Going for a Drive
Chapter Twelve - Going for a Drive
Before leaving the house, Lauren stopped by her coat closet, and Legolas smiled as he looked inside. "Aragorn, it seems that your granddaughter has inherited something of your taste in clothes."
Aragorn frowned, not understanding Legolas' comment. Lauren had a vastly different taste in clothing than he did. When Lauren turned around with a black leather jacket in hand, his confusion vanished.
"She must have at least four similar coats in there," Legolas said with a quick grin at her. "Why would you need five leather coats?"
"I wear different coats at different times of the year," Lauren said. "Some are warmer than others, and you can't go wrong with a tailored black leather jacket. And please don't disparage my coats, I happen to like them, and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."
Legolas looked over at Aragorn. "The two of you are so alike in some respects that it is unbelievable." He looked back to Lauren. "I have yet to convince Aragorn to throw out that old leather Ranger's coat that he has had for decades. Arwen has also been trying to convince him that he no longer needs it."
Lauren grinned impishly. "If I had a coat that was as old or as ratty as you seem to imply, I'd go out and buy a nice new leather coat." Aragorn shot her a look of faux betrayal. "What?" she asked. "I didn't say you had to throw the other one away, just retire it to the back of your closet. You're a king, you should get a leather coat that better fits your status. You can wear the other one on a hunting trip with Legolas or something."
Aragorn thought for a moment. "You may have a point."
Legolas looked at him in disbelief. "That was all it took to convince you not to wear that old coat of yours?"
"Lauren did not suggest that I throw the other one away," Aragorn said, winking at Lauren. "She understands the value of that coat."
Legolas just shook his head, and Lauren took advantage of the lull in the conversation to lead them out the back door. Frosty came with them, and Lauren attached the long nylon cord staked in the center of the yard to his collar. Legolas watched this with concern. "You tie him down when you leave?"
"It's the law around here," Lauren said. "All dogs have to be on leashes or ropes staked to the ground. I give him a very long cord so he has plenty of room to roam. And he has a doghouse to take shelter in if the weather is less than ideal. I wish I didn't have to leave him out here as long as I do, but there's no other way to do this with my schedule. He seems content with the setup as long as I give him plenty of attention when I'm home." She scratched the dog behind the ears and whispered, "See you later, baby. Be a good boy while I'm gone." Then she led Aragorn and Legolas to her car.
They stared at it in bemusement, not knowing what the object was. Lauren stared at her car in dismay for another reason entirely. She walked over and let her hand trail over the hood of the vehicle.
Aragorn was beginning to be able to pick up on her moods, and knew that she had taken another downturn. "What is it?" he asked in concern, moving to stand beside her.
She turned back to look at them. "This is the car I wrecked. It won't look like this anymore. In fact, I'm positive it's a crumpled mess of metal now." She looked back at the car with a sense of melancholy. "Well, it served me well for eight years. That's not a bad amount of time for a car. Goodbye, my trusty steed," she said softly.
Aragorn and Legolas stood by uncomfortably. When she was so forcefully reminded of her accident, they did not know what to say.
She shook off the melancholy and looked back at them. "Well, after eight years, it was probably about time to get a new car, anyway." She looked back at the car. "I can't quite bring myself to get behind the wheel of this car again. What should I drive instead?" A grin crossed her face. "Well, why not?" The car shifted in front of their eyes from a dark blue four-door sedan to a sleek red convertible.
Aragorn and Legolas stared at the car in fascination. Lauren opened the door and took a few minutes to explain what a car was, what it was used for, and a brief explanation of the controls and features of the car. After the explanation, she gestured for them to take a seat. Aragorn took the front passenger seat and Legolas took a seat in the back. Legolas looked more than a little uneasy at getting into the vehicle.
"Buckle up," Lauren said. When they looked blankly at her, she buckled her seatbelt to show them what she meant. "I don't drive people around if they don't fasten their seatbelts."
"I do not enjoy being restrained," Legolas said, a sour expression on his face as he stared at the belt Lauren wished him to fasten around himself.
Lauren shot him an exasperated look. "This is a safety measure, nothing else. My seatbelt is probably about the only reason I wasn't instantly killed in that accident. If you have a car moving at fifty or sixty miles an hour and it comes to a sudden stop, the people and objects inside the car tend to keep moving forward. If I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt, I probably would have been thrown straight through the windshield. Not many people survive that. As I said before, this may be a dream world, but I'm not taking chances with either of your lives. For my own peace of mind, please put on the seatbelt."
Lauren seemed to feel so strongly about the subject that Legolas could not refuse her request. But it struck him that this was not a good idea. If this vehicle was so dangerous, why were they using it? He asked Lauren that very question as he buckled himself into the car.
"Convenience," Lauren said. "Yes, cars can be dangerous, but they're also about the easiest way to get around. I like horseback riding, but I couldn't imagine trying to use a horse as my main means of transportation. Cars are much faster, and quite a bit more comfortable. You have a roof over your head when it rains, heaters when the temperature is cold, and air conditioning to cool off in the middle of summer."
Aragorn looked impressed when she mentioned heaters. There had been many times in his life when he would have appreciated shelter from the elements in his travels.
"But this vehicle has no roof," Legolas said in confusion.
"It does, it's just not up at the moment." Lauren took a few minutes to explain the concept of a convertible. She put the key into the ignition and watched her guest's reactions as she started the car. They both jumped, which was the reaction she had been expecting. Part of the reason she had been so forceful about the seatbelt issue was to keep them from jumping out of the car when they heard the engine.
"What is that sound?" Legolas asked, looking around frantically for an enemy on the attack.
"That's the engine," Lauren explained. "It's supposed to sound like that. It means the car is turned on and ready to go."
Somehow, Legolas did not look reassured. He turned his head as an unusual scent caught his attention. "What is that I smell?" he asked. "It is like nothing I have experience with. It is very unnatural."
Lauren sniffed the air, and then understood. "That would be exhaust from the car. The engine burns a fuel and gives off a somewhat toxic byproduct through the exhaust pipes."
Aragorn was also frowning now. "Toxic?"
"We're fine as long as we're out in the open," Lauren reassured them. "But you never want to leave the engine running in a garage or enclosed space. That can kill someone." She tilted her head in thought. "Though, air pollution is quite a problem in cities where there is a lot of vehicular traffic. Scientists are working on creating vehicles that don't pollute the atmosphere, but they're not exactly a common thing, yet."
"Humans knowingly put toxins into the air they breathe?" Legolas asked in bewilderment.
"The air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we live in," Lauren commented. "Our environment is in a bit of a mess from the way humans have lived for the last century or so. Again, scientists and others are studying the problem, trying to figure out how to fix it, but until then, we kind of have to take what we've got. I wish people had known back then what would happen as a result of their actions. But then again, they may not have cared. So many times, profit becomes the deciding factor. Money is a powerful motivator."
They both stared at her in amazement that anyone could knowingly violate and poison the world they had to live in. Aragorn said what they were both thinking.
Lauren smiled sadly. "When so many people poison their own bodies with alcohol, drugs and cigarette smoke, it's not really that hard to believe. I think humanity is a very short-sighted race, though we are trying to get better in that respect."
"What drugs, and what is cigarette smoke?" Legolas asked, caught on her comments about people poisoning themselves.
Lauren took a moment to try to explain about illegal drugs, why people took them, and what they ended up doing to themselves. Aragorn and Legolas were properly horrified, and Lauren had to admit that she shared their feelings. Then she explained what cigarettes were, and what damage people did to themselves by smoking.
