As the clock in the kitchen reached they time of 11 o’clock, Jessi heard the stairs creak and remembered that Legolas had been in the spare room. A few seconds later, Legolas appeared through the door. ‘Hi’ she said, not taking the eyes of the laptop ‘Feeling better?’

‘Yes thank-you.’ Legolas sat next to Jessi, who had put her laptop away and turned to face him.

‘Where are you from?’

‘The forest of Mirkwood, in Middle-Earth.’ He replied, looking around him. ‘All these things,’ he pointed to the fridge, the oven and the hob. ‘they are unfimiliar to me. I remember that I’ve heard these things happen, but I never believed them.’

‘Heard what?’ I don’t understand.’ For the first time, Jessi’s attention was drawn to Legolas’ ears, which she stared at in disbelief. Instead of being round, they were pointed. ‘Why are your ears pointed?’

‘I’m an elf. All elve’s have these ears.’ To this, Jessi burst out laughing, for which she got a hurtful look from Legolas.

‘Elve’s?’ Legolas nodded, a completely serious look on his face. Jessi’s smile soon disappeared, as realisation dawned on her face. ‘Ah hell. Look, its too late to think right now, we’ll talk in the morning. You can stay here.’

After washing and changing, Jessi lay in the dark, racking her brains as to where she had heard the name Legolas greenleaf before. It kept her awake for a long time, thinking about the handsome stranger that had suddenly appeared in the forest.

Meanwhile, Legolas was also finding it hard to sleep. He couldn’t understand why he was there. Only yesterday, it seemed, he had been with his love, Caluviel, in the place he admired so much. Now, he was in a strange place, with bizarre things. But with a girl who was the kindest, and most beautiful he had ever met. Jessi was even better then Caluviel, which Legolas didn’t think possible. After a while, he fell into an uneasy sleep. Haunted by dreams of home, death and unhappiness, all these things rolled into one long, torturous dream.

* * * * *

Legolas woke with a start, breathing heavily and drenched in cold sweat. The birds had only just begun to sing to the morning sunshine. He sighed and swung himself off the bed, standing onto aching legs. Making his way to the door, his elvish ears picked up the sound of someone talking. He walked out into the hall and saw Jessi at the top of the stairs, wearing only a towel and talking into a white box. A telephone. She saw him and smiled, waving.

‘Yeah ok. Well, I’ve got to go….see you soon.’ Jessi took the phone away from her ear and sighed. ‘hi, sorry about that. Are you ok?’ Legolas swallowed hard and nodded. ‘you look a bit flustered and unhappy.’

‘What do you expect? I don’t know where I am, I’m unarmed and I have no idea what all this is.’ He pointed to the phone and radiator, his voice rising to an angry shout.

‘Ok.’ Jessi’s face twisted into a horrified look, Legolas saw a fire appear in her dark eyes and gasped. ‘I’ll be downstairs.’ She said quickly and ran down the stairs.

‘Wait, Jessica!’ Legolas called after her. He felt awful, so he went after her, walking slowly into the kitchen. For a moment, he stood watching her lean against the counter, looking out of the window. ‘Amin Hiraetha.’ He whispered in his beautiful language.

‘What?’

‘Amin hiraetha. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. This place is strange to me.’

‘I know. Surely it isnt so bad that you feel you cant talk to me about it.’ Only then did Jessi turn to meet Legolas’ sorry gaze. ‘I want to know about it Legolas, tell me about your home. Only then will I be able to believe you.’ Jessi quickly got changed into shorts and a t-shirt, desperate to hear his story. But first, she explained to him about elecricity, telephones, cars, computers and lights. He listened without interuption, taking everything in. ‘So, now you know.’

‘And you want to know about my home?’ Jessi nodded, smiling. ‘There is a lot to tell, so I will shorten it down. The main races are Hobbits, dawrves, men and Elve’s. We are immortal.

‘Where I live, Mirkwood, is the biggest forest in Middle-Earth. I am very fond of trees and wilderness, and I have seen many years. Some good and some bad. It’s strange for me, being here, with all these strange smells and sounds.’

‘How do I know you’re not just making this up?’ By this time, they were well into the afternoon.

‘I’m not making this up.’ Legolas replied, his blue eyes bearing into her with a light that showed only the truth.

‘I’ve got it.’ Jessi said standing up and getting out her laptop. ‘We’ll look on the internet.’ Logging on, Jessi clicked on a search engine and looked up Mirkwood. Nothing was found with either that or Legolas. Then, she typed in Hobbits. The screen popped up with the words The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien. She scrolled down and found the other books written by this author. One of which was The Lord of the Rings. Sitting back, Jessi thought for a few moments, while Legolas studied her complexion thoroughly. Then, she stood up, grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. ‘Do you know anything about the Lord of the Rings?’ She asked, her face only inches from his.

‘I know about the war of the Ring.’ Jessi’s eyes widened and her stomach muscles clenched. She gasdped and pulled him through the hall, into the lounge. Where there was a widescreen tv next to the old open fireplace. Oppisite this was a large blue sofa. On the otherside of the fireplace, was a full length bookshelf, completely packed will all kinds of different books. For a few minutes, she searched through the books, until she finally came to what she was looking for. Three similar looking books, she pulled them out and handed them to the elf, who stood behind her.

