GOLDEN MEMORY

Departing Lorien, Sam quickly bent to collect one fine Mallorn leaf. He thought it lost in Mordor until Gandalf produced his tattered pack some weeks after their rescue. At the bottom, dry and brown, the leaf crumbled to dust, and he cried that such beauty should fade.

Then the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood arrived for the wedding of their granddaughter. Galadriel bent to gift Sam with a new, beautifully formed golden leaf, murmuring as she kissed his brow, "This one will not fade. Keep it in remembrance of what was and in hope of what may be."

END

HOME

Elrond leaned out over the rail to watch dolphins leap and play beside the prow. Where the ship sliced through waves sunlight caught the spray, creating a miniature rainbow. Tears prickled as he remembered those that had formed about the base of the many waterfalls of Imladris, his home for centuries untold. The home where they had raised their children. Would he ever see his sons again? Arwen, he had already lost.

He had never seen the West. His gaze was drawn to the horizon, where she who still held his heart, waited. He was going home. Going to Celebrian.

END

SHADOW

As a faunt, shadows troubled him. Enter a candle-lit room and they flickered in wild and unpredictable shapes. Outside Frodo peopled the deep shadowed woodlands with evil trolls and dragons.

Then Uncle Bilbo came, and they strolled among the trees or played shadow tag in the garden. In the evening Frodo sat in Bilbo's lap as shadow rabbits and birds cavorted on the nursery wall. Bilbo made his nephew's world a safe and happy place again.

Now shadows have returned and tall hooded shapes devour gentle childhood friends. Frodo is swallowed too; become a shadow of that once bright child.

END

THERE IS A TIME

His was the ring of air. The gifting was hurried, with no time to interrogate his friend in its uses, so it took time to truly learn its ways. Even after three thousand years, it still had the capacity to surprise.

Now Master Baggins and Mithrandir return, with tales of fire and battle, death and gold, and their arrival brings a strange, faint discord, to the clean airs of Imladris. Sinking into domed, blue depths, Elrond attempts to isolate the cause but the ring of air is silent.

Then he hears Vilya's soft whisper, "The time is not yet. Wait."

END

STARLIGHT BREAKING

It seemed every elf in Middle earth now travelled through Imladris, making for the Havens, and Elrond understood their longing.

He settled upon a boulder at the edge of the lake, grateful for a few hours of peace. Serene black water reflected the timeless stars of Elbereth so perfectly, that Elrond felt he floated within the very midst of the heavens. Then the image wavered, as a thousands raindrops began to fall. A circle widened, intersecting another and another and another, setting the whole surface in motion.

The time of starlight was past. The Fellowship must set out this dawn.

END