Legolas looked at Aragorn. "When we get back to Minas Tirith, I will throw your pipe away and tell Arwen what Lauren has told us. I always knew smoking that pipe could not possibly be good for you."
Lauren looked to the passenger seat as well. "You smoke? It's really not a good habit to get into, Aragorn. It can have all kinds of horrible consequences for you and anyone around you. I'd listen to Legolas and quit before you have to start dealing with any of those consequences."
Aragorn looked back and forth between the two. "I will take your suggestions under advisement. But Lauren, what I smoke is pure pipeweed. There are none of the chemicals or toxins that you mentioned added to it."
Nodding, Lauren granted him that much. "Fine, I have no idea what pipeweed is, but it's still a nasty habit, and you should quit while you can. It can't be healthy."
With a nod in return, Aragorn agreed to think about it, but made no promises. "May we go elsewhere now? There is much more of your world I would like to see."
"Of course, I just need to figure out where we're heading. I don't really want to take you to where I work. I spend enough time there, and it's not all that interesting. I just sit in a little room all day in front of a computer. That's kind of boring to show people." She paused for a moment. "I suppose we could do some shopping. I think you two would find a grocery store quite interesting." She nodded, her mind made up. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she shifted the car into reverse and then turned around in her seat to look behind them as she backed the car up. A quick movement from Aragorn caught her attention. Without taking her eyes off of the area behind the car, she said, "If you need something to hold onto at any time, there are handles on the doors you can use." Before she turned back around to face the front, she saw Legolas' face reflect his discomfort at her comment. She ignored it and applied the brakes before smoothly shifting into drive.
As she drove down the driveway, she reached down and turned on the radio. She glanced apologetically back at Legolas in the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry about the music, but I really need it when I'm driving. I don't do well with silence, as you've probably already noticed."
Legolas watched her tap her fingers against the steering wheel to the music. "Should you not be concentrating on what you are doing rather than on the music?"
"I can do both," Lauren said. "Relax, Legolas. I'm a very good driver. I've been a licensed driver since the day after I turned sixteen. I've got a lot of experience at this."
"But did you not just destroy your last car?" Aragorn asked. He hated to remind her of her accident, but he was not entirely comfortable with the situation.
Lauren shot him a sideways glower. "That comment wasn't necessary. I hit a patch of ice. It could have happened to anyone." She glanced up and down the road as she reached the end of the driveway and pulled out, accelerating smoothly to get up to the speed limit. She noticed Aragorn grasp compulsively for the armrest.
"How fast are you going?" he asked.
She glanced at the speedometer. "Only forty miles an hour. The speed limit isn't very high through here."
"It seems high enough to me," Aragorn muttered softly.
Lauren glanced at Legolas in the rearview mirror again before returning her attention to the road. He was staring in wonder at the landscape around them. Lauren didn't blame him. Once on the road, it wasn't long until the wooded area with a few houses became housing complexes, apartment buildings, convenience stores and strip malls. Lauren was sure that neither of them had ever seen anything quite like this. Other cars were also on the road, and Legolas was watching them in fascination. Aragorn became aware of his surroundings and loosened his grip on the handle as he started gazing around as well.
A red light forced Lauren to stop in a line of cars. "Why are the vehicles stopped?" Aragorn asked.
"We hit a red light." Lauren pointed to the traffic light ahead of them and explained how they were set up so that everyone knew the rules. Red lights meant stop, green lights meant go, and yellow lights warned that green was changing to red. When the light turned green, the line of cars began moving. At the second stoplight, Lauren crossed traffic to reach the grocery store she frequented. She turned a little faster than Aragorn liked, and he grabbed onto the handle again. After pulling smoothly into a vacant parking spot, she showed Aragorn and Legolas how to undo the seatbelts, and gestured for them to exit the car.
They climbed out of the car and looked around in amazement at the variety of stores in the strip mall. Lauren pointed out the post office, dry cleaners, Chinese restaurant, drug store, bank, and the couple of clothing stores. She explained what each one was as she pointed them out. "But that is the one we're going to," she said, pointing to the large grocery store. She started walking toward it, expecting them to join her. When they didn’t follow, she looked back to find them watching a group of kids hanging out in front of the restaurant. She grinned as she saw the multiple piercings and very colorful hair of the teens. She walked back over to stand beside them. "You didn't believe me, did you?"
Aragorn could not take his eyes off of the bright pink hair of a teenage girl. When she turned around to face them, Lauren saw the nose and eyebrow piercings and quickly looked to Aragorn and Legolas to gauge their reactions. Their eyes were wide and their mouths slightly open as they stared at the teens. "Don't stare," Lauren chided them lightly. "It's not very polite."
They made an effort to look away and looked back at Lauren only to see her own eyes widen. "What is that girl wearing?" she exclaimed. "Her parents must not have any idea what she was planning on wearing today. I can't imagine any parents letting their daughter leave the house in a skirt that short."
Aragorn and Legolas were surprised to find that Lauren was uncomfortable with what someone of her own time was wearing. After seeing that she had no problems with wearing a bikini, they thought nothing could shock her.
Lauren shook her head as she interpreted the looks on their faces. "You may not believe this, but my sense of style is fairly conservative. There are certain things I would never wear in public. That skirt definitely makes the list. And no thirteen or fourteen year old needs to be wearing anything like that either. I bet she'd be grounded for a month if her parents saw her in that." She turned away and gestured for them to walk with her. She kept an eye on the cars around them as the crossed the parking lot. She had to grab Aragorn's arm to keep him from simply crossing the street as a car turned the corner from an adjacent aisle. "You really have to watch out for cars if you want to avoid being hit," Lauren said.
Aragorn watched the car drive past them without even looking to check for pedestrians. "That person did not even notice us," he complained.
"No, that's why you have to watch out for yourself," Lauren commented. "There are some incredibly unobservant people in this world. And too many of them have driver's licenses." The road was clear now, and she led them up to the doors of the store. As they stepped in front of the sensors for the doors, they automatically opened.
"How did the door do that?" Legolas asked in curiosity as he stared at the door.
Lauren stepped back out of the sensor's range and the door closed. She explained how the doors worked, and then had to watch as Aragorn and Legolas took turns stepping into sensor range and back out again as they watched the doors automatically open and close. "Are you two quite finished?" she asked in amusement.
They looked back at her and grinned sheepishly. "I believe so," Legolas answered for them both.
"Good, there's a lot to see inside as well," Lauren said. She led them into the grocery store and had to go back and drag them out of the doorway. They had stopped dead in their tracks at seeing the size of the store and the rows and rows of aisles. Placing her arms through each of theirs, she showed them the produce and meat sections, which had similarities to what they could find in the markets of Minas Tirith. Then she took them up and down the seemingly never-ending aisles of food.
"Your people and land must be truly wealthy to have this amount of food available at all times," Aragorn said. "With all of this, no one could possibly go hungry in this land."
"I wish that were the case," Lauren said sadly. "Unfortunately, that isn't how things work. All of the food is here for the taking… for those who can afford it. This food isn't free. You have to be able to pay for it. But the cost of living is so high now that many people have all they can handle just paying for a place to live and the monthly bills. Sometimes, people just don’t have enough money to be able to buy all the food they need."
"Is there no one who can help them, then?" Aragorn asked. "The leaders of a land are responsible for the people in it. There is no excuse for a land having food aplenty and still have people go hungry."
