She Was So Normal
Those Endless Fleeting Days
Author's note: The chapter in which – Renee loses all track of time and suddenly finds herself wishing she had more of it.
With the Fellowship gone, her friend circle in Lothlórien was down from twelve to three. Elwen was very happy to have the company and in the days and weeks that followed the Fellowship leaving she managed to meet both Haldir's and Aranor's children, all of whom proved to be very lovely elves. That was hardly shocking though, given how lovely their parents were. She also managed to become quite conversational in Sindarin as her options were talk to two people or learn Sindarin faster, she opted to learn Sindarin faster. One day she got up the nerve to tell Haldir and Aranor to stop talking to her in the common tongue unless it was really important or she was hopelessly stuck and after that her elvish really took off. For a few days it was rough and a little lonely feeling, but Haldir, Aranor, and Elwen were all very patient with her and were happy to repeat things or pantomime or draw pictures to help her understand them. It was also during this time that Renee learned elves were actually a pretty huggy/touchy kind of people, at least with family and friends, as the isolation of struggling in a new language was sometimes very apparent on her face and so they would come beside her and put an arm around her, or take her hand, or even give her a hug if she seemed extra frustrated and tell her she was doing very well, despite how frustrated she was feeling. Then one day it all seemed to click into place and after that it was much less frustrating and her Sindarin improved dramatically.
After that, Haldir and Elwen began introducing her to their friends and her social circle expanded radically. It seemed the elves were more than happy to make friends with the strange mortal woman from another world, and to Renee's surprise, they were far more interested in her as a person than her as the strange mortal woman from another world. Though they were are dreadfully curious about what another world might be like. They also wanted to know things like what sorts of trees and flowers grew there and what sort of crops grew and what the food was like, and so on, but it wasn't their focus. As most of them didn't have much interactions with humans at all, they found her equal parts novel and delightful and most of them expressed some degree of disappointment that she would not be around longer, but of course all of them were happy to know she was able to go home.
It was during this time that Renee learned the elves were the most responsible childlike beings ever. Not childish, childlike. They were all happy to just randomly start singing and without any embarrassment or apology, they would just randomly share things with her like whatever they were eating or drinking, and at least as far as Haldir, Aranor, and Elwen went, they would just randomly take her hand if they were walking along together. The first time it happened, she honestly didn't think about it because it was Elwen and she just took her hand and Renee held it reflexively. Then Haldir did it and after a few minute she realized she was holding hands with someone else's husband, but then she realized he was also holding Elwen's hand and well… she concluded it was just a thing with elves.
Well, when in elvendom, do like the elves…
Time was a hard thing to keep track of in Lothlórien in any event, but after the Fellowship left it grew even harder, so it can hardly be considered surprising when one evening at dinner with Galadriel and Celeborn the Lady said, "Are you prepared to return home in two days?"
Renee nearly dropped her fork. "Oh, I am afraid I've lost track of time. Am I really leaving in two days?"
"Yes, and at midday," Galadriel answered.
Renee nodded. "Thank you for giving me a little notice."
"You have made friends here and we would be ungracious hosts if we did not give you time to say goodbye to your friends," Celeborn said kindly.
After her dinner with the lord and lady, she immediately headed to Haldir's house and told him she was down to her last two days in Middle-earth.
"So you are," Haldir said.
"Then we shall have to make it a most memorable two days," Elwen added.
Renee nodded then it registered what Elwen said, "Wait, what?!"
"Leave everything to me, my friend," Elwen said with a smile. "But I am afraid I must now bid you return home so I may begin working on preparations."
"Hold, Elwen, you really do not have to-" Renee began to protest but Haldir cut her off.
"I am afraid she really must. Once she sets her mind on something, there is no stopping her," Haldir said. "Come, I will walk you back."
Haldir walked her back and no matter how hard Renee tried to pry out of him what his wife might have in mind, Haldir would only say she would find out and likely in the morning. He dropped her off an did not stay long as he said Elwen would want his help. And so with a hug good night, he left her with a fire going in her fireplace and her lanterns lit.
The next morning was met with a strange mix of excitement, curiosity, and sadness. She wasn't ready to leave just yet… but now she was leaving tomorrow… She wasn't ready to return to the world of her with multiple jobs, taxes, car insurance, and Craig… Craig?! Why did she keep thinking about stupid Craig? And why did she keep feeling excited at the prospect of being able to see him again? She kept trying to tell herself he was probably married to stupid Lindsey, but somewhere deep inside she didn't buy it. Her thoughts kept whirling about home, Craig, and the odds of him being married already as she got ready for the day. Aranor showed up about half an hour after she had finished getting ready for the day and said he was asked by Elwen to escort her to their place.
"Oh, she is really going all out on this, isn't she?" Renee commented as she flung on her cloak.
"I have been sworn to secrecy," Aranor replied with a grin. "But you will find out soon enough."
In a few minutes Renee found herself walking up to Haldir's house. Before she could even reach the bell Elwen flung the door open.
"Friend Renee! You are here! Come inside!" Elwen cried as she grabbed Renee's hand and literally pulled her into the house where she was greeted by a chorus of "RENEE!" from a good sized gathering of elves which included all the friends she had made in the last few weeks.
Renee hadn't exactly done a lot of partying in college, okay any partying in college, but she well imagined all the parties she didn't attend had nothing on this. There was food and drink everywhere. Elwen apparently went on an all-night baking spree and many of the people who came brought food also. There was also seemingly no lack of drink of any kind. And elves being elves, most of them brought instruments which meant that music and song was non-stop because as one musician grew tired of playing, another one just stepped in and started. And Renee, being the woman of the hour, was the center of attention and everyone wanted to talk with her, dance with her, and spend time with her. She really wasn't the sort to want to be the center of attention usually, but in this case, it was kinda fun.
