“Ahhh!” shrieked Megan as a hobbit nudged past her. “Why are they so short? They’re shorter than, well, me!”

            “That’s Ganith for you…Legend has it that J.R.R Tolkien somehow got a glimpse of this world, possibly in one of his ludicrous visions. That crazy fool pretty much plagiarized to create all his works. All he did was rename this planet ‘Middle-Earth’,” replied Fazeel. “He really was just a crazy old man by the way; I know this for a fact, I met him.” Fazeel sat on the hood of his car staring off into the planet’s reddish horizon.

            “What do we do with the drunk?” asked Ben from the other side of the car.

            “The who?”

            “The drunk. You know, the one that ran into your windshield, putting all of our lives on the line?” clarified Ben.

            “Hmmm…Drunk…windshield…life on line… AHA! You mean this one?” Fazeel pointed at Megan.

            Ben took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes in head throbbing frustration. He then walked towards the front of the car and pointed at the body that lay on the ground in front of Fazeel’s feet.

            “No, THIS one. The slimy looking drunkard!”

            “Ohhhh…” Fazeel observed. “The other one!”

            Megan shot a nasty glare at Fazeel. Fazeel then responded by shooting one right back at her.

            “Oh my,” muttered Megan.

            “Any who, let’s not dawdle around too long, we’ve already wasted a precious fifteen minutes as it is. I suggest we head north from here into town. Allons-y!”

            “Wait, stop!” yelled Megan. “What about Abby, we can’t leave him here…”

            Fazeel thought for a moment. He then slowly walked over to Abby, bent down in a crouching position and placed five Ganith dollars on the drunk’s bulging abdomen.

            “There we go, that should cover his alcohol costs! Let’s go!”

            Fazeel marched towards the large village that lay a few miles ahead of him. Ben and Megan stood still, looking from Fazeel to Abby and then back at Fazeel.

            “I know this doesn’t sound too great but, Crazy is our only way of assuring survival in a place like this…I mean, you know how short people can be, nevertheless hobbits.” Ben moved in closer to Megan’s ear and whispered to her. “They’re all evil ya’ know…” 

            Abby slowly opened his eyes, making sure that no one was around him. He jumped up, stuck the money in his stitched pocket, wiped off the dust and dirt that covered him, and then sneakily stalked the group of three. When he approached a slanted short hill, he halted and tried to come up with the best way to pass the obstacle.

            “Dammit, a hill…” Abby mumbled. “Almost as bad as stairs.” Abby shivered at the thought. “Alright Abby, you can do this,” he said to himself.

            Abby took a few steps back, ran at the hill, and then rolled down it as if he were a spy on a mission. He hid behind a rock, peeked out from behind it in search of the group, and then continued to stalk them. When he was near the village which his group had entered, he bumped into a Ganithian.

            “Ey, watch it you hobbit! These rags are Armani…knockoffs!”

            “My NAME is ASHLEY and what the hell is a hobbit? I’m a Gandor! Get it right you no good Snorkledorf!” Ashley shoved Abby to the ground, kicked him in the ribs, and then continued walking in her direction.

            “Yeah! That’s right, you run!” Yelled Abby who flipped off the strange creature while he staggered up into a standing position. “You caught me off guard by the way! I could have taken you easily! These calves aren’t just for running from the fuzz with!”

            Abby limped into the village in search of his group. He needed to warn them.

*To Be Continued…*