Title: Middle-Earth Meets Modern-Earth

Disclaimers: Come on…haven't you figured this out by now? The only things I claim ownership of are my original characters and myself.

I am woken up by the sound of knocking on my window. I roll over and look at my clock. Five in the morning? Who would be at my window at this ungodly hour? And how did they get there? I grab a nightgown and pull it over my head, walking towards my window. I open the blinds and nearly fall over in surprise. Elcáron is crouched on the porch roof, peering at me intently with his blue eyes. I open up the inside window. "What are you doing here?" I hiss.

"It's almost time to go," he replies softly. "Are you ready?"

"Time to go where?" I ask, trying to clear the cobwebs from my brain.

"On our journey," he replies.

"Journey?" I'm still trying desperately to make sense of everything.

"Yes. To save the world." At this point, I figure that I must be dreaming.

"Right…" I say. "I'm going to go back to bed now, wake up, and you'll be gone," I tell him as I walk backwards. I lie back down and try to forget about the Elf at my window. A few minutes later, I turn over and he's still there. "Why are you still here? You're just a dream. You should have gone away by now," I mumble at him.

He just continues to stare at me, the light from the streetlamps reflecting in his eyes. "Fine," I grumble. "I'll come with you, but why so early?"

"We leave when the sun rises."

My head reels slightly as I pull out my small suitcase and throw in some clothes, stuffing it a full as I can. Then I grab my backpack and start stuffing it with things, too. When I'm all packed, I get ready to change and realize that Elcáron is still outside my window. I walk back up to the window. "Excuse me," I say as I pull the blinds shut. I get dressed and walk back over to the window, pulling the blinds up. I look outside and Elcáron is on the edge of the roof, dangling his feet over the edge. "I'm ready," I whisper.

He turns and crawls over the tiles to the window again. "How did you get up here?" I ask.

"I climbed up the tree," he replies, gesturing towards the dying tree in our front yard.

I shake my head. "Whatever…" I mumble. "Just be careful getting down."

He starts to climb down the roof, but I stop him. "Where should I meet you?" I ask.

"In the chicken field, I think you called it."

I nod then get an idea. "Hey, could you go wake Chuck up? I'd like him to come, too."

He frowns. "Isn't he in trouble?"

I just shrug. Elcáron sighs. "Very well. I will come back with Chuck. Now go."

I smile. "Thanks," I say as I close the window and walk downstairs. I put my sneakers on and put my sandals on the front of my backpack before heading out the door.

It's still dark out, but I can see just a hint of light on the eastern horizon. As I walk past Chuck's house, I can see Elcáron on the roof of their porch. I truly have no idea how he got there because they do not have a large tree in their front yard. I continue to the chicken field and find the Elves and the Hobbits ready for travel.

I look around, but don't see any cars or anything. I walk up to Elrond, somehow not truly believing that he's there. "Excuse me, sir," I say, He looks at me somewhat curiously. "Do we have any sort of transportation?" I ask.

He nods. "Of course," he replies. "Otherwise it would take forever." I sigh in relief and start to walk away as he adds, "I've brought some bicycles with us."

My head drops at the thought of riding a bicycle that far. I actually wish we had horses right now. They don't require as much effort on the rider's part.

Soon, Elcáron shows up with not one, but two people in tow. Apparently, Alex decided to follow Chuck. At least Rick isn't here, I think. That would definitely be interesting; having a 6 year old come with us to save the world…

I almost laugh at the thought. Legolas wheels the bikes out from their hiding place and we realize that we are two short. "Go get your bikes," I tell Chuck and Alex. I mount the bike that one of the twins gives me. As we meet Chuck and Alex, I see that the sun is just starting to peek over the horizon. Just as we're about to go down the hill, we hear the sound of another bike coming up behind us. I turn around and my fears are confirmed: Rick did decide to follow us. I slow down to pull beside him.

"Go home," I say to him.

He shakes his head of shaggy hair. "No. I want to come with you."

"Flattering, I'm sure, but this will be long and hard and probably dangerous."

"So?"

"So you should stay home with your mom."

"No. I'm coming with you guys."

By now, the rest of the group has turned to look our way. Chuck and Alex are shaking their heads. Elcáron gets off his bike and walks up to Rick. He whispers something that only Rick can hear and Rick gets off the bike and runs home.

"Thanks, Elcáron," I say.

He smiles mischievously. "I wouldn't thank me, yet…" he says. I am immediately suspicious. A few minutes later, Rick comes back without his bike. "Ready?" Elcáron says as he crouches on the ground.

Rick nods and climbs onto Elcáron's back. Legolas shoots his son a disapproving glare as Elcáron climbs back onto his bike.

We ride down the hill and onto Main Street, Rick still clutching onto Elcáron's back. We reach the middle of the village and I turn left onto Newport Road. Everyone stops to look at me. "What?" I ask.

"Why are you going that way?" Legolas asks.

"Because I'm going to get Marion," I reply.

"Why?" Halcyon asks.

"I think she'd like this," I reply. "She's always up for an adventure and she could last longer than Chuck, Alex, Rick, and I put together."

All the Elves and Hobbits turn to look at Legolas. I wonder if he's the leader of this little expedition.

Finally, he nods his head slowly. "She can come," he says. The rest of them turn and follow me to Marion's house…

Okay. I've avoided my blank area again, but I have two requests.

First: Does anyone know where Microsoft HQ is?

Second: Can you please help me by giving me ideas on how Windows could be used to take over the world? I will at least consider any ideas I get and give credit where it's due.

Thank you.