"Oh, I agree absolutely," Lauren said. "And there are some government programs to help those in need, but it isn't enough. I have no idea what the solution to the problem is, but I know we need something more than we have now. There is an attitude in this country that you should be able to make it on your own without anyone's help. People hate to admit that from time to time, they could use a helping hand. They feel ashamed that they were unable to provide everything their family needed without asking for help from someone else." She looked around the store, suddenly feeling guilty for all the times she had come in and bought her groceries, taking it for granted that she had the means to buy all the food she needed. "I just wish I had some idea what to do about it." She was silent as they walked through the aisles.
Aragorn glanced at Legolas over her head. He had not meant to bring her mood down again. She was usually so cheerful, but this trip to her world was apparently affecting her in ways they had not expected. Aragorn felt it was their duty to cheer her up. As they rounded the corner into the next aisle, Aragorn knew he wouldn't have to do a thing. Legolas, who had developed quite a sweet tooth, found himself standing amidst a selection of more candies than he had ever seen at once. Lauren glanced up when Legolas stopped in his tracks and saw the delighted expression on his face. She couldn't help but laugh lightly as she watched Legolas. He wandered up and down the aisle, studying all the different varieties of chocolate on display.
"Would you like me to buy you something?" Lauren asked.
Legolas looked at her and then Aragorn. Aragorn nodded. Legolas grinned and picked up two bags of candy. One he had tried with Lauren and loved, the other he had not yet tried, but thought the description sounded good. "May I get both?" he asked.
"Yes, I think I can get a couple of bags of candy," Lauren said. "But I've had a lot of chocolate lately. I think I want something salty to supplement the sweet." She led them to the chip aisle and browsed until she found the barbecue chips she was looking for. They wandered for a short time more, and Aragorn and Legolas looked at the variety of foods, pre-packaged and made for convenience, with utter amazement.
Finally, they had seen everything they wanted to, so Lauren led them to the checkout counter. As they placed their purchases on the conveyor belt, Lauren opened the cooler near the counter and pulled out a Pepsi for herself, and a couple of carbonated fruit drinks for her guests. She reached into her purse and took out her debit card to pay for their selections.
"What is that?" Aragorn asked. "I thought you were going to pay for our food. Where is your money?"
"It's in a bank," Lauren explained. "This card gives me access to the money in my account." She took a few minutes to explain the concept of debit cards, and they watched in fascination as she swiped her card, punched several buttons, and was given a receipt saying that the food was paid for.
"Your world is a confusing, but amazing place," Aragorn commented. "Being able to pay with a small card rather than carrying your money on your person."
"Oh, we still have currency," Lauren said. Taking her wallet out, she showed them some paper currency and a few coins that she had in her change pocket. "Not every place or person accepts debit cards." After putting the money away, she led them to a nearby bench outside and they sat down to enjoy their treats.
Legolas found that he loved both types of chocolate, of course. But he was somewhat less fond of the barbecue potato chips that Lauren had picked up. Something about the spices was not to his liking. Aragorn on the other hand, liked the chocolate and the chips equally well. Lauren watched their faces as they opened their beverages, following her lead and took their first sips.
"There are bubbles in this," Legolas commented in surprise as they tickled his nose.
Lauren explained what little she knew about carbonation in beverages before taking a long drink of her Pepsi. "Oh, I really needed that," she commented after lowering the bottle. "It's been far too long since I've tasted that; I think I was going through caffeine withdrawal." After that comment, she was forced to explain what caffeine was.
"You put stimulants in your beverages?" Aragorn asked in confusion.
"It's a mild stimulant," Lauren said. "It can help people stay awake during the day, though they typically feel more tired after it wears off." After explaining and answering all their questions, Lauren stood up and led them back to the car.
"Where are we going now?" Aragorn asked as they got back in.
"Nowhere in particular," Lauren answered. "I thought we'd just drive around the city a bit and let you get a good look at things." As she was about to start the car, a plane flew overhead. They were fairly close to the airport, so the plane was low enough to be very noticeable.
Both Aragorn and Legolas gazed skyward at the noise. Their mouths fell open in identical expressions of utter disbelief.
"What is that?" Aragorn finally managed to ask in a very hoarse voice.
"That would be an airplane," Lauren answered. "Another form of transportation, meant to hold many more people and be much faster than travel by car. It is also a bit more expensive."
"People can fly?" Legolas asked in amazement.
"People have stepped on the moon, Legolas," Lauren reminded him. "Traveling by airplane is much safer than that and not nearly as difficult."
"Have you traveled in this manner?" Aragorn asked.
"Many times," Lauren replied, shrugging. Traveling by plane was a fairly common occurrence to her.
"What is it like?" Legolas asked, his eyes wide with interest.
"Well," Lauren thought about how to explain traveling in a plane. "For the most part, it's not that different than traveling in a car. The planes are completely closed, and there are rows of seats with uncomfortable cushions and very little leg room." They looked somewhat disappointed. Lauren knew what would help her explanation. "But if you get a window seat, the view is like nothing you two have ever seen before. I've flown through the clouds and been high enough to look down on them. They look so solid, but when flying through them, it's like nothing more than being shrouded in fog. I've seen mountain ranges from so high in the air that they look like nothing more than anthills on the ground. From that height, everything looks like children's toys."
They were utterly captivated by her descriptions. "Would we be able to fly in one of these airplanes?" Legolas asked, glancing back up toward the sky where they had seen the plane.
Lauren glanced at her watch. "Maybe tomorrow. I don't know how much time we have left, but you two have been here for about six and a half hours. If you normally sleep for eight hours or so, we don't have much time left. We can see the city tonight and I'll plan for us to fly a bit tomorrow. How does that sound?"
"Very good," Legolas answered, happy that he would get to experience flight.
Lauren grinned and started the car after making sure that they were both in their seatbelts. She placed her hand on the back of Aragorn's headrest and looked behind them to back out of the rather tight parking space. After putting the car into drive, she pulled smoothly back out onto the road leading into the city. She noticed that Aragorn was watching all of her movements very carefully while Legolas was looking more at their surroundings. Aragorn seemed a little uneasy every time she took a hand off the steering wheel to adjust her visor, fiddle with the radio, or gesture at something along the road.
He finally had to say something. "Should you not keep both hands on the steering device?"
She smiled reassuringly at him. "Do you have to keep both hands firmly on the reins of your horse at all times? Relax, Aragorn. I know what I'm doing."
"A horse does not travel nearly as quickly nor is one nearly as deadly," Aragorn retorted.
"Fine," Lauren said, conceding the point as she made sure both of her hands were on the steering wheel. It was good timing as she heard a siren from behind her. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw a fire truck barreling down on them. She easily pulled the car to the side, out of the way of the truck. It zoomed past them, sirens blaring and generally making more noise than anyone from Middle-earth would have experienced before. Looking at them, she found both Aragorn and Legolas with their hands clamped firmly over their ears. Their faces were pale and they seemed to be in pain. "Are you two OK?" she asked.
They lowered their hands slowly, and Aragorn voiced the question they both wanted to ask. "What was that horrendous thing?"
"A fire truck," Lauren said. As she pulled back into traffic, she explained about emergency vehicles and the rules stating that they had the right of way. If a police car, ambulance, or fire truck needed through, lives could be on the line, so people had to get out of their way as quickly as they could. This led to more questions, and Lauren ended up explaining traffic laws such as speed limits, right of way, and driver's etiquette.
