Elements
Disclaimer: I don't own Gollum. Or Smeagol. tear
Water was once our element. There were lazy days spent sprawled out on sun-warmed sand. And there were days of sitting on
the moist earth, watching the silver-streaked fish, feeling their greedy little mouths nibble at pink, wriggling digits. And there was
swimming too, diving into glorious green pools, floating tranquilly in the clear blue water. The boat, too—how could we forget
that? We remember fishing, not with our hands, but with long flexible sticks. We remember the cool, refreshing waves lapping at
the sides of the wooden boat. The calm water was our home. But no longer—it was wrenched from us the day that Deagol—
cursed Deagol!—found it. From the moment his brown hand opened, revealing that gleaming gold circle, water was not ours.
They drove us away—cruel, cruel! And our new element was earth. Alone in the bitter cold world, we crawled. Agony at
first—yes—but soon we grew accustomed to the sharp bite of jagged rocks, the sting of raw, bloodied palms. But we had the
precious! Our skin turned rough and gray, our hands calloused and strong, and our heart turned to icy stone. Long it was that we
crawled—desperate to hide our poor, broken body from the malicious glare of the yellow face! And finally, we found it. A tunnel
into a deep, cold cave, hung with shadows and mist. In the blessed dark, we would never be afflicted by blinding light. We could
feast on the warm, throbbing clear flesh that so trustingly swam into our fingers. But most of all—we could be left in peace with
our precious.
But then that wretched, filthy hobbit intruded on our quiet serenity. We should have wrung his neck and ate him while we had
the chance! But we waited, and played a game with him. A cheat he was, a liar he was, and we vowed to kill him—but too late we
were, and the thief had already got our precious! Our new element was air. Even without the precious, we could still find ways to
be invisible. Creeping soundlessly we perfected, and soon we became like the wind itself. You can't see us, but when our cold
clammy fingers slowly close in on your neck, you will know we are there. The filthy orcs caught us and hurt us. But all we
desired was to find the hobbits—and we did. We followed them, and the stupid hobbit—we called him Master, yes, but we didn't
mean it, did we?—trusted us. We got rid of the fat one soon enough, but how, we asked, was we to get the precious? So we took
him to Her—but the fat one came back! No matter, we told ourself—we will still get it back! And that we did. It was far too easy
for us to gnaw away that pink finger.
Glorious ecstasy flooded us as we grasped the warm ring—the little circle of gold that had brought us so much grief. We
laughed and rejoiced—all the happiness and joy that we had lost in the long years past burst forward once more. But we slipped.
Our calloused feet, so blissful in our dancing, took a step too far. Why are we falling, we thought. We gazed upwards at the ring
in our hands. Up was the direction we never looked before—our pale eyes gazed downwards only. There's an odd burning
sensation—have we fallen into the sun? we think.
No. Our element, now, is fire.