The Road to Middle-Earth

A fanfiction by MushrooomsPTook

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You might as well say it owns me!

Chapter Three: Not in Kansas Anymore

I blinked twice, pinched myself, and even gave myself a sound slap on the face for good measure. I had to be dreaming. But when all attempts to wake myself failed, I turned to look at Alice. Her brown eyes were wide with astonishment. I pinched myself again, and just in case I wasn't dreaming, pinched Alice as well.

"Ow!" she cried and pulled her arm away from me protectively. "Why'd you pinch me?"

"Sorry!" I apologized. "I was just making sure I wasn't dreaming."

Then as quickly as she pulled her arm away, Alice gave me a pinch.

"Oh! Hey now, I said I was sorry."

"I know," she said blushing, "but I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming."

I chuckled at my little cousin and returned my attention to the scene that lay before us. The first thing I noticed was how wonderful the air felt on my skin. There was no humidity and it was considerably cooler, though not chilly. It was refreshing. The second thing I noticed was that the streets and houses of Chicago had disappeared. Even before taking in the rich lush hills and the red bricked path that we now stood on, I knew we were no longer in Chicago.

"You did it, Alayna!" Alice cried joyfully.

Startled by her shout, I asked, "I did what?"

"You found Middle-Earth! It's the Shire!"

And with that, she darted out into a run, laughing as she did so. I immediately ran after her, yelling at her to come back. I certainly didn't know if we were in Middle-Earth, but what I did know is that we were now in a foreign place and the last thing I wanted was something bad to happen to my cousin.

"Alice, stop!"

But Alice wouldn't heed my words. Instead, she now began skipping. With a great effort, I sprinted faster and soon had her hand in mine once more. I knelt to her level, grabbed her shoulders firmly, and directed her attention to my face. The joyful expression that she wore quickly turned to one in which a child has just realized they'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Alice, look at me," I said firmly. "We don't know if this is Middle-Earth, but even if it is, I can't have you dashing off, not knowing what lies ahead." Alice ducked her head. "Promise me you won't run out like that again."

Alice blushed and after a little encouragement, she said, "I promise."

"That's a good girl," I said, cupping her cheek in my hand. "Come on."

I stood up and and took her hand in mine. I had no idea where we were going and I had no plan on what to do when the time came to go home. That played on my mind, especially with the thought of Alice's parents crying their eyes out after learning that their daughter went missing. They would surely kill me. Of course, if I went missing with Alice, it would be hard for them to do such a thing. But still, they would find a way to kill me. But now at present, I was too caught up in absorbing this new and strange place.

As we walked, I looked at the scenery around us. The trees were a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. I tried to remember if there were any colored trees in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but my mind was clouded, overwhelmed. The flowers that paved our way, were bright purples, blues, yellows, and pinks. Some of them had petals that were alternating colors, and still there were others that looked to be made out of paper.

There were stones in the fields that were colored violet and beyond them, there was a lake that looked to be made out of crystal.

Another surprise greeted us now as we turned the corner. The road now led us into what appeared to be a small village. The red road eventually intertwined with other colored roads and they wound up together in a big circle that centered in the neighborhood of little houses, which looked more like cozy cottages.

Suddenly, a little person came out of one of the houses and stretched his arms wide overhead. He twisted his body to and fro, and his eyes came to rest upon us. I stopped and gripped Alice's hand tighter. The stranger looked friendly enough, but one can never be too sure when visiting an unfamiliar place. Once he regained his composure, he opened the door and popped himself inside, closing it again with a great noise. I continued to stare, wondering if it was safe to continue. Just as I was able to lead us on, I stopped again. The same door of the same house opened, and the same little person popped his head out, looking left and right before bounding into a great sprint and knocking on one of the other doors that was settled across from his. A moment later and another small figure emerged from the house. He was more plump and he shaded his eyes from the sun, looking in our direction. Now together they began running to all the houses, knocking on the doors, and one by one, an assortment of small child-like people started gathering in the center of where the roads met. There was quite a hustle and bustle as the crowd turned its gaze upon us, looking just as anxious as I felt.