"Idiot!" The exclamation burst from Lauren's mouth as a driver cut in front of her, barely inches away from her front bumper. She was forced to stomp on the brakes to keep from rear-ending the other car. "I can't believe that!" she raged. She watched as the other car then proceeded to weave in and out of traffic, trying to find the gaps in traffic to get him to his destination just a few minutes quicker. "That idiot is going to cause an accident," she muttered, her body tensing up as she found herself dealing with the kinds of traffic that she had to face on a daily basis. "No one around here knows how to drive. It's ridiculous. That's just the kind of driver I try to avoid at all costs. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed yet."
Aragorn had braced his hands quickly on the dashboard as the car decelerated abruptly and Legolas had caught himself on the back of Aragorn's seat. They now looked at Lauren in astonishment. While they had seen her in many different moods, they had never seen her like this.
"Lauren?" Aragorn asked tentatively.
"Yeah?" she asked, looking briefly in his direction.
"Are you OK?" he asked, borrowing one of her phrases.
"I'm fine," she replied tersely.
"You seem a little…" his voice trailed off as he could not decide how to describe her mood.
"Peeved, ticked, a little irate?" she asked easily, her breathing slowing as she began to calm down..
Aragorn was unsure of the meaning of the first two words, but irate did seem to describe her at the moment. He nodded.
"Sorry," she said. "If it was just that one idiot, I wouldn't have reacted like this. But I see people driving like that nearly every day. There are a lot of idiots out there who really should not have driver's licenses."
"You seem to enjoy calling people idiots," Legolas observed.
Lauren shot him a grin in the rearview mirror. "Just be glad I don't call them something stronger."
She had been driving on city streets for awhile now, and noticed that Aragorn flinched whenever she got closer than he liked to cars that were parked along the street. There was an entrance to the highway just up ahead. She thought that she would be able to go a little faster on the highway, which was something she would enjoy. If they could avoid having cars on the side of the road that might be too close to Aragorn's side of the car, he might be able to relax a bit more, as well. Glancing in her mirrors, she pulled into the exit lane and smoothly headed down the ramp. A slightly stronger curse emerged from her lips as she saw the traffic at almost a dead stop. "Just great," she muttered. She inched her way into the traffic when she reached the bottom of the ramp and then inched along the highway.
"I must subconsciously hate myself," she muttered.
"Why do you say that?" Legolas asked in confusion, staring at the reflection of her eyes in the mirror.
"Because we're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I really hate driving in this, and this whole thing came from my mind. Therefore, I seem to be trying to torture myself." Since they were not moving at all, she leaned her head back against the seat and bounced her head lightly off the headrest a couple of times.
Aragorn wanted to calm her down, she was far too tense. He remembered one of the songs she had played when she was teaching them about astronomy. The lyrics and details of the melody escaped him, but he could remember the opening notes. With a thought, the music switched from the fast paced song that had been playing to the opening of the mellow song. He trusted that her mind would pick up the song and keep it going. That guess was proven correct as the song continued past the point he could remember.
With a smile, Lauren glanced over at Aragorn. "You're getting to know me far too well. You've guessed the real reason I listen to music while I drive. It keeps me calmer, if not really mellow. Whenever I get too stressed over the traffic or other drivers, I shift my attention to the music and let it bring me out of that tense mood." Her body was relaxing as she spoke.
"I was not sure it would work," Aragorn admitted. "But I remembered you saying that music affected your mood. I decided it was worth a test."
"Well, it worked," Lauren said. She looked to either side of the car and saw large semi trucks. They were effectively sandwiched. "I'm getting a little claustrophobic, here," she said. "So why don't we do something about that?" With a dramatic wave of the hand, all the traffic disappeared, leaving an empty road. "Ooh, I like that," she murmured to herself. "I wish I could do that on the days I'm running late for work." A wicked grin crossed her face as she began accelerating. The road in front of them changed from the city highway to a long, straight, flat stretch of road. "I've always wanted to know what it felt like to drive at a hundred miles an hour."
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged panicked glances. Their hair whipped around their heads as the car sped down the road. Aragorn grabbed the handle on the door. But as the car accelerated and nothing bad happened, they began to relax. This was actually rather fun.
Lauren changed the song on the radio to something with a driving rock beat. Mellow songs did not fit flying down the road like this. This was definitely something she could never do in reality, but here, there was nothing to stop them. She just had to make sure there was nothing in the road that she might run into. She looked over at Aragorn and saw him relaxing back into the seat and resting his arm on the top of the door. A glance in her rearview mirror showed that Legolas had his arms outstretched and his head tilted back as he enjoyed the feel that was created by driving at this speed. He didn't even seem to mind her music, for once.
Eventually, Lauren slowed the car down and came to a stop. Her eyes were bright and she was practically bouncing. "Who needs caffeine? That is more of a stimulant any day!" She looked over at Aragorn thoughtfully. "Would you like to try driving?"
Aragorn looked back at her in astonishment. "You want me to drive this vehicle?"
"I thought you might enjoy it," Lauren answered. "I noticed that you were watching everything I did. I could teach you pretty quickly how to do it." She gestured at their surroundings. There was absolutely nothing around them; no obstacles or anything for a new driver to bump into. "I wouldn't expect you to go very fast, but I thought you might like the experience."
Aragorn glanced uncertainly over to Legolas. "Would you like to try?"
"No, my friend. I have no desire to operate this vehicle. But that should not stop you." Legolas gestured with his hands to indicate the driver's seat.
With a nod, Aragorn glanced back over to Lauren. "I believe I would like to try it."
"Good," Lauren said as she and Aragorn got out and switched seats. She showed Aragorn how to adjust the seat to make it more comfortable for himself. There was a very quick lesson on the basics, namely which pedal to push to go and which one to push to stop. After getting a quick explanation of how to steer and how to change the gear from park to drive, Aragorn was ready to make the car move. Following Lauren's instructions, he pushed on the brakes and shifted the car into drive. Gently easing his foot off the brake pedal, he moved his foot over to step on the gas. Since he was inexperienced with how much pressure was necessary, the car shot forward suddenly. In a panic, Aragorn stepped on the brakes, forcing his passengers to brace themselves to keep from being thrown forward.
"OK," Lauren said. "Now you have an idea of what the pedals do. Let's try this again. More gently this time."
Aragorn looked very unsure of himself, but took his foot off the brake pedal and very gently put his foot on the gas pedal. The car began inching forward. After several minutes of going about three miles an hour, he gained enough confidence to increase their speed up to nearly ten miles an hour. Lauren watched the fascinated expression on Aragorn's face with proud amusement. As he was gaining enough confidence to increase their speed even more, Lauren noticed that his hands were becoming transparent. "You should probably stop the car, now," she said in a calm voice to avoid alarming Aragorn.
He did so, putting the car back in park before looking at her. "Why did we have to stop?" There was a disappointed look on his face.
Lauren grinned. "It may have escaped your attention, but you're waking up. I just didn't want to be in the passenger seat of this car when the driver disappeared."
Aragorn looked down at himself in confusion. "So I am," he remarked. He barely had time to nod his head at her in acknowledgment and say, "Until tomorrow night," before he vanished completely. A glance in the backseat confirmed that Legolas had also vanished.
Lauren shifted over to sit in the driver's seat. "Well, here I sit in a shiny red convertible. There must be someplace I can go to show this off." She put the car in gear and headed down the road, wondering where she would end up.
