One day in English class

“I’m going to wake up safe in bed.” I told my self between mouthful’s of what tasted like a giant, low sodium, Ritz cracker. Legolas wrestled it out of my hand, casting me a amazed look.
“Hey! I wasn’t finished with that!” I snapped watching him finish the rest of my giant cracker.
“You ate enough for twelve grown men!” He argued. “This is lembas, one small bite is enough to full the stomach of a man and sustain him over a long days hike!”
I glared at him in what I hoped was a threatening look. Like the one your parents give you when you try and argue something that’s a mute point. “I’m still hungry.” I said stoic, watching him pack away the cracker things.
“Then forage, is that so hard?” He shot me a glare. I opened my mouth to argue, then thought better of it.
“Fine! You know what? I’ll go find my own food!” I hissed, arms crossed over my chest.
“That’s what forage is….” He sighed from behind me.
“Yeah? Well….I knew that!!” I spat as I stomped from the campfire. How dare he!! Correct me, tell me that I was eating to much?! I grumbled, mimicking his prance and tone of voice. I sat down on a fallen log, irritated and annoyed. He thought he was all that, with his goofy pointed ears, and his bow and crap! I took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling. Then I smiled, envisioning Erik was sitting beside me. He would have a never ending supply of Yodels in his back pocket, he would walk up sit beside me, take one look at my attempt to calm myself; and strike a Buddha pose.
But Erik wasn’t here, and I was completely alone; except for Legolas, but he didn’t really count. Not yet, anyway. Erik would be sitting in front of his computer, Little Debbie Swiss Cakes in hand, playing some massive online video game. I smiled, I was probably just dreaming I would wake up, happy and safe. But some how, I knew it wasn’t a dream. It was too vivid, too elaborate, too pure to be any kind of dream of mine. If I was here, who else was? Or maybe this was my own private torture, but I hoped not. It was so much easier to face a new evil with Erik there to laugh and Britt there to swear and hit him.

~*~

Everything was so cool!! I mean despite the loss of all that was meaningful and full of artificial sweeteners, this place rocked! It was like Final Fantasy Online, it was awesome. I could talk freely to these hobbits about food, which was something Max and Britt hated. When I said something about food, they just complained about being fat. ‘Erik, does my butt look big in these jeans?’ ‘Erik, I feel fat.’ It was more trouble then it was worth!
“Erik!” Merry hiccupped and pointed to my food.
“My strawberries!!” I cried, horrified. Pippin was smirking, he had wolfed them all down while I wasn’t looking. “That’s like…I dunno…the fifteenth time! How many strawberries can one hobbit eat?” Pippin and Merry gave each other a knowing look and clinked their mugs together, slopping a little amber ale over the brim.
“To strawberries!” Pippin called, raising his cup.
“To strawberries!” Shouted the hobbits, Frodo laughing. Sam was staring at something, a goofy grin on his face. A waved a hand in front of his eyes, he didn’t even blink. “Uh…Frodo?”
“No.”
“No what?”
“Strawberries.”
“Its about Sam!” I said, a little hurt. I pointed to Sam, eyes fixed on something in the distance.
“Oh, see the hobbit maid over in the corner there?”
“Yeah…” I said slowly, not quite sure what the little guy was getting at.
“Her name is Rosy Cotton, and Sam..” He gestured with his head to Sam. “finds her attractive.” I stared at him blankly, what was he talking about?
“Pretty.” Frodo tried.
“Oh, he thinks she’s hot!” Now it was Frodo’s turn to give me a blank stare. Merry and Pippin leapt onto the table top, singing drunkenly and laughing.
“Guys? How are you going to get home after you drank that much?” I watched them drain their mugs of ale again and again.
“We don’t!!!” They said in unison laughing as they stumbled around. This was going to be a long night.

~*~
I woke up to a blinding light, shut my eyes and blinked. The moon. Bright and full, like a diamond in the indigo night, thousands of stars dancing around its orb; like its little muses. Faramir had tied me to
Mocha’s saddle as we galloped through the night. He had her reins in one hand, his left hand steering his own mount. I sat up and wiggled, yawning like a cat.
“Where are we?” I asked, glaring at him to show that I still hadn’t forgotten the sleeping thing.
“Crossing out of Gondor and into the Eastfold of Rohan.”
“What? Would you just tell me where we are?”
“We are journeying to Rohan because that is the direction from which you rode out.”
“How long is that going to take?” I asked wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. I wiggled my wrists out of their ties, careful not to let him see.
“A days ride, we should be in Edoras by midmorning of the coming day. That is where you shall stay.”
“Stay? I don’t want to stay any where. Look, just let me free and I’ll--”
“Get yourself killed.” He finished, staring at me in amazement. “Did your parents never teach you what dangers lurk in these plains?”
“Nope. But my Dad taught me this-”I rammed my head into his face, yanking the reins out of his grip. I rammed my heels into the mares sides, throwing myself onto her neck. “GO!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. She took of, fast. Blindingly fast, changing gears right from zero to a hundred in a millisecond. I really had no idea where I was or what was going on, but I was getting out of here. And yes, I am the queen of bad, split second decisions. I didn’t know really how bad it was until I heard the growling sound. Until she spooked, the horses body jerking sideways, my stomach lurched. I was thrown out of the saddle and
to the ground, hitting my side and landing hard. Ouch.
I coughed, pushing myself up onto my knees and wincing. There was that growling sound, somewhere to my right. I looked up, and instantly wished I hadn’t. A ugly, smelly, filthy thing was growling at me. Kind of reminded me of the junkyard dog at home, but bigger. I mean way, way bigger; like the size of a small car. I giggled as my limbs turned to jelly. I tried to remember that special on E.R. about dog attacks. Blankity blank. Something about movement…..? Don’t move? Run for your life? Something about trying to look bigger and more threatening. I stood up slowly, and it growled again. Ah, screw it, time to run for my life.