L.A. 2002
It was long after midnight when Elijah Wood left his house, stepped inside his car and drove off to find a liquorstore that was still open. He and Dominic Monaghan, his friend and housemate, were having their weekly �booze night� which meant just hanging in front of the telly, listening to some music and getting quite tipsy. Ut was their way of relaxing and escaping reality and ever since Dom had moved in with him back in November it had become their personal ritual. And today it was time again but stupid enough neither of them had thought about buying beer and so the young actor had jumped in his car to buy the desired alcohol.
After a ten minute drive Elijah luckily found a suitable shop and he bought enough beloved Guinness to guarantee a hangover from hell for both him and Dom. He was just driving around the corner of the street he�s living when a black cat appeared in front of his car and Elijah wildly turned the stiringwheel, not wanting to kill the poor little animal. The action however caused him to loose control over the vehicle and before Lij actually knew what was happening, he crashed against a tree. He felt the warmth and stickiness of blood trickling down the side of his face and in a clear moment told himself that black cats really were bad luck. Then everything went black�
In The Meantime�
Dominic was chilling on the sofa, listening to some Radiohead, when suddenly some soft knocking on the frontdoor could be heard. Being in one of his lazy moods he decided to just ignore the irritating noise and just sink a little deeper in the cushions. He knew Elijah would never knock since he had a key, after all it was his house, and Dom certainly wasn�t in the mood for some kind of fan or annoying reporter. But when the knocking got more urgent and some small stones were thrown against a window Dom lost his temper.
�For the love of God, let it be important.�
He rushed to the frontdoor and threw it open while yelling.
�What!?�
He didn�t see a thing though. Then some soft coughing filtered in and Dominic looked down in surprise. Two pairs of large eyes stared up at him out from a face framed with brown curls.
�What are two children doing outside at this hour?� Dom asked himself, but then again, their faces seemed too old to be about 6 years old and since when were kids walking around on bare feet covered in dark fur?
One of them coughed again before politely saying �Mister Tall Merry, Sir? I am very sorry to disturb at this horrible hour but this is urgent.�
Dominic blinked and rubbed his eyes but when he opened them again the two small people were still there. The one who had just talked had an amazing resemblance to Sean Astin and the other�no, no, no, this wasn�t happening! It wasn�t possible THEY really excisted, now was it? Professor Tolkien had created them with the help of his very vivid creativity and imagination and so the wisest explanation would be that Dom was drunk.
�But I haven�t even had any alcohol.� Dom muttered and finally it slowly dawned down on him. The constant confrontation with �The Lord Of The Rings� and living with Elijah were finally getting to him and he was slowly going insane. In less than a week�s time those people in white jackets were going to lock him up if he kept going on like this.
At that second though Dom realized what was really happening and he burst out in laughter.
�Okay Lij, you can come out now! I don�t know how you�ve done this but it�s a great joke! My God, do they look realistic!�
�Mister Frodo, what is he talking about?� the one hobbit asked the other, who shrugged sadly.
�He thinks somebody is playing a prank on him, that we are not real.�
�The poor one. Is there nothin� we can do to help him?�
�I will try Samwise but he might not believe us.�
The mini version of Elijah, including the enormous blue eyes and the seriousness hidden in them, took a step forward and gently pulled on the leg of Dominic�s trousers.
�Mister�erm�Merry? Can I say something?�
�My name�s Dominic.� Dom said, the smirk still plastered onto his face.
�All right�Master Dominic. I am afraid to tell you that the whole situation is not a prank. In fact it is a matter between life and death."
�Huh, what are you saying?�
The words of the halfling did sober Dom up and he raised an eyebrow questioningly. So if it wasn�t one of Lij�s silly jokes it could only mean that the hobbits were�real. But wasn�t that impossible? And suddenly the actor decided that both Tolkien and Peter Jackson must have known things nobody else did. How else would PJ have been able to cast the actors to f*cking amazingly good?