I looked behind me, unsure what to do. There was nothing except for the road and it looked like it went on for miles. I couldn't even see the tunnel that had brought us into this new world. Looking ahead again, I swallowed and squeezed Alice's hand. Then with a great effort, I began putting one foot in front of the other until our paces became steady.

Before long, we were close enough to the gathering that I could hear little whispers and murmurs among the crowds. Had I not read Tolkien's books, I would have guessed them to be hobbits. But I could tell that these were a certain different kind of people. For one thing, all of them wore shoes, and some of the men had beards, a few of them reaching down to their knees. Their voices were as small as their stature, and I wondered if the village had a storage that supplied a never-ending amount of helium.

Finally, a figure from the crowd emerged and approached us wearily. He wore a green jacket that looked to be made of fine material and underneath it was a brown waistcoat with silver buttons. His trousers were yellow, and he wore yellow and green striped stockings. As I eyed him up and down, I got the impression that this particular stranger was very wealthy and an important member of this small community.

"May I be so bold as to ask where you and your companion are headed?" he spoke with caution.

"Please," I said. "We came in through a tunnel back there," I pointed in the opposite direction, "and we'd just like to know where we are."

"Tell us first if you are a friend!" shouted a single voice from the audience. The high pitch led me to suspect that it belonged to a child. The crowd seem to murmur its approval of this notion. The man that stood before us turned around and held up his hand, beckoning silence.

"We don't mean to be rude," he said now looking into my eyes again, "but it's been a long time since we had any visitors and caution is our protection. I must ask you to identify yourselves and your business."

"Of course," I replied. "My name is Alayna and this," I gestured to my cousin, "is Alice. We come from a place called Chicago where we live. Now would you please tell us if this is Middle-Earth?"

The little man's eyes furrowed together. "Middle-Earth? No. I haven't heard of any place by that name. But Glinda may have. You may ask her."

"Where can I find her?"

"Why," the man chuckled, "she's coming right now. Mind your head."

I looked around expecting to see someone approaching, but there was no one. Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the sun seemed to be growing...? It was a ridiculous thought, so I turned my full vision on it and saw now that it was getting larger and also brighter. It was so bright that I had to shield my eyes for fear of being blinded.

"What's happening?" Alice whispered.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Stay close to me."

Alice didn't need a second warning and she went so far as to hide herself behind me. I wanted to hide myself for the sun grew so large that I was worried it would engulf us all. But then the light began to dim, and now I saw a tall woman, garmented in a beautiful and blossoming gown that matched the color of her flowing golden hair. She bore an enormous crown on her head and her cheeks flushed slightly under her ivory skin. I felt like a shrimp, no doubt I looked like one too. I had never seen a woman more beautiful.

"H-Hello," I stuttered stupidly as she shifted her gaze upon us and smiled.

"Welcome, visitors," she said sweetly. "Although I do hope we can call you friends."

"Me too." It was probably a dumb thing to say, but I was too lost for words. There was so much happening and I didn't know how to take it all in.

"Tell me," she said, "are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

"A good—wait—what?"

"I asked are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

"Oh, I'm not a witch at all. I'm just—I'm normal." Witch? What had that to do with anything.

"Then what about your friend?" The woman pointed a sparkling silver wand in Alice's direction. My little cousin now realized that she wasn't hidden as well as she thought she was and crouched lower behind my back. "Is she a good witch or a bad witch?"

I laughed at the thought of Alice being any kind of a witch. "Alice? No, she's not a witch at all. But...why?"

"Travelers do not come by here that often anymore, but if they do, it is usually for ill business." She looked at me with a suspicious eye, yet continued to hold her smile. "What is your business here?"

I swallowed. "We entered your world from ours by accident. We're trying to get to Middle-Earth."

