Legolas left home with naught but wet eyes, his mind more on the journey ahead then the people he left behind.
He glanced back when Mirkwood became a green streak on the horizon and he could no longer pick out an individual tree. The world blurred for an instant before he turned on light feet and skipped down the hill. When he looked back, he could no longer see Mirkwood.
"I am free," sang the elf prince.
Free of duties and jobs. Free of chores and responsibility. Free of everything but the obligation to enjoy the rocks on the rolling green slopes and the warm grass under his feet.
The wind ruffled his cloak as he gathered bunches of windflowers and shot down orcs among the same patches. Young and alone for the first time in his life, Legolas felt as if Mirkwood behind him was a distant dream.
Legolas listened to the wolves howl as guilt for not missing his father gnawed at him. He listened to the water gurgle in the creeks he trailed his fingers in as he forgot home and immersed himself in the moment. Yet still the birds chirped to him, making him wonder what Thranduil was doing now. Was he standing at the window waiting? Or doing paperwork as if nothing had happened; as if his son was not gone?
He was one blonde head in a new world. One heart alone.
One hundred days later, Legolas arrived home. The trees were new to him yet at the same time he remembered every pattern in their bark. He paused with a frown to contemplate the creeks he passed, the rocks he knew as if entering a dream he remembered every morning yet always forgot by noon.
Thranduil was waiting for him at the bridge; his arms open as his eyes searched for any subtle change in his son. Tired after a prolonged embrace, Legolas rolled into bed.
He awoke with wet cheeks and a damp pillow. Standing at the window, tears pooled in his eyes as he gazed at his home and realized how much he had missed it.
Thranduil found him weeping as if he had lost a loved one and came to give him a shoulder to cry on without a word.
"I missed home, ada," Legolas whispered. "All the nights I lay awake, berating myself for feeling nothing, I missed home. I did not realize it until now. I love this life even though I know a new one. I have worlds inside me now."
Thranduil kissed his forehead. "We all do, my little leaf, but we do not know it until we discover them."
The story of my trip to Australia through the eyes of an elf prince on his own journey. Legolas and I share feelings, it seems . . . It might not be as impressive a story as some of you expected but it is how travel felt to me.
Do let me know your thoughts and, if you have ever been traveling, I would love to know what the experience felt like to you.
Guest: Thank you ever so much for reading and sharing your thoughts! Since this is written in a different style then most of my writing, I am glad you enjoyed it and were able to connect with mine (and Legolas's feelings).