CHAPTER 01 | LIFE IS STRANGE

I like to think of life as a pendulum. In the pendulum that is life, there are two sides to it: the good and the bad. The pendulum primarily ticks at the center of it all where everything is calm and normal, keeping a healthy rhythm which gives us balance. Some people's pendulums tend to favor one side more than the other, but I'd say the majority of people are in that comfy middle space. I love this middle space because I love predictability.

Unfortunately, I find myself deep on the 'life sucks and I hate everything' side of things on a late Friday night.

I sigh and scroll mindlessly through my phone, my eyes glazed over as I scan the headlines of pop culture articles. Not even my guilty pleasure can give me entertainment. The rain cloud hanging over my shoulders is too powerful, too depressing to allow any sliver of sunshine to glisten through.

In only a week, I've managed to get a fender-bender from an old lady, fail my Intro to Sociology exam, break my cruddy microwave, and—for the icing on the cake—I managed to shatter my favorite vase because I'd tripped on my own feet. Rest in peace, my turtle-shaped vase, for you'll be sorely missed; may you find peace in your pottery-cluttered heaven. At least my zebra-plant, Bougie, survived the fall. Having to face the death of my beloved plants would be the final straw; the hypothetical disaster would break me. My houseplants are all I have for company since I live alone.

"You like plants more than you like people," my dad had joked several times over the years.

Well, yeah, I guess I do. It's why I'm getting a business degree to open my own flower shop, after all. I frown. It shouldn't matter that I failed the Intro to Sociology exam—it's not my major!

My thoughts are interrupted as lightning turns my room white, and a deafening crack of thunder makes my tiny apartment vibrate. I flinch at the racket; with the way my luck is right now, it's only a matter of time before lightning strikes me down just for the fun of it. It's honestly amazing how terribly everything has gone all at once. I deserve a medal.

"Hopefully the DoorDash guy's alright," I mutter beneath my breath.

I roll off my couch and gracefully stumble my way over to my window. Peeking through the blinds, but it's hard to make out the outside world when heavy rain pelts the glass panes. Whoever delivers my much-needed Chinese takeout deserves a big tip.

With a new task in mind, I scrounge my apartment for cash. Time passes by quickly, and there's a knock on the door before I'm ready with my payment. I whisper a curse and hightail it to the door with my hand still shoved into my wallet. With my free hand, I crack open the door and offer a sympathetic smile to the sopping-wet teen outside.

I start saying, "Thank you so much for doing this with the rain—"

"Sage Amira?" he cuts me off, reading the order from his phone. "Orange chicken, veggie lo mein, eggdrop soup, and crab rangoon?"

My smile fades away. So much for being polite. "Yeah, that's me."

"That'll be $12.89."

I fish out a twenty and hand it to him. "Um, keep the change for your tip."

The money perks him up instantly, and he has a wide grin as he hands me my food. "Thanks! Have a good night."

I lock the door behind me and plop down on the couch again. With practiced movements, I load Netflix onto my laptop and position my food around me so it's easy to dine without having to tear my eyes from the screen. I spend more time looking for a show than anything else, torn between rewatching the classic Lord of the Rings movies or trying out the new documentary about the crazy tiger guy. It's a close call, but my nostalgia for LOTR wins out.

Peace eases my mind as I indulge in The Fellowship of the Ring and eggdrop soup. The familiar strings of "Concerning Hobbits" brings me joy. It's been far too long since my last rewatch, I muse. These movies are like old friends you're always glad to see. What I wouldn't give to live a tranquil life as a simple hobbit of Hobbiton (movie version, of course, so I don't have to go through The Scouring of The Shire).

Drowsiness falls over me as I snuggle into my throw blanket and yawn into my hand. Bleary-eyed, I finish my meal by cracking open my fortune cookie. I hold the tiny piece of paper dusted in crumbs up to my laptop to read the tiny print inked upon it.

"A new adventure awaits you," I read aloud with a scoff. "Okay, Gandalf."

The movie has great comedic timing because as soon as the words leave my lips, Ian McKellen shouts his famous: "You shall not pass!"

I giggle and munch on the fortune cookie with a ghost of a smile. Maybe, just maybe, the fortune cookie will grant me enough good luck to get me back into the middle safety zone of my life's pendulum. The thought comforts me as I drift off into sleep.

Life is strange, yes, but some men consider Radagast the Brown much stranger. What wizard with powers of old would want to spend his days in isolation instead of exploring the depths of Middle-earth? Well, one who speaks to plants and animals, of course. Sure, he might lack the poise of Saruman the White and the cleverness of Gandalf the Gray, but he is not a figure to be written off. It would be foolish.

However, the oddity Radagast faces on the night of a late summer day has him questioning his sanity all the same. After deciding to follow a flock of birds to a nearby pool to see chicks he'd nursed back to health, he comes across an anomaly he's never seen before.

Beyond the twinkling pool lies a set of great oak trees as old as time. Fog rolls around the roots of the largest oak as the center of its trunk shines as brilliantly as the stars gleaming above. Strange energy emits from the pulsating mass, and the light emits a low whirring noise. Birds and faun flee to the area behind the wizard, peering at the glimmers in confused interest. This magic is not only foreign, but it's otherworldly.

Radagast's grip tightens on his staff.

Slowly, the glowing mass begins to take form. To Radagast's amazement, it takes the form of a human. Moonlight peeks through the great oak's canopy as the twinkling particles fade away and reveal the body of a young woman. A crown of ivy rests upon her dark hair, and her verdant dress has patterns of flowers etched into the cloth. Radagast mistakes her for an elf at first, but as he comes closer, the woman looks distinctly human.

A cold gale sweeps across the clearing, and an unknown voice as gelid as the wind whispers, "May the powers of the earth protect those bound to save it."

Those words echo in Radagast's ears, though he forces himself to silence them as he leans down to listen to the woman's breath. She's alive. Her face is pale, and her forehead is boiling to the touch, but she's very much alive.

Not if that fever has a say in it, he thinks to himself.

Yes, Radagast is strange. It's confirmed the moment he lifts the alien woman into his arms and embarks on a hurried journey home. He can't help it, though. Yes, it is strange how the woman fell out of a tree portal. Yes, it is strange how the wind whispered a prophecy moments after he approached her. Above all, though, it is strange how this seemingly human woman bears the same presence as the greenery around her. Not completely human, but most certainly not a plant.

Fortunately, Radagast is quite familiar with all things strange.

Author's Note

Thank you for deciding to take part in the adventure that is The Delusions of a Teenage Dryad! I hope you enjoy reading about the misadventures of Miss Sage Amira because she is going to have quite a lot of them. I haven't decided if there will be romance yet, but that's subject to change. The first few chapters will be on the slower side, but things will pick up soon :)

Reviews, follows, and favorites are much appreciated~