I can see through the tears in my eyes the figure watching me from the trees. I don't have to see clearly to know who it is. That'd be my old grandpa's special friend, Ralluen. It's rare to see a friendship between elves and men anymore, or so my mum says. I reckon it's a mite rarer now that my Grandpa's gone.

I turn back to the grave, no longer fresh after a week, and take a breath to gather myself. I miss him something fierce; we all do. He was a hunter, knowin' all sorts of things about little critters and how they think, knowin' what kinds of plants you can eat, which ones can save your life, and which can kill you before you can blink. Folk said he was a grim man, with a quick temper, and little laughter, but I knowed better. Sure, you just had to catch him on the right day, but iffen you could, he had the oddest and very best sense on humor I ever seen. It would be a quiet, offhand and quite clever comment here or there that would make you stop and look at him. And there, on his weathered, bearded face, would be the faintest smile and a sideways glance, and that was better than any great shout of laughter. He was fiercely loyal too; iffen you ever wanted someone to watch your back, it'd be my grandpa. Would've done anything to protect his folks, and Ralluen came home with him more than once on account of my grandpa savin' his life.

Folk also called him queer for the type of company he kept. He was often gone for long stretches of time, more often than naught comin' home with his elf friend, Ralluen. The elf carried a bow, as he told me many elves do, and a great gleamin' long-sword, with the prettiest letters and patterns you ever seen. He let me touch it once, when I was a little lad. Ralluen was the only one I ever seen make grandpa laugh outright. When they were home, I could hear their quiet voices talking late into the night about everything under the sky. I hopes that someday I'll like someone as much as grandpa did Ralluen. I think he took grandpa's loss harder than even me. It was as if something was gone from his eyes during the funeral. He was there, in the back, gripping that longbow for all he was worth. He didn't stay with us, though my mum offered, choosing instead to sleep among the stars and the trees.

I catch a slight movement in the trees, and I can see that the elf has left. I make a decision right then, that I'm not going to sit around feelin' sorry for myself, and it's not right to let him do it either. I couldn't bear it if I had to see him so sad and empty for the rest of my days. Maybe I can do something to make his life just a little better. So right quick, I shake myself off, turn back to the house, grab a warm loaf of bread, and head back out the door.

I walk through the yard, across the field, almost up to my waist now with green corn stalks, and into the woods. I am sure of my path, having walked it many times with my Grandpa. Somethin' tells me that that is where Ralluen will be. And as I approach the quiet little pond, I smile and see that I am right. I can see him with his back to a stump right by the water's edge, one foot in the clear water, longbow resting idly against his leg, watching the dragonflies. I try to walk up quietly, so as not to bother him, but I can't help it and step on a branch. Try as I might, I never could move as soft and Grandpa or Ralluen. What really worries me is that he doesn't notice. Normally, he would be up in an instant, a smile on his face, and call out a greeting. But he doesn't even stir.

I walk up and sit down next to him, cross-legged. I fidget with the warm bread in my hand, suddenly hesitant to speak. What if he doesn't want me? What could I do to help, anyway? But I've started this mad idea, and I'll be darned if I don't at least try something.

"R-Ralluen, sir?" I nearly squeak, extremely aware of how close I've decided to sit to him. Finally, he seems to notice me, and turns his face to look at me. There's so much sadness locked up in those eyes that I want to cry. He doesn't answer me, just sits there, and waits for me to continue.

"Well," I start again, clearin' my throat, "I brought you some of that bread that my mum makes that you like so much. Not that you couldn't find your own food out here, but roasted squirrel isn't the same as fresh bread."

He looks at me for a moment longer, then shakes his head lightly, his light brown hair swishing softly around his shoulders.

"I'm not hungry," he whispers. I scoot a little closer and place the bread in his free hand, and try again.

"I don't know how that's possible, seen as you've not come around for a good week, and there's been no sign of your fire around either." I squint at him suspiciously. "Why, I'd reckon you haven't eaten at all this past week! You might be an elf, but all folk has got to eat." Still nothing. I decide to put all my cards on the table. "Please, Ralluen. If my mum finds out that you refused her fresh baked bread, it'd send her into a fit, and you know it. She'd march right out here, and make you eat it. So save us both the trouble, and eat a little?"

Finally, something seems to happen to the elf. He doesn't exactly smile, but there isn't such a great overwhelming sadness in his eyes for a moment. He accepts the bread, and spoks softly.

"It would be dangerous to upset your mother."

I grin broadly at his response, starting to feel a whole lot better myself. Mum told me once that I was never happy until everyone else in the room was smiling with me, and she was right. She usually is, and no one has the courage to tell her when she's not.

"Did I ever tell you about the time that I put a firecracker in mum's chicken coop when I promised her to chase away that skunk?"

"No, but I believe I remember seeing and smelling the aftermath of it."

By the end of the story, I can barely speak, I'm laughing so hard. Finally, would you know it, Ralluen gives me a real, honest-to-goodness smile, with a bite of bread in one cheek. I don't know if I've ever felt more rewarded. But just as soon, the smile disappears, and he looks distant.

"Please thank your mother for me." he murmurs, and just like that, he is gone.

I sit there for a moment, confused and hurt. Why did he just leave like that? Was it something I had done? I shake my head. It's still soon after Grandpa's death, and I had never seen them apart. Maybe it wasn't me. I'll still keep trying to reach him, though. It isn't right for anybody to be alone, no matter if he's an elf or man.