Before leaving the house, Lauren stopped by her coat closet, and Legolas smiled as he looked inside. "Aragorn, it seems that your granddaughter has inherited something of your taste in clothes."
Aragorn frowned, not understanding Legolas' comment. Lauren had a vastly different taste in clothing than he did. When Lauren turned around with a black leather jacket in hand, his confusion vanished.
"She must have at least four similar coats in there," Legolas said with a quick grin at her. "Why would you need five leather coats?"
"I wear different coats at different times of the year," Lauren said. "Some are warmer than others, and you can't go wrong with a tailored black leather jacket. And please don't disparage my coats, I happen to like them, and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."
Legolas looked over at Aragorn. "The two of you are so alike in some respects that it is unbelievable." He looked back to Lauren. "I have yet to convince Aragorn to throw out that old leather Ranger's coat that he has had for decades. Arwen has also been trying to convince him that he no longer needs it."
Lauren grinned impishly. "If I had a coat that was as old or as ratty as you seem to imply, I'd go out and buy a nice new leather coat." Aragorn shot her a look of faux betrayal. "What?" she asked. "I didn't say you had to throw the other one away, just retire it to the back of your closet. You're a king, you should get a leather coat that better fits your status. You can wear the other one on a hunting trip with Legolas or something."
Aragorn thought for a moment. "You may have a point."
Legolas looked at him in disbelief. "That was all it took to convince you not to wear that old coat of yours?"
"Lauren did not suggest that I throw the other one away," Aragorn said, winking at Lauren. "She understands the value of that coat."
Legolas just shook his head, and Lauren took advantage of the lull in the conversation to lead them out the back door. Frosty came with them, and Lauren attached the long nylon cord staked in the center of the yard to his collar. Legolas watched this with concern. "You tie him down when you leave?"
"It's the law around here," Lauren said. "All dogs have to be on leashes or ropes staked to the ground. I give him a very long cord so he has plenty of room to roam. And he has a doghouse to take shelter in if the weather is less than ideal. I wish I didn't have to leave him out here as long as I do, but there's no other way to do this with my schedule. He seems content with the setup as long as I give him plenty of attention when I'm home." She scratched the dog behind the ears and whispered, "See you later, baby. Be a good boy while I'm gone." Then she led Aragorn and Legolas to her car.
They stared at it in bemusement, not knowing what the object was. Lauren stared at her car in dismay for another reason entirely. She walked over and let her hand trail over the hood of the vehicle.
Aragorn was beginning to be able to pick up on her moods, and knew that she had taken another downturn. "What is it?" he asked in concern, moving to stand beside her.
She turned back to look at them. "This is the car I wrecked. It won't look like this anymore. In fact, I'm positive it's a crumpled mess of metal now." She looked back at the car with a sense of melancholy. "Well, it served me well for eight years. That's not a bad amount of time for a car. Goodbye, my trusty steed," she said softly.
Aragorn and Legolas stood by uncomfortably. When she was so forcefully reminded of her accident, they did not know what to say.
She shook off the melancholy and looked back at them. "Well, after eight years, it was probably about time to get a new car, anyway." She looked back at the car. "I can't quite bring myself to get behind the wheel of this car again. What should I drive instead?" A grin crossed her face. "Well, why not?" The car shifted in front of their eyes from a dark blue four-door sedan to a sleek red convertible.
Aragorn and Legolas stared at the car in fascination. Lauren opened the door and took a few minutes to explain what a car was, what it was used for, and a brief explanation of the controls and features of the car. After the explanation, she gestured for them to take a seat. Aragorn took the front passenger seat and Legolas took a seat in the back. Legolas looked more than a little uneasy at getting into the vehicle.
"Buckle up," Lauren said. When they looked blankly at her, she buckled her seatbelt to show them what she meant. "I don't drive people around if they don't fasten their seatbelts."
"I do not enjoy being restrained," Legolas said, a sour expression on his face as he stared at the belt Lauren wished him to fasten around himself.
Lauren shot him an exasperated look. "This is a safety measure, nothing else. My seatbelt is probably about the only reason I wasn't instantly killed in that accident. If you have a car moving at fifty or sixty miles an hour and it comes to a sudden stop, the people and objects inside the car tend to keep moving forward. If I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt, I probably would have been thrown straight through the windshield. Not many people survive that. As I said before, this may be a dream world, but I'm not taking chances with either of your lives. For my own peace of mind, please put on the seatbelt."
Lauren seemed to feel so strongly about the subject that Legolas could not refuse her request. But it struck him that this was not a good idea. If this vehicle was so dangerous, why were they using it? He asked Lauren that very question as he buckled himself into the car.
"Convenience," Lauren said. "Yes, cars can be dangerous, but they're also about the easiest way to get around. I like horseback riding, but I couldn't imagine trying to use a horse as my main means of transportation. Cars are much faster, and quite a bit more comfortable. You have a roof over your head when it rains, heaters when the temperature is cold, and air conditioning to cool off in the middle of summer."
Aragorn looked impressed when she mentioned heaters. There had been many times in his life when he would have appreciated shelter from the elements in his travels.
"But this vehicle has no roof," Legolas said in confusion.
"It does, it's just not up at the moment." Lauren took a few minutes to explain the concept of a convertible. She put the key into the ignition and watched her guest's reactions as she started the car. They both jumped, which was the reaction she had been expecting. Part of the reason she had been so forceful about the seatbelt issue was to keep them from jumping out of the car when they heard the engine.
"What is that sound?" Legolas asked, looking around frantically for an enemy on the attack.
"That's the engine," Lauren explained. "It's supposed to sound like that. It means the car is turned on and ready to go."
Somehow, Legolas did not look reassured. He turned his head as an unusual scent caught his attention. "What is that I smell?" he asked. "It is like nothing I have experience with. It is very unnatural."
Lauren sniffed the air, and then understood. "That would be exhaust from the car. The engine burns a fuel and gives off a somewhat toxic byproduct through the exhaust pipes."
Aragorn was also frowning now. "Toxic?"
"We're fine as long as we're out in the open," Lauren reassured them. "But you never want to leave the engine running in a garage or enclosed space. That can kill someone." She tilted her head in thought. "Though, air pollution is quite a problem in cities where there is a lot of vehicular traffic. Scientists are working on creating vehicles that don't pollute the atmosphere, but they're not exactly a common thing, yet."
"Humans knowingly put toxins into the air they breathe?" Legolas asked in bewilderment.
"The air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we live in," Lauren commented. "Our environment is in a bit of a mess from the way humans have lived for the last century or so. Again, scientists and others are studying the problem, trying to figure out how to fix it, but until then, we kind of have to take what we've got. I wish people had known back then what would happen as a result of their actions. But then again, they may not have cared. So many times, profit becomes the deciding factor. Money is a powerful motivator."
They both stared at her in amazement that anyone could knowingly violate and poison the world they had to live in. Aragorn said what they were both thinking.
Lauren smiled sadly. "When so many people poison their own bodies with alcohol, drugs and cigarette smoke, it's not really that hard to believe. I think humanity is a very short-sighted race, though we are trying to get better in that respect."
"What drugs, and what is cigarette smoke?" Legolas asked, caught on her comments about people poisoning themselves.
Lauren took a moment to try to explain about illegal drugs, why people took them, and what they ended up doing to themselves. Aragorn and Legolas were properly horrified, and Lauren had to admit that she shared their feelings. Then she explained what cigarettes were, and what damage people did to themselves by smoking.
