Home is behind

The world ahead

Home. Frodo could not remember home anymore. Sam talked to him of the Shire, but there was no recognition in his brain; no spark left. The place deep inside of him where the memory of all things he loved was shrinking as the power of the ring grew. The ring was his love. The ring was his home. He needed no other.

And there are many paths to tread

He would not give it up. It was a part of him; it was him. Sam was a fool for believing that he would give up his precious, so were the others who sent him on this quest. Their names danced elusively in the back of his mind. He was not frightened that he couldn't remember; he had been frightened too much already. He did not fear fear itself anymore. The ring was all he felt.

Mist and shadow

The power of the ring was growing in his mind, but Frodo was too far gone to care. The ring whispered to him; it called in foreign tongues that sinuously twisted around until all he could hear was the call of the ring.

("Throw it in, Mr. Frodo!")

Cloud and shade

Frodo smiled, and the molten lava exulted with him. He turned to face Sam, standing piteously near the entrance. "I have come, but I do not choose now to do what I have come to do. I will not do this deed. The ring is mine!"

And he flickered out of sight.

All shall fade

At the top of his tower, the eye screamed out. The great tower trembled, as its foundations shook. The Nazgul screeched, turning their fell beasts toward Mount Doom. But one got there faster. Gollum.

All shall fade

And Gollum struggled with Frodo, screaming, grasping, grappling frantically for his precious. Frodo screamed in pain as, with a crunch, the ring was Gollum's. And it seemed that the fires sang, as Gollum gazed on his ring with an unquenched hunger. But hobbits are made of sterner stuff, and so Frodo lunged for Gollum, and they both fell into the fiery chasm, Gollum still clutching the ring in horrible delight.

Frodo's hand reached out for the rock, held on to the end of the passageway of rock, dangling thousands of feet above the volcano, as Gollum and the ring fell and the end came.

(And as the ring melted, the memories returned to Frodo, slowly seeping in. And a familiar face appeared above him. For Frodo always had Sam.)