Author's Note: Yay for Courtney! The person for whom this story has been
composed has finally reviewed. I'm beginning to think that if I update
sometime that's not in the ungodly hours of the night, than more people
might happen across my fic. Now lets test this theory! Thank you to
everyone who read my story, and especially the two who reviewed!!!
Disclaimer: As many of my friends find it important to remind me (a little too often for my taste), the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien has departed from this world. Therefore, alas, I am not he (although, I wish I was... which you would know if you read my previous disclaimers!!! Hehehe!). I do not own any of these characters or any of the excerpts from The Two Towers or The Return of the King (all of which are cited at the bottom of the fic!).
Recollections of Samwise Gamgee
Chapter 2
Dawning
The day dawned bright and clear, the rays of light, refracting against the fog, obscured the landscape. However, this obscurity was not the cold and dark distortion Sam had known during his nocturnal wanderings. This obscurity was one of dazzling light, giving even the dullest object a blinding quality.
Sam was forced out of his morbid musings to squint and wonder at the shimmering spectrum encasing his homeland.
"Just like the light that used to come form the Lady's phial, before Mr. Frodo took it across the Great Waters."
Sam's momentary amphora soon sank back into gloom. Subconsciously, he marveled at his own concentration, so intense that not even the glistening fields and meadows below could distract him from his misery.
The sun slowly burned away the shimmering spectacle and the day began, at long last. With the distraction gone, Sam's mind, once more, was completely immersed in his heavy thoughts.
" 'Where are you going, Master?' cried Sam, though at last he understood what was happening.
'To the havens, Sam,' said Frodo.
'And I can't come.'
'No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. Don't be too sad, Sam. You cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.'
'But,' said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you've done.'
'So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, loose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Eleanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor, of course, as long as you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part of the Story goes on.
'Come now, ride with me!'" (1)
Sam's head sank morosely into his hands as the memory replayed itself vaguely through his mind. Yet, another recollection burned antagonizingly clear, reverberating in the vaults of his head...
" 'Good-bye, master, my dear!' he murmured. 'Forgive your Sam. He'll come back to this spot when the job's done-if he manages it. And then he'll not leave you again. Rest you quiet till I come; and my not foul creature come and anguish you!'" (2)
" 'You fool, he isn't dead, and you knew it in your heart. Don't trust your head, Samwise, it's not the best part of you. The trouble with you is that you never really had any hope. Now what's to be done?'
...
'I got it all wrong!' he cried. 'I knew I would. Now they've got him, the devils! the filth! Never leave your master, never, never: that was my right rule. And I knew it in my heart. May I be forgiven!'" (3)
"Never leave your Master. That was my right rule! Maybe I never should have..."
- - - - - - -
Merry and Pippin rode through the mists at a steady pace. However, contrary to Samwise, they rode in a state of bewildered awe. The shining mists gave the overhanging trees the perpetuated quality of the glades found only in Lothlorien.
"Merry, have you ever seen such a sight?" "Not in this lifetime," murmured Merry in response. "It seems fitting, though, that the world should turn all to white today... Remember how white the sky was that day at the Havens? The gulls Legolas spoke of almost disappeared into the pure white of the sky. But even the sky of that day doesn't compare to his..."
Merry's voice was quite and dampened by the water, which hung in the air. Pippin sighed and squinted his eyes as he peered into the flaring fog. He could barely make out the path before him. As the two hobbits made their way out of the Woody End the fog began to clear. The mists that had remained, clinging between and among the trees, was left behind. He could now decipher the familiar land around him. The alien sense of a celestial environment departed and Pippin, once again, set his mind on his goal.
"At what time, would you say, will we reach the stone, Merry?"
"Oh, I'd say some time a bit before tea time, by noon if we set a good pace, and keep it up."
"You don't suppose that Sam will have already wondered off by the time we get there, do you? We certainly don't need to go traipsing across the Shire into the dead of night searching for him. We tried that once, and don't you forget where that sent us."