�And you�re not getting paid to do this?�
�No Sir.�
�And this is not the hidden camera?�
�What is a camera?� Sam asked in surprise and Dom murmured �Forget about it.�
He ran a shaking hand over his forehead, which felt more than just a little hot and sticky, and then asked more friendly �But anyway, what are you here for?�
�Well, you might want to sit down for this first.� Frodo told him gently but Dom shook his head.
�No, I�m fine. Just tell me.�
Now Sam took a step forward, obviously slowly losing his shy, and hastily explained �Your friend has had an accident with one of those queer carriages without horses you drive around in, if you follow me. He hit a tree.�
�Lij! Is he alright!?� Dom yelled in shock and Sam shrugged.
�Merry and Pippin are with him, trying their hardest to help him. He was out cold and we�ve been trying to look for some athelas but couldn�t find any for all you have are dandelions. But he�ll be fine, as long as he doesn�t pass into the Shadow Worlds that is, if you take my meaning Sir.�
�I know what you mean, Sam.�
Dom considered for a second what to do but then decided that believing the two hobbits obviously was the best thing to do and he turned towards Frodo.
�Where is he?�
A small hand stretched out and pointed towards the end of the street. Without waiting for another word Dominic ran out of the door and down the patio to the cold gravel of the street. One last time he turned around and shouted over to the halflings �Thank you for telling me! If you ever feel like coming by again you�re more than welcome! We could have a pint or something!�
Then he rushed down the block. He wondered why the miraculous appearance of the hobbits had happened to him but at the same time was convinced that, now he knew they really exsisted, their lives were somehow woven together in something special. But now Dom had other worries, like finding Elijah as soon as possible.
Luckily that moment occured soon and he saw the smoking car at the side of the road, totally wrecked. A small, familiar figure was sitting in the verge nearby, holding his head in his hands and knees drawn up. Unconsciously he scanned the area for a sign of his own little double but there was no trace of the two other hobbits Frodo and Sam had been talking about.
�Lij!� Dom yelled happily while dropping down next to his friend and taking him into a suffocating embrace.
�Are you alright?�
But Elijah desperately moved his arms in the air and whispered �No�breath��
Dominic let go a bit of his mate while whispering a shy �sorry� and watched as the younger man happily inhaled the fresh nightair.
�Are you hurt anywhere else?� Dom asked while inspecting the gash in Lij�s forehead but the younger of the two decided to ignore the question and stated �How did you know I was here? And how come you know I had an accident?�
Well, that was tricky to answer. Dominic couldn�t possibly tell Elijah the truth, now could he? Lij would think he�d gone crazy and would without a doubt call a doctor as soon as possible when returning back home again.
Nah, Dom would just lie. After all, he was an actor and a professional when it came to lying.
�I just sensed something was wrong when you didn�t return anymore. So I was just walking around a bit to see if I noticed you somewhere.�
Fortunately Lij accepted the lie and with Dominic�s help got back on his feet again. They were just taking the first few unsteady steps when Elijah sighed deeply and mumbled �I do think we need to have a word with Orli soon, though.�
Dom stopped in his tracks and glared at his mate in surprise.
�And why�s that?�
�Well, he�s the one that got me out of the car. The only odd thing is that he was wearing his Legolas costume and disappeared as soon as he�d dropped me in the grass. He didn�t even say something!�
Dom tried to hide a smile, knowing very well that Lij�s savior hadn�t been their British friend but the real Elf, but Lij got notice of the grin.
�Why are you smiling?�
Dominic waved his free left hand in the air and shook his head gently before saying �I don�t think we have to pursue the matter. He�s probably not even aware of what he�s done.�
�He�s drunk you mean.� Elijah corrected him and Dom nodded in agreement.
�That�s how you can say it.�
He just wanted to take the next step when four small and one large shadow appeared behind the safety of some bushes and Dom gave a slight unnoticed wave before putting his hand back on Lij�s shoulderblade and carefully leading his best mate back home