Close every
door to me
Hide all
the world from me
Bar all the
windows
And shut
out the light
-Joseph and
the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Blackness, darker than any she’d ever known
before, surrounded her. She blinked,
not even certain if her eyes were open or not, but there was no change between
the blackness of her eyelids and that which met her. For a split second of abject terror, she thought it was September
11th once more, that the sun-gleaming towers had fallen and buried
her under a million tons of broken, smoking rubble. But no, she reasoned, that was almost a year ago. The air was not thick with a choking dust,
but cool and moist… as though she were outside after a recent rain. There was no noise except for her own
breathing.
There… another noise… a tiny whimper and a
cool nose pressed into her hand.
“Maximus…” she whispered, almost inaudible even to herself. The little dog was inside of her bag, where
he often took naps… she couldn’t quite remember why she had been carrying a bag
in the first place.
She licked her dry lips nervously. “Jason?”
A groan.
“K-Katie?”
“Yeah. What happened? Did the power go out? And what is that dank smell?” she smiled,
relaxing at the familiar sound of her dear cousin’s voice. She must have drank too much at the party
the night before…
“That,” came Gandalf’s voice from the
dark. “Would be the smell of being
under a great mountain.”
“Gandalf?!” Katie almost shrieked. “Woah, wait a minute! What are you talking about? Mountain? I thought you were going back to
Middle Earth!”
“We did… and apparently the Valar have decided
to send you back with us.” He commented cheerily, a flicker of light
momentarily blinding Katie as he lit something on his staff.
“Why in God’s name would they do that?” she
asked, all but hyperventilating.
“Hush, Katie!
Keep your voice down!” Jason hissed in serious warning.
“Oh no…” Merry’s voice groaned as he the
others came to.
“Back within the walls of Moria…” Aragorn
sighed, looking none too pleased with the idea.
“Just when I was getting used to being warm
again.” Pippin whined, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.
Katie noticed for the first time that she and
Jason were wearing Middle Earth appropriate clothing as well. Jason wore clothing similar to Aragorn’s,
only in various shades of dark reds and crimsons rather than black. More than that, he was carrying a longsword
and several daggers. As for herself,
Katie was wearing clothing similar to Legolas, although her tunic was
significantly longer and her cloak had a spacious hood, which she pulled up
eagerly as the chill began to seep in.
“Well… the squid is defeated.” Gimli pointed
out gruffly.
“True… however, friend dwarf… so is the
doorway back out.” Legolas sighed.
Jason thumped his head on a stone wall
half-heartedly. “I hate caves.”
Katie straightened up, figuring that if she
were in Middle Earth… she might as well make the best of it until Gandalf could
send her back. “Caves never bothered
me.”
“You weren’t in the last one.” He grumbled.
“Thank you, Mr. Jurassic Park.”
“Jason.
Katie. Hush… we must be
quiet. It’s a four-day journey to the
other side. There are fouler things
than orcs in the deep places of the Earth.
Let us hope our presence will go unnoticed.” Gandalf admonished them
sternly, already beginning to pick his way through the tunnels as the
Fellowship fell in step behind him.
“Quiet?
Why? These caves look
abandoned.” She asked in a whisper, grimacing as she cuahgt sight of the
various dwarf and orc bodies that littered the floor.
“Would that they were forsaken… but that is
not the case. We must be quiet, lest
the orcs that have taken over Moria hear us.” Legolas answered, keeping a close
pace behind her.
“Orcs…” she echoed in a fearful whisper. “I’m almost afraid to ask… what’s an orc?”
Legolas searched the shadows almost
nervously. “With a great deal of luck…
you will never find out, Kate. They are
savage creatures… bent on destruction.
They have been invading my forests for years.”
Katie swallowed. “Terrific… not only am I spelunking without a rope… but there are
evil, murdering creatures in here… how do I get into these messes?”
“Kate.” Gandalf hissed back. “I spend enough of my time scolding this fool
of a Took… don’t make me turn the both of you into newts.”
“I didn’t say anything!” Pippin complained in
a high voice.
“Hush!” at least three others shushed him
immediately.