Author's Note: I was struck by inspiration really late last night, and I couldn't get the idea out of my head, so to put myself out of my misery (you will not believe how long I stayed up, thinking about this!), I went to the bathroom, and wrote this. (It was really late, and my dad hates it when I stay up on a school night.) I was thinking about Frodo, and the way he must have felt after returning to The Shire—I can relate to the alienation, the weird displacement…But I don't want to give too much away! Enjoy, and don't hesitate to review (Please?!)

The Prodigal Returns

The house does not call out to you,

as you wind your way up the

Road.

It stands there,

just as you left it.

But the memories of happier times

do not float before your eyes.

You wander from room to room,

weary from your journey.

But you cannot rest, not

yet.

Why?

Why don't the curtains draped across the windows

remind you

of anything?

You cannot help feeling

disappointed.

Homecoming.

The warmth, the desperate happiness—

none of them are yours.

But you are content.

Content

with watching the neighbors

exchange gossip,

elbows perched on the windowsill.

You are content

to see the first lilacs open,

Their fragrance thickening the night air.

Content with the smell of fried eggs

in the morning.

But,

the roads seem different.

You are no longer fascinated

by the once-mysterious bends

in the old paths you used to walk.

There is no wonder in them anymore.

Everything is known,

everyone who passes you on market day

is known.

This place seems to have stayed the same.

Have you?

A wise man once told you that people

never really change.

But is it your imagination,

or is a wiser light

reflected in your eyes?

You lay awake night after night,

shoulder twinging

The Moon cannot keep the icy cold Terror

at bay.

Could it be that this is no longer Home?

No.

It no longer is Home.

You know it, even if you do not accept it.

Cannot accept it, because it means the irretrievable is lost.

But it is a Place of Rest.

It will be your Place of Rest,

until you journey out

to find Home once more.