Present
"Wait a minute," Mister Barns said when Thalia paused to take a breath. "Middle-Earth is real? With Man, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Trolls, Wizards, Witches, Werewolves, Dragons, Nymphs, Elves, Fairies, Leprechauns and a Phoenix?" Mister Barns finished jotting everything down as if he were making a list.
"Why haven't us mortals heard about Middle-Earth and the creatures inhabiting the realm?"
"You have, through J.R.R. Tolkien's stories: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The human mind sometimes has a hard time comprehending the impossible." Thalia explained, "Tolkien had met my mother after she came to America through a portal. Tolkien listened to her story of what happened in Middle-Earth and wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books."
"You're not afraid of telling this story to me because….?" Mister Barns let his question trail off.
"I already wrote my story in a book. I'm talking to you about it because I want someone to confirm everything I say; because I miss home and…." Thalia paused when she started to choke up. "I'm The Phoenix Child - the LAST Phoenix Child, and a Phoenix normally lives between five-hundred to one-thousand years. But since I am part human, I will be lucky if I live to see three-hundred."
"How old are you now?" a very shocked Mister Barns asked.
"Twenty-five."
"Twenty-five isn't bad."
"I'm twenty-five in human years. In animal years I'm actually one and seventy five years old." Thalia watched the color of Mister Barn's face drain away and turn a very pale color. Mister Barns put a shaky pen to the pad of paper to scribble down a sentence.
"How will you know when your time is near?" Mister Barns asked after he finished scribbling the sentence on a pad of paper.
"When I start to feel tired - as if my life is slipping away."
"Like what a dog feels when they're old?" Mister Barns asked while jotting down Thalia's answer.
"Worse! My body will feel too heavy and I will fall back down on the bed because I will have no strength left. I will have a hard time getting out of bed, my appetite will be lost, I will have a sick, deathly look to me as if I were on death's doorsteps, and I will have a hard time getting warm and I will wish for death."
"What will you do up until then?" Mister Barns asked while making another scribble on the pad of paper.
"After I finish telling you my story, I got to make a stop at the police station to report a crime my ex boyfriend committed. I will be going back to my house; only to pack the belongings that I will need for my one way trip to Greece so I can enjoy one last trip before traveling to the highest mountain peak, make a nest atop the peak, then I will die by letting the flames burst forth from the sun after I crawl into the nest."
Mister Barns looked up from the pad of paper, eyes as big as marbles, face still pale. Silence filled the tiny office. Thalia let out a heavy sigh.
"Is there another reason why you want to….execute yourself in Greece?"
Thalia gave a sad knowing smile. "In mythology the Phoenix originates from Greece, not China or Japan."
Mister Barns made another scribble. "I see. Will you be reborn afterwards?"
Thalia shook her head. "No. Only because I'm half human and the human part of me will die and stay dead."
"If you were back home in Middle-Earth, what tallest mountain peak would you travel to in order to…..?" Mister Barn's question trailed off.
Thalia felt a crater in her soul and her heart drop to her stomach, a tear fell down her face. "Erebor."
Mister Barns scribbled again. "Then we better finish fast." He pointed to the clock. "Our time is almost up as well."