The woman turned her eyes up in thought, tapping her wand against her pink lips, pondering hard at my last words.

"Middle-Earth," she said silently. "Now this is a pretty tale."

My eyes lit up and I noticed that Alice was peeping up at the woman from behind me.

"You've heard of it...?" I asked her.

The lady shook her head. "No, but I have heard of mysterious things that lay beyond the land of Oz."

"Oz?"

"Why yes, this is the land of Oz and you have entered Munchkin Country!"

I startled myself by laughing at the silly name. Munchkin Country indeed. But the woman looked at me rather sharply and I bit my tongue, blushing.

"Do you know how to get there, to Middle-Earth I mean?" I asked.

"Indeed not," she answered. Behind me, Alice gave a soft sigh of disappointment. "But I imagine you might try following the red path that you are on. It has done well to bring you here, and I must admit I do not know all of the destinations it leads to. It may take you there in the end, and if not, perhaps some place similar."

"Alayna," the voice came from behind me. I turned around.

"Yes, Alice?" I placed my hand on her shoulder and looked in her eyes. She had been quite silent since we got here and if it had not been for her breathing on my arm, I would have forgotten all about her.

"I'm thirsty."

I frowned. "I'm sorry, Alice. We didn't bring enough water.

The lady now motioned for the man who spoke to us upon our entry.

"Yes, m'lady?"

"Take our visitors to the guest house and supplement them with any refreshments they should require. My heart tells me that they will bring us no harm." Then she turned to me. "Allow us to minister to you before setting out upon your quest."

My heart lightened and I thanked her. We followed the man into a small house just beyond where we were and I learned that his name was Boq. The woman, whose name I found out to be Glinda , met us there and asked us more questions about Middle-Earth and what we would do if we found it. I had no answer to this, to which she asked the plans I had. I didn't have an answer for this question either. The munchkins, as I learned their respective titles to be, huddled around the house, though very few came in. They all seemed very eager and anxious to learn about us and about Chicago. I gave them a description of it that, looking back, had used the words busy, crowded, and horrible parking at least more than once each. They all nodded together at certain points with interest, although their faces showed utter confusion.

Glinda , I learned, was a witch from the North, a good witch, and a friend of the munchkins. She told me many tales about their country and also the land of Oz and about the other witches that lived there. Most of what she said about them wasn't good. In fact, pretty much everything she said about them wasn't good.

There seemed to be no hurry moving on for Alice. She'd finally got her bearings back and was now readily chatting it up with Glinda and the munchkins. So we decided to spend the day there and see all the sights that could be seen. We learned about the history of Oz and about all the creatures that lived there. We went sightseeing at various munchkin homes and saw what their day to day life was like. Munchkins, I found out, lead the busiest little lives, despite living in such a laid-back place.

Nearing the end of our busy day, we were guided back to the guest house by Boq, and upon entering, we found a cup of hot cocoa topped with whipped cream by each of our bed sides (the evening came on a little chilly). In them were candy canes used for sipping straws.

The next morning, we got up early and had a breakfast of fluffy pastries and strawberries. I packed my backpack with many items that Glinda and the munchkins had given us for our journey. When the time came for us to depart, Glinda beckoned to us for a farewell message.

"Take care," she said, "for I do not know where this road eventually leads. It may take you to other dark places. And now for my parting gift. I give you my kiss, and no one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch of the North."

She bent her head and placed a kiss on each of our heads.

"Thank you," I said, "for everything."

"Perhaps we shall meet again," she replied to me. And then suddenly, she glowed brightly as the sun, and disappeared just as she had appeared.

After that, Boq and the rest of the munchkins led us to the red road and gave us their own farewells. I took Alice's hand in my own, just as we had entered, and the munchkins saw us safely off until we around the next bend. Then Munchkin Country faded from view.

A/N: the line about Glinda 's kiss comes directly from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.