She dreams of Golden Hope

Reflections look the same to me

He furrowed his brow. Something felt off to him, more than the effect of Mirkwood on the company was. Some sensation invoked a sense of alarm in him and he vaguely recalled a smoky voice he remembered as Gandalf's telling them they shouldn't come off the stone path. He remembered the cool texture of the stone beneath his feet. This was not the same, it was different. Softer, yet not an inch warmer. With his brows furrowed he looked down. His eyes widened as he saw not the grey stone path under his large hobbit feet, but the decayed leaves of autumn. His eyes fluttered across the forest floor wildly, frantically as he tried to search for the stone path. He whispered in disbelief: „We have come off the path."

He hadn't meant anyone to hear it, unsure whether it was not only something his frenzied mind had imagined, but Bofur, who stood right beside him had heard it and proceeded to declare loudly and frightfully in his accented voice an alert to all members of the company of Bilbo's discovery.

He supposed that mayhem had broken out amongst the dwarves as they realized with alarm that they were lost and that according to Gandalf they could not get back. But Bilbo took no notice of that as he was blinded by a ray of light and confused to its origin he looked up and saw a gap in the thick, impenetrable shield that was the canopy of the forest. Hypnotized by it, his feet moved on their own accord as he moved towards the tree and quickly climbed towards his escape, towards the light.

The air felt different as he penetrated through the dome and found himself looking out into glorious blue skies. Laughter bubbled in his chest and he started to chuckle in relief as his lungs filled with fresh air and for the first time in very long he felt as if he was able to breathe. The volume of his laughter increased as he threw his head back and closed his eyes in relish, allowing the sun to bathe his features. Soon, all too soon, he reminded himself of his responsibilities and started to search the horizon. His eyes fluttered across the skyscape of the forest and he found what he was looking for: about 10 miles to the east he could see an end to the forest. He knew where the company needed to go.

He screamed down and called out to his friends: „I found it. I found our way."He furrowed his brow as he received no answer. He had expected his friends to say something. He had expected relieved shouts of joy and euphoria. He had expected something- anything- other than the eery silence he was met with. Just as he was about to descend back to the ground and discover the reason for his friend's stubborn reticence, he spied something that made his eyes snap back violently towards the horizon. He saw the leafy crown of trees in the distance shaking, almost trembling unnaturally. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the unnatural phenomenon. Yet before he was able to ponder further on it, he felt a force shaking the tree he was standing on.

He'd always had terribly balance, ever since he had been a fauntling and taken his first steps. Laurel would have confirmed that fact to anyone interested with humorous and affectionate amusement. Bilbo recognized with frustration that while she moved with a grace that he had always been envious of and that was a consequence of her elven ancestry, he would stumble over his large feet whenever he had followed his friend in his childhood years as she ran into the forest abutting their home with such a speed that Bilbo would only be able to glimpse a fleeting swirl of red disappearing into the thick dark green forest growth. As the branch he stood on shook vehemently, Bilbo was unable to keep his balance. He felt his feet slipping from the wooden texture into nothingness. Then he fell, experiencing the same sinking feeling of having nothing beneath him as he had done that time he had almost fallen off the misty mountains and then when Laurel had pushed him off the cliff. Scrambling he grasped his hands in hope of grabbing something, anything to stop his fall and for a few terrifying moments, his search proved fruitless. But then his hand came around a thin branch and his fall was halted.

He didn't even have time to exhale in relief, as he looked in front of him and was met with the sight of an enormous spider web before him. His eyes widened as he looked at the silvery threads. Previously spiders had never caused him such alarm and he had always mocked Laurel for her irrational and utter fear of the small creatures. Yet he knew that he would never mock his cousin ever again, as a large beast emerged from the thin veil of thread that had been spun before him. In his shock and dread, he faintly realized that the beast was a spider and for a second the ridiculous thought and query arose within him as to how a spider had grown so large. But then he was roused to consciousness, when the beast hissed at him and bared its fangs that were the size of his face. He gave out a scream of fear and in his need to escape the beast that was stood before him, poised to attack, he let go off the branch and fell. Yet this time the sinking feeling was not met with discomfort on his part but with utter relief at his escape. From above, he heard the beast give out a high-pitched squeal of indignation and the rustling of the leaves, which sounded like a tornado to his ears, signalized the spider's pursuit of him.