Disclaimer: Not mine, except the plot. Oak is mine... :)
Breeze
Meriadoc Brandybuck took in a deep breath of early morning air before running down the lane. He had no reason to rush- after all, Pippin was a slow sleeper and possibly not even up by now. He smirked to himself. All the more reason to get there even earlier.
The Brandywine river was running in the usual swift manner, the water striking against the rocks and splashing about. He sat down with a sigh, expecting a long wait. For once, his cousin surprised him.
"Merry?"
"Over here, Pip," he said with a wave.
"Merry! Where- where are you?"
Merry shook his head in amusement. "I'm near the river."
"Near the river? Even I'm not that stupid, Merry." Pippin's voice grew louder as he approached. "You said we were meeting near the woods, not in this dreadful place where the water can swallow you whole..." Pippin was slowly walking towards him. "Merry?"
"What?"
"If you fall in, you might drown."
Merry laughed. "That's why I'm going to learn how to swim. Then I should never be afraid of the water again."
"But what if you drown while you're learning?" Pippin timidly took a step closer.
"Then you can finally have that book I have, the one with the gold trim. "
"Merry!" Pippin cried, turning white.
Merry laughed again.
"It's not funny!"
Merry shook his head with silent laughter and motioned for Pippin to sit by him.
"Are you crazy? I could fall and break my head, or drown, or die... or worse..." Without saying what could be worse, Pippin shyly stood next to Merry.
"See? Isn't it beautiful?" Merry said after a silent hush.
"I don't see any girls-"
"I'm not talking about girls, sit down."
"I might fall-" Pippin said in protest while doing what he was told.
"Well, you didn't. " Merry pointed out.
The two sat in a long, still silence.
"Merry?"
"What?" the older one replied, irritated.
"What did you want me to see?"
"Here, look at this!" Merry pointed to an ancient oak tree, a light shining in his eyes. "That!" he said, motioning to the river. "I wanted you to see the birds as they fly south- look, right there! I wanted you to see to wonders of a river- did you see that fish jump?"
Pippin shook his head. "I missed it."
"I wanted you to feel the breeze of early winter!" Merry said, standing up.
Pippin leaned away from his excited cousin. "Merry, you're scaring me."
"Am I? Isn't it normal, Pip, for someone to want to share these simple things so overlooked?"
Pippin looked at him like he was mad and shook his head vigorously.
Merry sighed. "Pippin, have you ever stepped outside to a nice, cool breeze on a hot day?"
"Who hasn't?" the irritated young hobbit replied.
"And?"
Pippin stared blankly. "What?"
Merry sighed, disappointed. A cold silence came between the two. A moment later, a robin's sweet song pierced the still air, followed by a nightingale and a trio of cardinals, flitting from tree to tree in search of seeds.
"Do you hear the birds, Pip?"
"Yes. They sound nice. " Pippin glanced slyly over at Merry. "Did you know that birds sing to find a mate?"
"Where'd you hear that?'
"A little bird told me " Pippin said smugly, sniggering at his own joke. Merry scoffed and rolled his eyes. Pippin glanced at the the river again and shivered. "How deep is it, Mer?"
Merry saw his worried expression. "We can stand in this part. " With those words, Merry stood up and walked right in.
"Merry! Merry!" Pippin stood up, frightened. "Merry! You could drown!"
"And you can get a heart attack right now. "
"Merry! I'll, I'll-"
"What?"
"Tell Esmerelda!"
There was a startled silence from Merry as he took this in. Then, he laughed.
"What?" Pippin asked, embarrassment replacing his fear.
"Go ahead, tell my mother, she's done this a million times."
Now it was Pippin's turn to be shocked into silence. "I thought you liked Es-"
"Of course I like my mother. "
"But I thought-"
"Pippin, you meant Estell-" With an animated yelp, Merry seemed to disappear into the fast water.
"Merry!" Pippin screamed, color drained from his face. "I'll, I'll... I'll kill you!" He rushed towards the water, and without a second thought, he charged in.
The water swirled around his legs, rushing forward to crash off the rocks with a white spray. He glanced down, frightened that he would be swept under like Merry. Where did Merry end up, anyway?
Pippin glanced around the water quickly. There! Over by those weeds. He frowned to himself. Funny, the water wasn't moving that fast to move him all the way over there. Maybe the water was more dangerous then he thought. How could he have been so stupid?
"Merry!" He called uselessly, splashing over to the weeds. He reached in and grabbed his cousin, trying to yank him up from the water. "Come on..." He walked backwards, dragging Merry behind him. "Almost there..."
Pippin dragged Merry up on shore, his strength drained out of him. However, Merry popped right up, a grin as wide as the sky. "You did it, Pippin!"
"You . . . tricked me?" Pippin cried in disbelief.
"It was the only way to get you in the water," Merry explained calmly.
"But, but... you could of drownded!"
Merry sighed. " Yes, we established that. Anything else?"
Pippin glowered and glared at the ground for a minute. "Well, that was an awful mean trick you played, Meriadoc, and I ought to tell whatever-her-name-" He glanced up to give his cousin a especially mean glare- but found he wasn't there.
"Merry?"
Silence.
Pippin could hear the sound of the water flowing, and could feel the cool breeze flowing through the tress. Pippin could hear the birds. He glanced across the river to a old oak tree, stunningly strong and gorgeous for it's old age.
It truly was beautiful. Pippin felt a pang of sadness that Merry had left too early too see it.
...
"Grandy, you might drown!" The young hobbit called.
The old hobbit smiled and splashed a bit in the river. "Nah, I used to do this... well, I didn't but..."
"Grandy! I'm telling Grammy!"
"Oh, why don't you! She'd probably join me!"
The young hobbit narrowed his eyes at his grandfather, who was walking out of the water now. "What's so 'pecial about this place?" he pouted, "You said you where taking me somewhere awesome, with rocks. "
His grandfather pointed. "You're sitting on a rock right now, Oak."
The boy glanced down, but didn't say anything.
His grandfather sat beside him. "Merry was the one who showed me this place," he said after a pause.
"Merry? Is he the one with 'dat sickness, who coughs all the time?"
The older one nodded, sadness in his clear brown eyes.
"Is that how he got sick?" the child asked with innocence.
The older one looked down. "No." With a sigh, he continued. "He used to go into the water just like I did." The old hobbit suddenly stood up. "Stand, Oak." He said, pulling him to his feet. "Feel the breeze!" He commanded, stretching Oak's arms. "And those birds- can you hear them?"
The young hobbit opened his eyes in mild surprise. " I can feel it! I hear them! "
"See the oak tree over there?"
This is where the young one was confused. "Grandy, why did they name a tree after me?"
The other shook his head with a laugh. "No, Oak. That tree was there when I was a little one... it's what you were named for."
"It looks like a good tree," Oak said with a smile. "Like Treebeard?"
His Grandy laughed. "Treebeard is much, much taller."
"Oh." The little boy said, gazing at the very top of the tree. He couldn't imagine anything taller than that.
"Pippin, dear! Oak!" Diamond called out from somewhere in the surrounding trees.
"Grandy, can we fish here?" He asked, ignoring his Grammy.
Pippin winked at his grandson. He may be old in body, but he was still a child at heart. "Maybe tomorrow, Oak. For now, we should stay comfortable with our small breeze and the sound of the birds. " He picked up the boy.
"Grandy, will the breeze follow us?"
"Maybe it will, Oak, maybe it will."
So, maybe you enjoyed it? Maybe you have some suggestions? I'd love to hear it- please review! :)
Thanks~