Legolas looked at Aragorn. "When we get back to Minas Tirith, I will throw your pipe away and tell Arwen what Lauren has told us. I always knew smoking that pipe could not possibly be good for you."
Lauren looked to the passenger seat as well. "You smoke? It's really not a good habit to get into, Aragorn. It can have all kinds of horrible consequences for you and anyone around you. I'd listen to Legolas and quit before you have to start dealing with any of those consequences."
Aragorn looked back and forth between the two. "I will take your suggestions under advisement. But Lauren, what I smoke is pure pipeweed. There are none of the chemicals or toxins that you mentioned added to it."
Nodding, Lauren granted him that much. "Fine, I have no idea what pipeweed is, but it's still a nasty habit, and you should quit while you can. It can't be healthy."
With a nod in return, Aragorn agreed to think about it, but made no promises. "May we go elsewhere now? There is much more of your world I would like to see."
"Of course, I just need to figure out where we're heading. I don't really want to take you to where I work. I spend enough time there, and it's not all that interesting. I just sit in a little room all day in front of a computer. That's kind of boring to show people." She paused for a moment. "I suppose we could do some shopping. I think you two would find a grocery store quite interesting." She nodded, her mind made up. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she shifted the car into reverse and then turned around in her seat to look behind them as she backed the car up. A quick movement from Aragorn caught her attention. Without taking her eyes off of the area behind the car, she said, "If you need something to hold onto at any time, there are handles on the doors you can use." Before she turned back around to face the front, she saw Legolas' face reflect his discomfort at her comment. She ignored it and applied the brakes before smoothly shifting into drive.
As she drove down the driveway, she reached down and turned on the radio. She glanced apologetically back at Legolas in the rearview mirror. "I'm sorry about the music, but I really need it when I'm driving. I don't do well with silence, as you've probably already noticed."
Legolas watched her tap her fingers against the steering wheel to the music. "Should you not be concentrating on what you are doing rather than on the music?"
"I can do both," Lauren said. "Relax, Legolas. I'm a very good driver. I've been a licensed driver since the day after I turned sixteen. I've got a lot of experience at this."
"But did you not just destroy your last car?" Aragorn asked. He hated to remind her of her accident, but he was not entirely comfortable with the situation.
Lauren shot him a sideways glower. "That comment wasn't necessary. I hit a patch of ice. It could have happened to anyone." She glanced up and down the road as she reached the end of the driveway and pulled out, accelerating smoothly to get up to the speed limit. She noticed Aragorn grasp compulsively for the armrest.
"How fast are you going?" he asked.
She glanced at the speedometer. "Only forty miles an hour. The speed limit isn't very high through here."
"It seems high enough to me," Aragorn muttered softly.
Lauren glanced at Legolas in the rearview mirror again before returning her attention to the road. He was staring in wonder at the landscape around them. Lauren didn't blame him. Once on the road, it wasn't long until the wooded area with a few houses became housing complexes, apartment buildings, convenience stores and strip malls. Lauren was sure that neither of them had ever seen anything quite like this. Other cars were also on the road, and Legolas was watching them in fascination. Aragorn became aware of his surroundings and loosened his grip on the handle as he started gazing around as well.
A red light forced Lauren to stop in a line of cars. "Why are the vehicles stopped?" Aragorn asked.
"We hit a red light." Lauren pointed to the traffic light ahead of them and explained how they were set up so that everyone knew the rules. Red lights meant stop, green lights meant go, and yellow lights warned that green was changing to red. When the light turned green, the line of cars began moving. At the second stoplight, Lauren crossed traffic to reach the grocery store she frequented. She turned a little faster than Aragorn liked, and he grabbed onto the handle again. After pulling smoothly into a vacant parking spot, she showed Aragorn and Legolas how to undo the seatbelts, and gestured for them to exit the car.
They climbed out of the car and looked around in amazement at the variety of stores in the strip mall. Lauren pointed out the post office, dry cleaners, Chinese restaurant, drug store, bank, and the couple of clothing stores. She explained what each one was as she pointed them out. "But that is the one we're going to," she said, pointing to the large grocery store. She started walking toward it, expecting them to join her. When they didn’t follow, she looked back to find them watching a group of kids hanging out in front of the restaurant. She grinned as she saw the multiple piercings and very colorful hair of the teens. She walked back over to stand beside them. "You didn't believe me, did you?"
Aragorn could not take his eyes off of the bright pink hair of a teenage girl. When she turned around to face them, Lauren saw the nose and eyebrow piercings and quickly looked to Aragorn and Legolas to gauge their reactions. Their eyes were wide and their mouths slightly open as they stared at the teens. "Don't stare," Lauren chided them lightly. "It's not very polite."
They made an effort to look away and looked back at Lauren only to see her own eyes widen. "What is that girl wearing?" she exclaimed. "Her parents must not have any idea what she was planning on wearing today. I can't imagine any parents letting their daughter leave the house in a skirt that short."
Aragorn and Legolas were surprised to find that Lauren was uncomfortable with what someone of her own time was wearing. After seeing that she had no problems with wearing a bikini, they thought nothing could shock her.
Lauren shook her head as she interpreted the looks on their faces. "You may not believe this, but my sense of style is fairly conservative. There are certain things I would never wear in public. That skirt definitely makes the list. And no thirteen or fourteen year old needs to be wearing anything like that either. I bet she'd be grounded for a month if her parents saw her in that." She turned away and gestured for them to walk with her. She kept an eye on the cars around them as the crossed the parking lot. She had to grab Aragorn's arm to keep him from simply crossing the street as a car turned the corner from an adjacent aisle. "You really have to watch out for cars if you want to avoid being hit," Lauren said.
Aragorn watched the car drive past them without even looking to check for pedestrians. "That person did not even notice us," he complained.
"No, that's why you have to watch out for yourself," Lauren commented. "There are some incredibly unobservant people in this world. And too many of them have driver's licenses." The road was clear now, and she led them up to the doors of the store. As they stepped in front of the sensors for the doors, they automatically opened.
"How did the door do that?" Legolas asked in curiosity as he stared at the door.
Lauren stepped back out of the sensor's range and the door closed. She explained how the doors worked, and then had to watch as Aragorn and Legolas took turns stepping into sensor range and back out again as they watched the doors automatically open and close. "Are you two quite finished?" she asked in amusement.
They looked back at her and grinned sheepishly. "I believe so," Legolas answered for them both.
"Good, there's a lot to see inside as well," Lauren said. She led them into the grocery store and had to go back and drag them out of the doorway. They had stopped dead in their tracks at seeing the size of the store and the rows and rows of aisles. Placing her arms through each of theirs, she showed them the produce and meat sections, which had similarities to what they could find in the markets of Minas Tirith. Then she took them up and down the seemingly never-ending aisles of food.
"Your people and land must be truly wealthy to have this amount of food available at all times," Aragorn said. "With all of this, no one could possibly go hungry in this land."
"I wish that were the case," Lauren said sadly. "Unfortunately, that isn't how things work. All of the food is here for the taking… for those who can afford it. This food isn't free. You have to be able to pay for it. But the cost of living is so high now that many people have all they can handle just paying for a place to live and the monthly bills. Sometimes, people just don’t have enough money to be able to buy all the food they need."
"Is there no one who can help them, then?" Aragorn asked. "The leaders of a land are responsible for the people in it. There is no excuse for a land having food aplenty and still have people go hungry."