"It sent us on the road to Isengard and to the places where we truly mattered, Pippin." Merry smiled at the memory, "And don't worry, I know our Sam... The way that he broods, he'll be sitting on the rock until well after nightfall. Here, lets quicken our pace, if it will ease your mind. Hopefully we can get through to him before he sinks into darkness once again."
With that, the two companions wheeled their ponies and set forth on their quest.
- - - - - - -
"Mama, when's Daddy coming home?" chimed little Rosie-lass, then a robust childe of three years.
"Your father will be home soon enough, dear one. As soon as he finishes today's work," Rosie answered her then youngest daughter.
"But what's Dad doing? Surely there can be no work this early in the morning!" Thus spoke the eldest boy, little Frodo-lad, then a strapping young man of five years. Rosie groaned inwardly at their inquisition, wanting nothing more than to momentarily forget of her Sam's actions. However, the curiosities of children are not so easily met.
"Daddy is of on a task of his own. He will be very tired when he returns home this evening, so we shall all try to make him feel better. Now eat your porridge and no more questions." Rosie hustled off to feed the baby, Merry. Rosie had, throughout the years, developed a set pattern to her actions. By concentrating on following this routine, she attempted to maintain a level of normalcy during such days. However, despite her self-chastisement, she could not prevent herself from gazing longingly out a window, searching for Sam's return. Nor could she quiet her children's inquiries as to the whereabouts of their father.
- - - - - - -
It was so that the day wore on, nearing its height, and answers were known to none.
Chapter 3 Coming Soon!
Citations: The Lord of the Rings, Book VI, The Grey Havens The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, The Choices of Master Samwise The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, The Choices of Master Samwise
Author's Note II: Thank you to anyone who took the time to read my story! I greatly appreciate it! But if you want me to appreciate you even more then just click on the little button at the bottom left corner of this page that reads "submit review" and let me know what you think! Any and all reviews are accepted and appreciated. I promise to respond to each and ever one of you who decide to review! If anyone has any other questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to send me an e-mail at Ladyevenstar14@aol.com!
Disclaimer: As many of my friends find it important to remind me (a little too often for my taste), the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien has departed from this world. Therefore, alas, I am not he (although, I wish I was... which you would know if you read my previous disclaimers!!! Hehehe!). I do not own any of these characters or any of the excerpts from The Two Towers or The Return of the King (all of which are cited at the bottom of the fic!).
Recollections of Samwise Gamgee
Chapter 2
Dawning
The day dawned bright and clear, the rays of light, refracting against the fog, obscured the landscape. However, this obscurity was not the cold and dark distortion Sam had known during his nocturnal wanderings. This obscurity was one of dazzling light, giving even the dullest object a blinding quality.
Sam was forced out of his morbid musings to squint and wonder at the shimmering spectrum encasing his homeland.
"Just like the light that used to come form the Lady's phial, before Mr. Frodo took it across the Great Waters."
Sam's momentary amphora soon sank back into gloom. Subconsciously, he marveled at his own concentration, so intense that not even the glistening fields and meadows below could distract him from his misery.
The sun slowly burned away the shimmering spectacle and the day began, at long last. With the distraction gone, Sam's mind, once more, was completely immersed in his heavy thoughts.
" 'Where are you going, Master?' cried Sam, though at last he understood what was happening.
'To the havens, Sam,' said Frodo.
'And I can't come.'
'No, Sam. Not yet anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. Don't be too sad, Sam. You cannot always be torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.'
'But,' said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you've done.'
'So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, loose them, so that others may keep them. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Eleanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor, of course, as long as you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part of the Story goes on.
'Come now, ride with me!'" (1)
Sam's head sank morosely into his hands as the memory replayed itself vaguely through his mind. Yet, another recollection burned antagonizingly clear, reverberating in the vaults of his head...
