Disclaimer: Middle-Earth, Valinor, and the Eldar all belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. The story is mine.

This chapter is, once again, written in first-person. This will eventually make sense to those of you who have not yet figured out the literary technique I am employing. Once again, very short and to the point.

Chapter 3

I used to find solace in the creative reaches of my mind. In my solitude, however painful it was, I could spend hours filling in the void forced upon me. Unspoken words found their volume inside of me, and what once seemed only empty space soon would fill with color and sound.

I dreamt of air filled with laughter that I could easily inhale into my lungs. I felt as though the wind was no longer cold and biting, but warm and soothing, carrying the soft words of love I'd never before heard, easing the pain of loneliness that saturated my soul. The sun's warm touch became the embrace of a friend, the touch of a loved one, where before it was as stinging as a slap.

When I discovered this gift of creation, however evanescent it may have been, I found peace, for a time. For one thousand years, the first one thousand years of my isolation, I was forced to find ways to be content. And it worked, again, only for a time.

But, in the silence of millennia, my contrived content gave way to desolation. No amount of believed voice could replace the joy of song, the peaceful, musical language of my kin.

But in this, I found my weakness. I could still make myself believe that the Eldar were my kin, that they would one day recognize me as one of their own. But one night, cool and dark like all others, the sound of the creaking metal of lanterns roused me from my almost-slumber and from the hope of dreaming.

The beautiful procession stole my breath, but not because of its ethereality, though it was certainly that. I felt as though I'd just been hit savagely in the stomach and all my life's breath was leaving me. For this procession embodied the destruction of my greatest hopes and imaginings.

The Eldar were leaving Middle-Earth for Valinor, for peace from the evil in the world. They were escaping the pain that I had no chance of losing for my entire life, a life that I would be forced to endure in the world of Men. For they were leaving me behind.

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Miss Caribbean-Satine, thank you for the review. I hope I can keep you intrigued!