"Mom, Dad, uh, back so soon?" I am trying to stall my parents in the entry way, but they want to go to bed, I'm sure.

"Aubrey," my dad says, "It's almost ten o'clock. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

I know that the sooner I say something, the easier it'll be. "Look, something weird happened tonight, and you're not going to believe it, but try. I was watching a movie, Lord of the Rings to be precise, and all of a sudden, the storm caused the power to go out. And all of a sudden, right in our living room, Legolas and Aragorn appeared. I swear, I was so freaked out. I didn't-"

My dad stares me in the eye. "Aubrey, how much Mountain Dew have you been drinking tonight?"

"Aubrey?" My parents look past me and down the hall to their bedroom door.

"Who was that?" asks my mom, alarmed.

"Uh, Aragorn?" I say, trying to sound convincing. I run down the hall to the room. "What do you want?" I ask.

"We're dressed now. Can you please see if we look alright?" I open the door, and standing there are Aragorn in a black sweat suit, and Legolas in a dark blue one. The outfits are a little crumpled, and I straighten them out, then pull two pairs of socks out of a drawer. "Put these on your feet," I order. They do so easily, as they probably had socks in Middle-Earth.

My parents have now come to the door, and they watch the two men. Mom and Dad's faces are that of disbelief. Their eyes then scan their now-cluttered bedroom, and I can tell they've noticed the guests' old clothes and their weapons lying on the bed. Dad pulls me aside.

"Aubrey, they look just like the people in the movie," he whispers.

"Dad, you've got to be nice to them. I don't know how they got here, but we've got to allow them to stay. Can you imagine how they'd do out in the streets? They're completely ignorant of everything!"

My dad turns from me and faces the guests. "Hi, I'm Jake," he says, extending his hand. Neither Legolas nor Aragorn know better to take his hand in return. Dad's hand comes back to his side. "Could I have your names, please?"

"I'm Legolas, son of Thranduil, of Mirkwood," the Elf answers, "and this is my friend Aragorn, son of Arathorn."

"I'm LeAnn," my mom says.

Legolas smiles at her, and I can tell my mom is very pleased. "It would be a great honor to stay at the house of such a beautiful woman as you, my lady LeAnn."

"Thank you, uh, Legolas," my mom answers. "Shall I show you to the guest room?" As my mom turns from them, I try to keep from laughing as I hear her say, "Jake, you had better start talking to me like that if you want to live here anymore."

"Aubrey, it's just incredible," my dad says for about the tenth time that night. Aragorn and Legolas are sleeping, Dolly's in her kennel, and it's almost 10:45. The Middle-Earth garments and weapons have been placed on the kitchen table, and we've been examining them. "I mean, there's black blood on their knives!"

"That's from orcs, Dad," I say, dumbfounded by his lack of Middle-Earth knowledge.

My mom comes tiptoeing back from the guest room, where she's been watching the two for the last half hour. "Aragorn's sleeping, but uh, Legolas is just lying there with his eyes open."

I groan; their ignorance is almost painful. "Elves sleep with their eyes open, Mom. And don't worry about them; I'll take care of everything they need."

"Aubrey, do you know how you're going to send them back?" Dad asks.

Why the flip should I send them back? They're Aragorn and Legolas, for crying out loud! "Uh, not really."

"So, you're just going to keep them here?"

"Well, I don't know what to do! I'll just get them used to living here for the meanwhile. I need to watch them so they don't get killed. They might try to, I don't know, drink bleach or something."

"It is kind of exciting to have a real Elf in the house," my mom says, slightly smiling. My dad looks at her, and then back at me. "Send. Them. Back. NOW."