The Journal
Summary: A girl from our time finds an old empty journal at the attic and a series of correspondence begins between her and the Prince of Mirkwood through the journal.
Disclaimer: Mr Tolkien owns all.
:::
Chapter 1
"Belle!" I hear my name being called and a series of pounding comes soon after at my door. I look at the digital clock on my bedside table. It is seven in the morning. How nice of my mother to wake me so early on a weekend. "Belle!"
"Coming!" I shout back as I throw my legs off the bed. The floor is very cold and I hurry to find my pink bunny slippers. Mum saw them on display on a shop once and thought they were cute. She bought them immediately after.
I unlock the door and let her enter.
"Grandma's coming in an hour. Have you got everything ready?"
I run a long list of things inside my head. Everything is checked except for the hideous yellow curtains which are tucked away in a corner at the attic. Grandma has a strange obsession over those curtains and would make a request for them everytime she comes over to stay for the summer.
"All except the curtains," I tell her. "I'll go get them.
The attic is, well, just how we left it a few weeks ago after spring cleaning. There are many cardboard boxes stacked around the place. There would have been much dusts and cobwebs too had we not cleaned the small room.
I finally find the curtains amidst all the junk stored in the attic. I have been considering for a long time to have a garage sale. We seriously need to get rid of all our junk.
As I take the curtains out, I notice a book placed right at the bottom. It is an old leather bound book and the pages has turned yellow with age. I flip open the book to random pages and realised that the book is empty. Nothing has been written on it yet.
It is a journal, I realise. That is why it is empty. You're suppose to fill it up.
I take the curtains and the old empty journal downstairs. I leave the journal on my desk as I proceed to the room next door to put up the curtains.
Grandma arrives earlier than we expected. The doorbell rings just as soon as I am done with her room and I walk downstairs to greet her.
"Isabelle!" Grandma comes to hug me. She looks the same as I had seen her last summer, clad in the same old white pokka dotted purple dress and carrying a giant yellow umbrella with her. She smells the same too, of peppermint.
"So how's my favourite grandson?" she asks me.
Huh? What grandson?
"Mum! Isabelle's your granddaughter! Not grandson!" my mother tells her.
Oh boy. I hope Grandma's not turning senile. How can she forget I'm a girl?
It is evening when I finally have time to look at the journal again. We went out in the morning and have just come back not too long ago. I wash up and change into a tank top and shorts.
I decide to use the old journal. I have been keeping a diary since I was a little girl and it so happens that I need a new one. So why waste this one? It may be old but it is still usable.
I inspect the leather cover of the book again and trail my fingers along the edge. I bring to the book my face and I inhale slightly. It has a musky smell. Duh! It must have been ancient.
I then open to the first page to start writing. To my surprise, there is something already written there. The person who has written it has really good penmanship.
T.A. 3018 March 21
Aragorn has brought a pitiful creature into Mirkwood today. Gollum is what they call him. It is apparent that the poor creature was mercilessly tortured by the enemy.
Legolas
I read the date again. Weird. The entry is written in the year 3018. And what does 'T.A.' mean? Did the person get the dates wrong? I turn to the next page. There is one more entry. Why didn't I see this earlier?
T.A. 3018 March 24
Gandalf has bade us to guard the creature and keep him in our dungeons under the earth. We still hope for his cure, that he may not fall back into his old black thoughts.
Legolas
Well guess what? I ignore the two weird entries and I write in my own in the journal. Currently, I am going through a phase on going green and trying to save the earth. Using this journal is just another attempt of mine on trying to reuse paper and save the trees. Besides, it's not as if the Legolas guy would come back and haunt me for using it.
2 June 2008
Dear diary,
Grandma has come for the summer and she suddenly tells me I'm her favourite grandson. Not that I mind being her favourite, but I'm a girl!
I also found this old journal up in the attic today. It's empty except for two entries written by this guy called Legolas. I hope he wouldn't mind if I continue writing on it.
Love,
Isabelle
:::
I wake up early again the next morning. Grandma wants to go for her morning exercise at the nearby park and I have to accompany her. If you think this granny is a frail old lady, you've got it wrong.
Grandma has me chasing after her almost the entire time. It's either she's one hell of a super fit old lady or I'm seriously out of shape. I think it's the latter. I haven't exactly had time to keep my fitness after having to slog my brains off studying for the end of term exam. I'm probably going to get kicked off the cheerleading squad.
We arrive home just in time for breakfast and the rest of the day passes by in a whirl after my best friend Sam pulls me out to shop with her.
I return home later that night very exhausted. I take a glass of warm milk up to my room. It's a habit of mine to drink milk before bed. I take a sip as I flip the journal into a fresh page to start a new entry of the day's events. I nearly choke on my milk and spit it all out on the book after what I have just read.
T.A. 3018 March 26
Dear Lady Isabelle,
I do mind you using my journal. How you managed to come into my chambers still baffles me but I certainly do not appreciate you touching and going through my things.
I do not know if Isabelle is your real name for I have never heard of such a name. But be careful Lady Isabelle for I will not be so gentle with you should I catch you in my room next time. If this is a game or a prank to you, I suggest you stop immediately.
Legolas
The first thing that comes to my mind is 'THIS JOURNAL IS HAUNTED!' I quickly jump back and put a distance in between us.
'HE REPLIED! HE DOES MIND!' This is all I think off. I continue to stare at the journal, waiting for some ghost to jump out of it. I'm already ready to bolt for the door should a ghost really appear.
Well, nothing happens and I start to scold myself. Fancy me, all getting scared and worked up over a journal and letting this 'Legolas' guy push me around. Well, I'm no push over, ghost or no ghost. I'm stubborn this way. I'm not letting fear come in my way.
I pick up my pen and start writing.
:::
Legolas is frustrated. He does not know the elf who has sneaked inside his room and wrote in his journal. Legolas has stayed up the entire time to watch and stay guard. Yet the lady called 'Isabelle' has managed to sneak past him and write in his journal again.
3 June 2008
Dear Mr Legolas,
I do not know what's up with you. Unless your 'chambers' is up in MY attic, I did not trespass onto your territory. In fact, if you're really living in my attic, you're the one trespassing onto mine.
BTW, Isabelle is a real name. And FYI, I have never heard of 'Legolas' as well.
Go haunt someone else's diary buddy and get your date right!
Love,
Isabelle
:::
A/N: Hi everyone! What do you think of this? Do you think I should stick to the Third Age, War of the Ring for Legolas' time? Or should I change it to after the war where he's rebuilding Ithilien? I really want to know what you think. Any guesses on what happens next? Thanks for reading!