with him. I just feel that we have started to go downhill, that's all. I haven't done anything yet. I think. I just don't want to talk about it anymore ok?'
'Ok, fine. I am done.' Vicki just sort of stared at me for a few seconds and continued to eat her sandwich.
After that, the talk came to a halt and we ate the rest of lunch in silence. Once we were done, we started to load the dishwasher. My brothers and my dad decided to go surfing, again. I was about to go walk back out to the water when my sister grabbed my shoulder, 'I want to talk for a few minutes.'
'Sure,' I said.
She pulled me upstairs into our room and I sat on the bed. Vicki pulled up a chair in front of me and I knew it was time for a 'sisterly bonding moment', as she would call it. Basically, she was going to start interrogating me about the whole Tom affair.
'So tell me the deal with you and Tom.' Man, I'm good!
'I just feel like we've come to a stop, you know. I mean, take the day that you and Elijah started dating. Remember how when you would see him after that day, you'd get butterflies in your stomach, but in a good way? And while that feeling lasted, you'd feel like stopping time so you could keep that moment alive? Well, I still get that feeling. except not for Tom. Actually, the feeling is for Tom, but not for the Tom you know.'
At this point she gasped, realizing whom I was talking about. 'Oh, I get it.'
'Is that all you're going to say?' I asked her.
'Well, I do not want to give you too much advise. Your future is in your own hands.'
'So your pulling the old, "Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes" kind of a thing,' I said.
'Exactly. You should do what ever you feel is right, and what ever that may be, I know you will think of the right answer. Whether you break the relationship or continue, it is going to be a new chapter in your life. You and Tom have almost been dating for two years. If you decide to break it, do not do it because of the other Tom. You have only met him once. Remember, Tom will be effected.'
'I knew you were going to say that,' I responded. 'Then I know what I must do, it's just, I'm afraid to do it.'
'Well, lets go outside and have a fun time. We can talk some more on the day before we leave.'
We got up and walked outside. My sister resumed her sunbathing with Mum and I walked towards the shoreline. As I was halfway towards the shore, I got the sensation that I was walking (almost floating) weightlessly towards the shore. I could not figure out why this was. Little did I know, this was but the first mystery that would be revealed to me. I looked behind me and saw, or didn't see, a strange sight. No footprints. The first five yards from the house I saw my footprints, which faded as they reached toward the shoreline. Where were my footprints? Why did they fade to nothing?
I noticed, too, that my sisters talking seemed to get louder. Yet, she did not raise her voice. My fathers voice, which I could not hear at first, came in clear while he was mid sentence. I looked back and suddenly became dizzy. Everything became fuzzy, and then came in clearer than it was before my dizzy spell. What was happening to me? With every step I took toward the shoreline my sense of sight and hearing increased more and more. It was exhilarating, yet scary at the same time.
A few seconds after I reached the water, a tiny boat, looking no bigger than an ant, came into view. Little did I know, that boat would change my life.
* Stop it