A Second Chance

Chapter 5

Emma groaned. Once again, she had been thrown into the dungeons. King Prissy-Pants wasn't happy when she'd refused to tell him where she was from.

It was for the best though, if she had told them she was from another world, they would think she was even more crazy then she really was! (she considered herself slightly loopy). Therefore, she was still stuck in this stupid dungeon.

She still had her hairpin, but she didn't think she'd make it far. And she didn't want to run into anymore walls... She had to think of a plan to escape, maybe she could get them to take her outside... she was always good at hiding in the forest back home.

Home.

Emma missed home, but she also had nothing left there. Emma made a face. Not that I have anything here either...

The dungeon door swung open and Carl walked in with her meal. Opening the cell door he set it down and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Carl," she mumbled.

"You're welcome, Emma," he grinned, "You have to stop getting yourself thrown into the dungeons. It's not healthy."

"Decidedly not, " she grumbled at him, seeing the tin cup on her tray, she suddenly had an idea, "Carl, is Zippy out there?"

Carl nodded and she grinned deviously, beckoning to him.

oOo

Carl walked out of the dungeon and took his place on the other side of the door. Zippy looked over at him and said, "What's she doing now?"

Carl just shrugged. All of the sudden, a clanging sound came from the dungeons. Zippy sprang into immediate action and ran through the door, towards Emma's cell. He stopped dead when he saw what was making the noise.

Emma was banging her tin cup against the bars and when she saw him, she started chanting, "WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES!..."

Zippy was very irritated, "What do you want!"

She stopped her clanging momentarily and said stoically, "I want waffles."

Confused, he asked "And what is a waffle?"

Emma rolled her eyes at him, "I am not explaining that again," that being said, she resumed her banging and chanting.

"Will you stop!" Zippy snapped.

"WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES!..."

"Be quiet!"

"WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES!..."

Zippy rolled his eyes and stomped out of the dungeon. Carl caught his eye and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up!" Zippy growled.

"i didn't say anything."

Zippy suddenly realized that it was finally quiet. Just as he let out a sigh of relief...

"WAFFLES! WAFFLES! WAFFLES!..."

oOo

After two days of being bored and chanting 'WAFFLES!' whenever she saw Zippy, Emma was once again, summoned by King Sassy-Face.

Flouncing into the throne-room, with Zippy and Carl, trailing behind, Emma bowed with a flourish and said, imperiously, "His Royal Highness, King Sparkly-Robe has summoned me?"

The Elvenking rolled his eyes and undraped himself from his throne. Walking down the dais, he approached her until they were about a foot away. Emma crossed her arms and he raised an eyebrow, His eyebrows are actually kinda cute... WAIT WHAT DID I JUST THINK! THAT IS WRONG! KING SASSY-FACE DOES NOT HAVE ATTRACTIVE EYEBROWS!

She just barely registered in time that the Elvenking had started talking, "...where you are from."

Sick of him asking, she hollered, "I AM NOT TELLING YOU WHERE I AM FROM!" King Sassy-Face started to prowl in circles again, "AND STOP PROWLING! It's creepy..."

He had completed a full circle and stopped in front of her again, "Very well. If you will not tell me where you are from, you shall not leave these halls until you tell me."

Emma shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me Your Sassiness."

King Sassy-Face scowled, "I would appreciate it, if you would stop calling me names."

Emma grinned, "Alright! I'll keep calling you names!"

Rolling his eyes, the Elvenking said in a bored tone, "Bring her back to the dungeons."

oOo

"Hey Carl! C'm 'ere!"

Poking his head through the door Carl said, "Yes, Emma?"

"Tell King Sassy-Face that I'm ready to tell him where I'm from."

Carl grinned, "On it."

Waltzing into the throne room (Emma knew her dramatic entrances annoyed His Royal Sassiness) she said in a loud and overall majestic voice, "Greetings, elf-man! I hail from Earth!"

Raising his eyebrows, Thranduil asked, "That is supposed to mean...?"

Emma rolled her eyes, "Earth is where I'm from, Oh Majestic King of Smirkwood."

"And where is this... Earth?"

Shrugging, Emma replied, "Don't know. I was climbing a tree there and I woke up in a tree here. This place is fictional. On Earth, it's just a book."

The Elvenking absentmindedly rubbed his chin, He looks kinda cute when he's thinking too... HEY! BAD EMMA! BAD EMMA! she started smacking herself on the head... it took a few seconds to realize that she was being stared at by everyone in the room. Grinning sheepishly, Emma shuffled around and suddenly had the urge to get out of this stupid root palace. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "I want to go outside."

King Sparkly-Robe raised his eyebrows and it seemed like he was going to refuse her, when he suddenly said, "You two, " he gestured to Zippy and Carl, "Bring her outside, do not let her out of your sight."

Zippy and Carl bowed simultaneously, saying "Yes, your Majesty."

oOo

Finally, she was outside. And in forest nonetheless! Emma loved trees and at the moment, she was scanning for the perfect one to climb. She looked at Zippy out of the corner of her eye. An idea struck and she slowly edged over until she was right next to him, grinning, she started chanting, "Waffles! Waffles! Waffles!..." Zippy groaned and hid his face in his hands when Carl joined her in the chant.

They had been walking and annoying Zippy with waffle chants and incessant talking for a good fifteen minutes before she found it.

A giant... oak? Was it an oak? At this point she didn't care and ran over to it, giggling a little. As she hoisted herself onto the first branch, Carl called up, "Be careful, my lady!"

Emma rolled her eyes, "I've been climbing trees my whole life! And since when did you start calling me 'my lady'? Whenever you did, stop doing it. It makes me uncomfortable."With that she climbed nimbly to the third branch.

As she reached for the fourth branch, she gasped. Her vision had gone funny and suddenly she was seeing herself reach for a branch, but on a different tree. She saw herself lose her grip and fall backwards. She heard the horrible snap her neck made and screamed. She couldn't think of anything but the sound that her neck made and the sensation of falling backwards. Zippy was climbing up below her, trying to get her to calm down, but she kept screaming.

Forgetting where she was, she let go of the tree to cover her eyes, all she could see was her own body, lying lifeless on the floor of her forest. She felt herself begin to tip backwards and blacked out from fear before she had even started to fall.