"Oh, I agree absolutely," Lauren said. "And there are some government programs to help those in need, but it isn't enough. I have no idea what the solution to the problem is, but I know we need something more than we have now. There is an attitude in this country that you should be able to make it on your own without anyone's help. People hate to admit that from time to time, they could use a helping hand. They feel ashamed that they were unable to provide everything their family needed without asking for help from someone else." She looked around the store, suddenly feeling guilty for all the times she had come in and bought her groceries, taking it for granted that she had the means to buy all the food she needed. "I just wish I had some idea what to do about it." She was silent as they walked through the aisles.
Aragorn glanced at Legolas over her head. He had not meant to bring her mood down again. She was usually so cheerful, but this trip to her world was apparently affecting her in ways they had not expected. Aragorn felt it was their duty to cheer her up. As they rounded the corner into the next aisle, Aragorn knew he wouldn't have to do a thing. Legolas, who had developed quite a sweet tooth, found himself standing amidst a selection of more candies than he had ever seen at once. Lauren glanced up when Legolas stopped in his tracks and saw the delighted expression on his face. She couldn't help but laugh lightly as she watched Legolas. He wandered up and down the aisle, studying all the different varieties of chocolate on display.
"Would you like me to buy you something?" Lauren asked.
Legolas looked at her and then Aragorn. Aragorn nodded. Legolas grinned and picked up two bags of candy. One he had tried with Lauren and loved, the other he had not yet tried, but thought the description sounded good. "May I get both?" he asked.
"Yes, I think I can get a couple of bags of candy," Lauren said. "But I've had a lot of chocolate lately. I think I want something salty to supplement the sweet." She led them to the chip aisle and browsed until she found the barbecue chips she was looking for. They wandered for a short time more, and Aragorn and Legolas looked at the variety of foods, pre-packaged and made for convenience, with utter amazement.
Finally, they had seen everything they wanted to, so Lauren led them to the checkout counter. As they placed their purchases on the conveyor belt, Lauren opened the cooler near the counter and pulled out a Pepsi for herself, and a couple of carbonated fruit drinks for her guests. She reached into her purse and took out her debit card to pay for their selections.
"What is that?" Aragorn asked. "I thought you were going to pay for our food. Where is your money?"
"It's in a bank," Lauren explained. "This card gives me access to the money in my account." She took a few minutes to explain the concept of debit cards, and they watched in fascination as she swiped her card, punched several buttons, and was given a receipt saying that the food was paid for.
"Your world is a confusing, but amazing place," Aragorn commented. "Being able to pay with a small card rather than carrying your money on your person."
"Oh, we still have currency," Lauren said. Taking her wallet out, she showed them some paper currency and a few coins that she had in her change pocket. "Not every place or person accepts debit cards." After putting the money away, she led them to a nearby bench outside and they sat down to enjoy their treats.
Legolas found that he loved both types of chocolate, of course. But he was somewhat less fond of the barbecue potato chips that Lauren had picked up. Something about the spices was not to his liking. Aragorn on the other hand, liked the chocolate and the chips equally well. Lauren watched their faces as they opened their beverages, following her lead and took their first sips.
"There are bubbles in this," Legolas commented in surprise as they tickled his nose.
Lauren explained what little she knew about carbonation in beverages before taking a long drink of her Pepsi. "Oh, I really needed that," she commented after lowering the bottle. "It's been far too long since I've tasted that; I think I was going through caffeine withdrawal." After that comment, she was forced to explain what caffeine was.
"You put stimulants in your beverages?" Aragorn asked in confusion.
"It's a mild stimulant," Lauren said. "It can help people stay awake during the day, though they typically feel more tired after it wears off." After explaining and answering all their questions, Lauren stood up and led them back to the car.
"Where are we going now?" Aragorn asked as they got back in.
"Nowhere in particular," Lauren answered. "I thought we'd just drive around the city a bit and let you get a good look at things." As she was about to start the car, a plane flew overhead. They were fairly close to the airport, so the plane was low enough to be very noticeable.
Both Aragorn and Legolas gazed skyward at the noise. Their mouths fell open in identical expressions of utter disbelief.
"What is that?" Aragorn finally managed to ask in a very hoarse voice.
"That would be an airplane," Lauren answered. "Another form of transportation, meant to hold many more people and be much faster than travel by car. It is also a bit more expensive."
"People can fly?" Legolas asked in amazement.
"People have stepped on the moon, Legolas," Lauren reminded him. "Traveling by airplane is much safer than that and not nearly as difficult."
"Have you traveled in this manner?" Aragorn asked.
"Many times," Lauren replied, shrugging. Traveling by plane was a fairly common occurrence to her.
"What is it like?" Legolas asked, his eyes wide with interest.
"Well," Lauren thought about how to explain traveling in a plane. "For the most part, it's not that different than traveling in a car. The planes are completely closed, and there are rows of seats with uncomfortable cushions and very little leg room." They looked somewhat disappointed. Lauren knew what would help her explanation. "But if you get a window seat, the view is like nothing you two have ever seen before. I've flown through the clouds and been high enough to look down on them. They look so solid, but when flying through them, it's like nothing more than being shrouded in fog. I've seen mountain ranges from so high in the air that they look like nothing more than anthills on the ground. From that height, everything looks like children's toys."
They were utterly captivated by her descriptions. "Would we be able to fly in one of these airplanes?" Legolas asked, glancing back up toward the sky where they had seen the plane.
Lauren glanced at her watch. "Maybe tomorrow. I don't know how much time we have left, but you two have been here for about six and a half hours. If you normally sleep for eight hours or so, we don't have much time left. We can see the city tonight and I'll plan for us to fly a bit tomorrow. How does that sound?"
"Very good," Legolas answered, happy that he would get to experience flight.
Lauren grinned and started the car after making sure that they were both in their seatbelts. She placed her hand on the back of Aragorn's headrest and looked behind them to back out of the rather tight parking space. After putting the car into drive, she pulled smoothly back out onto the road leading into the city. She noticed that Aragorn was watching all of her movements very carefully while Legolas was looking more at their surroundings. Aragorn seemed a little uneasy every time she took a hand off the steering wheel to adjust her visor, fiddle with the radio, or gesture at something along the road.
He finally had to say something. "Should you not keep both hands on the steering device?"
She smiled reassuringly at him. "Do you have to keep both hands firmly on the reins of your horse at all times? Relax, Aragorn. I know what I'm doing."
"A horse does not travel nearly as quickly nor is one nearly as deadly," Aragorn retorted.
"Fine," Lauren said, conceding the point as she made sure both of her hands were on the steering wheel. It was good timing as she heard a siren from behind her. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw a fire truck barreling down on them. She easily pulled the car to the side, out of the way of the truck. It zoomed past them, sirens blaring and generally making more noise than anyone from Middle-earth would have experienced before. Looking at them, she found both Aragorn and Legolas with their hands clamped firmly over their ears. Their faces were pale and they seemed to be in pain. "Are you two OK?" she asked.
They lowered their hands slowly, and Aragorn voiced the question they both wanted to ask. "What was that horrendous thing?"
"A fire truck," Lauren said. As she pulled back into traffic, she explained about emergency vehicles and the rules stating that they had the right of way. If a police car, ambulance, or fire truck needed through, lives could be on the line, so people had to get out of their way as quickly as they could. This led to more questions, and Lauren ended up explaining traffic laws such as speed limits, right of way, and driver's etiquette.
