The Fellowship

Late for Practice

The forest stretched across the land, bright emerald underneath the cheerful afternoon sun.

I sat underneath one of the trees, which stood tall with dignity as they whispered ancient secrets amongst one another, strumming on my battered acoustic guitar.

Sounds of laughter shades of life 

are ringing through my open ears 

exciting and inviting me 

My voice rang out through the still summer air.

Limitless undying love which 

shines around me like a million suns 

It calls me on and on across the universe 

My fingers changed their positions on the frets as I eased into the refrain.

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna cha-

"Mags"?

Propelling my long dark chocolate hair into my face, I whipped my head around to face the speaker.

"Oh. Hey Pan!" I set my guitar down on the spongy moss and sprang up to greet my friend. Brought out by the tint of the light through the trees, Pan's normally hazel eyes glimmered an exceptionally vibrant shade of green.

"Hey Maggie May. Thought I wouldn't find you. Almost went back. How long've you been here for?" Pan laughed as he leaned with his palm against a tree, head cocked to the side.

"Two hours, I guess. What's with the outfit? I hadn't realized we'd traveled back to the '70s"!

Looking down at his paisley shirt and leather jacket, Pan said, "Really? You don't remember hopping into my TARDIS and going to a disco? Well, your loss, I guess". As he leaned against the tree again, he pulled a comb out of his pocket and brushed it through his dark corkscrew hair like a greaser. What a lady killer. Pan looked at me, flashing me his killer smile.

"Okay, ladies' man, what do you want?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning my back against a tree. 

"Just thought you might like to know that you're late for practice. No biggie." he grinned. His words dawning on me, I hurriedly jumped up and started hyperventilating.

"Shit! I completely forgot!" I nearly shouted, snatching my guitar- I named it Lestat- off of the damp ground and putting the strap around my neck.

"Oh no, take your time. We have all the time in the world..." crooned Pan slowly. I swear he could be a hypnotist if he wanted to.

"Did you bring your car?" I  asked, ignoring him.

"No, I came here in my TARDIS, remember? Boy, you really do have short term memory loss. Or maybe your brain's been swiss cheesed like on Quantum Leap. Who knows"? I never could understand his nerd references. "But seriously, my car's over that-a-way." he stuck out his thumb and pointed it over his shoulder.

"Come on! They're waiting for us!" I slung Lestat across my back like an archer slings a quiver and sprung across the forest to Pan's dented burnt orange hippie van. After opening the rusty door and getting in, I waited for Pan to arrive.

Pan showed up after about 30 seconds, jogging to the other side of the car and sticking his keys in the ignition.

"How late am I?" I inquired, barely getting my words out past my heavy breathing. 

Concentrating as he pulled onto the road, Pan replied, "Oh, 'bout a half hour. But if we can hit 88, maybe we can get there on time," Pan glanced at me, eyes full of amusement, but quickly turned his attention back to the road.

By the time we arrived at the giant wooden treehouse that we used as our meeting spot, the sun was already painting a fantastical portrait across the sky. It would still be light out for a few more hours, though. 

As I followed Pan up the rope ladder that led up to the treehouse, the weight of Lestat on my shoulders, the din of several instruments playing together drifted down to my ears.

I heaved myself over the edge of the treehouse, pulling myself onto the smooth wooden floor.

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late." I called as soon as I was safely inside, panting. 

"Can we start now?" demanded Mattie impatiently, her pin-straight auburn hair flowing along with her every movement. Mattie was our drummer.

"No! Just wait a few more minutes!" spat her twin, Hailee. Although the twins were identical, Hailee had dyed her hair platinum blonde and cut it into a pixie cut, which she styled into a mohawk.

"Guys! Shut up! You always fight. It's friggin' annoying." Daniel called out above their bickering, though not very threateningly due to being about as tall as Mini Me. The only slightly threatening thing about him were his muscles, considerably bigger than anyone else's in the room; he often bragged about how he apparently had a six-pack. None of us had ever seen it, but what did we know?

"Hey, no, just chill. My guitar's tuned. We can start right now." I said, putting my hands up in front of me.

"Oh no, we're hoping to get a full-on cat-fight. Carry on, girls." smirked Pan, waving his hand in a twirling motion. I rolled my eyes as he stared at the twins hopefully.

"Paaaaaaannnn-uh! You're so annoying!" howled Mattie, sounding like a stereotypical teenage girl.

"Oh boy. We're gonna be here a while." sighed Daniel under his breath. "Hey Mags, go over to your place and get your electric. This is going to take longer than I thought". He tossed me his keys as silently as he could and turned back to the rabble-rousers.

I crept over to the rickety rope ladder and pulled myself to the ground below, the sounds of my friends' bickering as my accompaniment. 

~~~~~~

I'm proud to say that the beginning of Lord of the Rings inspired me to write about the forest Maggie's sitting in; at first I only wrote the description of the forest, and things just went from there. 

Before you continue with my story, be warned- I'm not Shakespeare, nor do I claim to be. In fact, I laugh at my own writing sometimes.

Now that that's out of the way, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your take on things, any suggestions for improvement, or just wanting to chat!

-hippiestar