‘What are these for?’ Legolas asked in confusion.

‘Read them. See what you think.’ After a short pause, Legolas slowly raised his hand and took the books. ‘Theres one more thing. If what you’ve told me is true, then how did you get here?’

To this, Legolas sighed and flopped down onto the sofa. ‘I don’t know, Jessi.’ He whispered, closing his eyes. ‘I wish I did though.’ Jessi looked at hime, sympathy showed on her face. She crouched down and laid her hands on his knee, keeping her self up. To this contact, Legoas’ eyes shot open.

‘Tell me those books mean something to you. If they do, I will help you get home. Try and remember how you got here. It would be so much easier.’ Their eyes locked in a gaze that made Jessi’s legs feel weak. She smiled and stood up, her stomach rumbled. ‘Do you want something to eat?’

‘Erm….yes please.’

* * * * *

After having a well needed supper, Jessi took Legolas outside and introduced him to her horses. All five of them, Mea, Spirit, Finigan, Jenna and Sovereign. They all nickered as Jessi approached, begging to be riden and stroked. Legolas spoke to them in his own language, she watched him carefully, her heart beating rapidly against her ribs.

They all reacted the same to Legolas’ voice, they neighed and sniffed him, getting used to his scent. All except Spirit, the black stallion. He snorted and turned away, swishing his tail angrily. To this, Legolas shot a confused look at his new friend.

‘He’s a stallion, very sentimental. Ignore him.’ Jessi shook her head, reached over the stable door and pulled the horses tail. Causing him to look round and glare at his owner. ‘Poor baby.’ She smiled at Legolas, who smiled back, showing perfectly white teeth. ‘Do you want to go for a ride?’

‘Ok.’ Legolas nodded and walked over to Finigans stable, a tall proud chestnut mare. ‘May I ride this one?’

‘Sure, that’s Finigan. She’s a big softie. Will you need a saddle?’

‘No, I prefer to go bare back.’ He led Finigan out into the yard, she followed him willingly, her neck stratched out.

‘Good. I really can’t be arsed to go get one.’Jessi chuckled to herself while she led the rather annoyed Spirit out of his stable. She pulled herself onto his back. For a few moments, he stood in silence, then he lifted his hind leg and beat it against the concreate. Jessi graoned loudly, much t the amusment of the elf. She kicked Spirit hard and rubbed his neck. ‘Mardy poo.’

Legolas laughed. ‘Are you sure he is safe to ride?’ He asked, drawing Finigan to level with the stallion.

‘Yeah, he’ll calm down in a bit. Wont you? My big fat fluffy black thing.’ Spirit snorted and lifted his head, as if nodding.

* * * * *

The next morning dawned bright and early. The sun rose up into the cloudless sky, casting rays of light down over England. Legolas sat at the kitchen table, his head stuck in the first part of the Lord of the Rings.

By late afternoon, Legolas’ mind was racing. He had finished the first book and everything that had been written was completely true. His journey was remembered. It was like his was back with his companions, back in middle-earth, all those years ago during that dark time. ‘Jessica!’ He called into the living room, where Jessi was watching the news on tv.

‘Yes?’ She said, entering the kitchen. ‘Have you finished already?’

‘Yes’ Legolas stated simply.

‘Well? What do you think?’ Jessi whispered eagerly, sitting next to him.

Legolas sat for a moment, then breathed in heavily. ‘There isn’t a single thing different to what actually happened.’ To this, Jessi gasped and gripped his hand tightly

‘You mean, this is exactly what happened?’

‘Yes, so far.’ It took a while for what Legolas had said to sink in, when it finally did, Jessi felt her whole body begin to shake, and her head spun. Legolas gave her a glass of water, which she took gratefully. Then, he took her hand and led her to the living room. Seating himself down onto the sofa, he motioned for her to do the same. He sighed, ‘I understand this is big news for you and you may not believe me. This is hard for me too, surrounded by strange sounds and smells.’

‘I know.’ Jessi’s voice was bearly a whisper. She refused to meet Legolas’ gaze, she was in complete and utter shock and her head hurt from thinking. ‘I think I believe you, Legolas. But how did you get here?’

‘If I could only remember my last few days in Mirkwood, then I could probably tell you.’ Jessi slowly turned her head and looked into Legolas’ eyes. As she did, his faced changed from confusion to sadness. He stared at her, then slowly lifted his hand to cup her cheek. Gently, he rubbed his thumb against her soft skin. ‘Your eyes remind me of my love, Caluviel. She had perfect eyes, whenever I looked into them, I could get lost in their deepness.’

Jessi’s cheeks slowly turned red at Legolas’ kind words. But her heart sank at the mention his relationship with Caluviel. Legolas smiled and let his hand drop to his knee. ‘I’ll say this again Legolas. I’m not positive I believe you, but I’ll help you get back, however long it takes.’