" 'Good-bye, master, my dear!' he murmured. 'Forgive your Sam. He'll come back to this spot when the job's done-if he manages it. And then he'll not leave you again. Rest you quiet till I come; and my not foul creature come and anguish you!'" (2)
" 'You fool, he isn't dead, and you knew it in your heart. Don't trust your head, Samwise, it's not the best part of you. The trouble with you is that you never really had any hope. Now what's to be done?'
...
'I got it all wrong!' he cried. 'I knew I would. Now they've got him, the devils! the filth! Never leave your master, never, never: that was my right rule. And I knew it in my heart. May I be forgiven!'" (3)
"Never leave your Master. That was my right rule! Maybe I never should have..."
- - - - - - -
Merry and Pippin rode through the mists at a steady pace. However, contrary to Samwise, they rode in a state of bewildered awe. The shining mists gave the overhanging trees the perpetuated quality of the glades found only in Lothlorien.
"Merry, have you ever seen such a sight?" "Not in this lifetime," murmured Merry in response. "It seems fitting, though, that the world should turn all to white today... Remember how white the sky was that day at the Havens? The gulls Legolas spoke of almost disappeared into the pure white of the sky. But even the sky of that day doesn't compare to his..."
Merry's voice was quite and dampened by the water, which hung in the air. Pippin sighed and squinted his eyes as he peered into the flaring fog. He could barely make out the path before him. As the two hobbits made their way out of the Woody End the fog began to clear. The mists that had remained, clinging between and among the trees, was left behind. He could now decipher the familiar land around him. The alien sense of a celestial environment departed and Pippin, once again, set his mind on his goal.
"At what time, would you say, will we reach the stone, Merry?"
"Oh, I'd say some time a bit before tea time, by noon if we set a good pace, and keep it up."
"You don't suppose that Sam will have already wondered off by the time we get there, do you? We certainly don't need to go traipsing across the Shire into the dead of night searching for him. We tried that once, and don't you forget where that sent us."
"It sent us on the road to Isengard and to the places where we truly mattered, Pippin." Merry smiled at the memory, "And don't worry, I know our Sam... The way that he broods, he'll be sitting on the rock until well after nightfall. Here, lets quicken our pace, if it will ease your mind. Hopefully we can get through to him before he sinks into darkness once again."
With that, the two companions wheeled their ponies and set forth on their quest.
- - - - - - -
"Mama, when's Daddy coming home?" chimed little Rosie-lass, then a robust childe of three years.
"Your father will be home soon enough, dear one. As soon as he finishes today's work," Rosie answered her then youngest daughter.
"But what's Dad doing? Surely there can be no work this early in the morning!" Thus spoke the eldest boy, little Frodo-lad, then a strapping young man of five years. Rosie groaned inwardly at their inquisition, wanting nothing more than to momentarily forget of her Sam's actions. However, the curiosities of children are not so easily met.
"Daddy is of on a task of his own. He will be very tired when he returns home this evening, so we shall all try to make him feel better. Now eat your porridge and no more questions." Rosie hustled off to feed the baby, Merry. Rosie had, throughout the years, developed a set pattern to her actions. By concentrating on following this routine, she attempted to maintain a level of normalcy during such days. However, despite her self-chastisement, she could not prevent herself from gazing longingly out a window, searching for Sam's return. Nor could she quiet her children's inquiries as to the whereabouts of their father.
- - - - - - -
It was so that the day wore on, nearing its height, and answers were known to none.
Chapter 3 Coming Soon!
Citations: The Lord of the Rings, Book VI, The Grey Havens The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, The Choices of Master Samwise The Lord of the Rings, Book IV, The Choices of Master Samwise
Author's Note II: Thank you to anyone who took the time to read my story! I greatly appreciate it! But if you want me to appreciate you even more then just click on the little button at the bottom left corner of this page that reads "submit review" and let me know what you think! Any and all reviews are accepted and appreciated. I promise to respond to each and ever one of you who decide to review! If anyone has any other questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to send me an e-mail at Ladyevenstar14@aol.com!