"Idiot!" The exclamation burst from Lauren's mouth as a driver cut in front of her, barely inches away from her front bumper. She was forced to stomp on the brakes to keep from rear-ending the other car. "I can't believe that!" she raged. She watched as the other car then proceeded to weave in and out of traffic, trying to find the gaps in traffic to get him to his destination just a few minutes quicker. "That idiot is going to cause an accident," she muttered, her body tensing up as she found herself dealing with the kinds of traffic that she had to face on a daily basis. "No one around here knows how to drive. It's ridiculous. That's just the kind of driver I try to avoid at all costs. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed yet."
Aragorn had braced his hands quickly on the dashboard as the car decelerated abruptly and Legolas had caught himself on the back of Aragorn's seat. They now looked at Lauren in astonishment. While they had seen her in many different moods, they had never seen her like this.
"Lauren?" Aragorn asked tentatively.
"Yeah?" she asked, looking briefly in his direction.
"Are you OK?" he asked, borrowing one of her phrases.
"I'm fine," she replied tersely.
"You seem a little…" his voice trailed off as he could not decide how to describe her mood.
"Peeved, ticked, a little irate?" she asked easily, her breathing slowing as she began to calm down..
Aragorn was unsure of the meaning of the first two words, but irate did seem to describe her at the moment. He nodded.
"Sorry," she said. "If it was just that one idiot, I wouldn't have reacted like this. But I see people driving like that nearly every day. There are a lot of idiots out there who really should not have driver's licenses."
"You seem to enjoy calling people idiots," Legolas observed.
Lauren shot him a grin in the rearview mirror. "Just be glad I don't call them something stronger."
She had been driving on city streets for awhile now, and noticed that Aragorn flinched whenever she got closer than he liked to cars that were parked along the street. There was an entrance to the highway just up ahead. She thought that she would be able to go a little faster on the highway, which was something she would enjoy. If they could avoid having cars on the side of the road that might be too close to Aragorn's side of the car, he might be able to relax a bit more, as well. Glancing in her mirrors, she pulled into the exit lane and smoothly headed down the ramp. A slightly stronger curse emerged from her lips as she saw the traffic at almost a dead stop. "Just great," she muttered. She inched her way into the traffic when she reached the bottom of the ramp and then inched along the highway.
"I must subconsciously hate myself," she muttered.
"Why do you say that?" Legolas asked in confusion, staring at the reflection of her eyes in the mirror.
"Because we're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. I really hate driving in this, and this whole thing came from my mind. Therefore, I seem to be trying to torture myself." Since they were not moving at all, she leaned her head back against the seat and bounced her head lightly off the headrest a couple of times.
Aragorn wanted to calm her down, she was far too tense. He remembered one of the songs she had played when she was teaching them about astronomy. The lyrics and details of the melody escaped him, but he could remember the opening notes. With a thought, the music switched from the fast paced song that had been playing to the opening of the mellow song. He trusted that her mind would pick up the song and keep it going. That guess was proven correct as the song continued past the point he could remember.
With a smile, Lauren glanced over at Aragorn. "You're getting to know me far too well. You've guessed the real reason I listen to music while I drive. It keeps me calmer, if not really mellow. Whenever I get too stressed over the traffic or other drivers, I shift my attention to the music and let it bring me out of that tense mood." Her body was relaxing as she spoke.
"I was not sure it would work," Aragorn admitted. "But I remembered you saying that music affected your mood. I decided it was worth a test."
"Well, it worked," Lauren said. She looked to either side of the car and saw large semi trucks. They were effectively sandwiched. "I'm getting a little claustrophobic, here," she said. "So why don't we do something about that?" With a dramatic wave of the hand, all the traffic disappeared, leaving an empty road. "Ooh, I like that," she murmured to herself. "I wish I could do that on the days I'm running late for work." A wicked grin crossed her face as she began accelerating. The road in front of them changed from the city highway to a long, straight, flat stretch of road. "I've always wanted to know what it felt like to drive at a hundred miles an hour."
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged panicked glances. Their hair whipped around their heads as the car sped down the road. Aragorn grabbed the handle on the door. But as the car accelerated and nothing bad happened, they began to relax. This was actually rather fun.
Lauren changed the song on the radio to something with a driving rock beat. Mellow songs did not fit flying down the road like this. This was definitely something she could never do in reality, but here, there was nothing to stop them. She just had to make sure there was nothing in the road that she might run into. She looked over at Aragorn and saw him relaxing back into the seat and resting his arm on the top of the door. A glance in her rearview mirror showed that Legolas had his arms outstretched and his head tilted back as he enjoyed the feel that was created by driving at this speed. He didn't even seem to mind her music, for once.
Eventually, Lauren slowed the car down and came to a stop. Her eyes were bright and she was practically bouncing. "Who needs caffeine? That is more of a stimulant any day!" She looked over at Aragorn thoughtfully. "Would you like to try driving?"
Aragorn looked back at her in astonishment. "You want me to drive this vehicle?"
"I thought you might enjoy it," Lauren answered. "I noticed that you were watching everything I did. I could teach you pretty quickly how to do it." She gestured at their surroundings. There was absolutely nothing around them; no obstacles or anything for a new driver to bump into. "I wouldn't expect you to go very fast, but I thought you might like the experience."
Aragorn glanced uncertainly over to Legolas. "Would you like to try?"
"No, my friend. I have no desire to operate this vehicle. But that should not stop you." Legolas gestured with his hands to indicate the driver's seat.
With a nod, Aragorn glanced back over to Lauren. "I believe I would like to try it."
"Good," Lauren said as she and Aragorn got out and switched seats. She showed Aragorn how to adjust the seat to make it more comfortable for himself. There was a very quick lesson on the basics, namely which pedal to push to go and which one to push to stop. After getting a quick explanation of how to steer and how to change the gear from park to drive, Aragorn was ready to make the car move. Following Lauren's instructions, he pushed on the brakes and shifted the car into drive. Gently easing his foot off the brake pedal, he moved his foot over to step on the gas. Since he was inexperienced with how much pressure was necessary, the car shot forward suddenly. In a panic, Aragorn stepped on the brakes, forcing his passengers to brace themselves to keep from being thrown forward.
"OK," Lauren said. "Now you have an idea of what the pedals do. Let's try this again. More gently this time."
Aragorn looked very unsure of himself, but took his foot off the brake pedal and very gently put his foot on the gas pedal. The car began inching forward. After several minutes of going about three miles an hour, he gained enough confidence to increase their speed up to nearly ten miles an hour. Lauren watched the fascinated expression on Aragorn's face with proud amusement. As he was gaining enough confidence to increase their speed even more, Lauren noticed that his hands were becoming transparent. "You should probably stop the car, now," she said in a calm voice to avoid alarming Aragorn.
He did so, putting the car back in park before looking at her. "Why did we have to stop?" There was a disappointed look on his face.
Lauren grinned. "It may have escaped your attention, but you're waking up. I just didn't want to be in the passenger seat of this car when the driver disappeared."
Aragorn looked down at himself in confusion. "So I am," he remarked. He barely had time to nod his head at her in acknowledgment and say, "Until tomorrow night," before he vanished completely. A glance in the backseat confirmed that Legolas had also vanished.
Lauren shifted over to sit in the driver's seat. "Well, here I sit in a shiny red convertible. There must be someplace I can go to show this off." She put the car in gear and headed down the road, wondering where she would end up.
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