Paths (A double-drabble)
Young Belinda Proudfoot was out in the woods. She'd been possessed by a most un-hobbitish desire to go there that morning. Perhaps it was her mother's Brandybuck blood. At any rate, she was gone, and no one knew.
Running through the trees after a butterfly, she halted suddenly. She'd almost run into a tall person. At first she thought it was one of the Big People, but she noticed that this being was more lithe and graceful than they were.
He smiled. "What are you doing out here, little Halfling?"
"Are you one of the Elves?" she asked without warning.
"Indeed, I am," he said with a laugh.
"But why are you all the way out here?"
He knelt. "I could ask the same of you."
Belinda shrugged. "I wanted to come."
"So did I. I wanted to see it before..." He trailed off.
"Where are you going?"
"To the Gray Havens."
She noticed that his eyes were gray. "Why? Because of your eyes?"
He laughed. "Perhaps."
"And then where?"
"Valinor."
She looked sad. "Then you're leaving."
"But that's all right. We all must eventually." He stood. "Farewell, little one." He smiled and was gone.
Tears fell from Belinda's eyes.
Written for Allie at LiveJournal