That night when she finally decided she was almost too tired to walk back, Haldir and Aranor walked her back to her house with promises to be over early to make her breakfast and say goodbye before she had to go to the place where she would leave.
When they got back, Haldir said, "If you can stay awake a few minutes more, Aranor and I have a few things we would like to give you."
"Oh?" Renee replied as they sat down on the couch.
"Here," Aranor said as he handed her a small box wrapped in a beautiful piece of silver fabric tied shut with a green ribbon.
She untied the neat bow and the fabric fell open to reveal a grey wood box. She removed the top and gasped. Inside was a ring that looked like a little chain of flowers. "Oh my word! This is gorgeous! You guys… I don't know what to say," she said, choking up a little.
"We hope this will help you remember us and your time here in Lothlórien," Haldir said with a smile.
"The little flowers are nimphredil, those little flowers you have seen growing around and seem to enjoy so much," Aranor said. "In all the world, this is the only land where they grow."
"You guys," she said, sounding very choked up now. "Thank you."
Aranor and Haldir both threw an arm around her and Haldir said, "We shall miss you dearly!"
"I'm going to miss you too," Renee said, barely keeping her tears in check.
"Here, I have another thing for you," Aranor said, pulling out a thin leather bag. "I know you have written out all those recipes, and in case you are met with bad weather or you must travel some distance, you will want them kept safe. If you fold them and then tie the bag shut like this, it ought to keep anything inside dry and safe. Unless of course you go swimming with it. But anything less ought to keep it all perfectly dry."
"Thank you, Aranor," Renee said as she took the leather bag. It was beautifully tooled with mallorn leaves, nimphredil, and elanor. "I really wish I knew what else to say besides thank you, but really – thank you both from the bottom of my heart! You two have been two of the best friends I have ever had and you made what could have been a very cold and lonely stay here very warm and friendly and wonderful!"
"It was our pleasure," Aranor said. "Now tell me, where are the recipes you wrote out? Let us put them in there now."
"Oh, they are all in the book there on the table," she answered.
"Stay here, I will fetch them," Aranor said. "But I am afraid we shall likely need to cut them out of the book," he added as he went to the table. "Or else you will not be able to close the bag."
"It's a pity, but I think you're probably right," Renee said.
"Oh, you also have all your notes on elvish and things too," Aranor said thoughtfully as he flipped through it at the kitchen table. "Let me see what I can do."
The book really was too thick and stiff to roll it up, but if he was careful, he might be able to remove the sections she wrote on and leave them intact. He pulled out a his pen knife and carefully cut the bindings on the last section she used and carefully removed them then tucked in two extra pages and carefully rolled everything up.
"Bring me the bag please, Renee, and the ribbon used to tie your box closed," Aranor said.
"Here you go," she said as she handed it to him.
He thanked her and carefully he tied the rolled papers up with the ribbon then placed them in the bag and closed and rolled it how he showed her and tied it shut. "There, that ought to keep them safe," Aranor said as he handed it to Renee.
"Thank you again, Aranor," she said as she clutched the bag.
"You are welcome, mellon," he said. "And now, it is late, you are tired, and it would not do to send you home exhausted. We shall see you in the morning. Goodnight, Renee." Aranor stood and gave her a big hug and kiss on the top of her head and Haldir did the same and with that they left.
Renee had laid her old clothes out the night before. She decided there wasn't really a great way to bring any of the dresses back, though. Well, maybe if she rolled one up very tightly she might be able jam it in that bag… she definitely couldn't wear it though… It might have been October back home, but it wasn't Halloween yet. She awoke with the sun and decided it wouldn't hurt to at least try to smuggle one of the dresses back… after all, the lord and lady had told her she was welcome to them. She decided to try for the grey one she had gotten on her first day.
She put on her regular old human clothes and it felt kinda weird to be in pants again after all those weeks in flowing draping dresses. It was also surprising just how clean everything felt. She had supposed after being in the same outfit for days on end in a world without Tide detergent or washing machines, they wouldn't be able to get her clothes very clean feeling, but they did! They even got out a tiny old coffee stain in her sweater. For a half second something she had read once about how people used to get clothes clean flitted through her head and she promptly tried to shove it aside because the idea that her sweater might have soaked in elf pee was a little too much for her. Although, wasn't that to bleach things? Nothing she had was white… her underwear and bra were blue, her jeans blue, her long sleeve t-shirt brown, and her sweater green… so probably not… Out of absolute morbid curiosity she tentatively sniffed her sweater sleeve. It smelled like fresh air, sunshine, and flowers and it was nice and soft. It might not have proved what they used one way or the other, but it was enough for her to tell herself it was probably a lye soap. Either way, she wasn't asking and that was the story she was telling herself. The end.
Shoving all this aside, she turned her thoughts to how she wanted to try folding up that dress. She tried a couple different things and decided her tent folding method was probably her flattest, so she untied the straps on the bag, and opened it up and carefully slid in the dress. It definitely added some thickness, but she thought it might work and decided she'd have Aranor double check it for her.
She left her room to find Aranor and Haldir already there working on breakfast. They gave her a cheery greeting which she returned as she came up to the kitchen table and sat down.
"So, what's for breakfast?" Renee asked as she surveyed the table. "Better question, what isn't for breakfast?"
Aranor laughed. "We would be poor friends if we sent you home hungry, would we not?"
"Is Elwen here?" Renee asked, looking around.
"No," Haldir said. "But she will join us down in the clearing."
Renee nodded. She loved Elwen to bits, she really did, but she was sorta glad her last morning was going to be with just Haldir and Aranor.
Breakfast was delicious, and despite the fact they knew her departure was imminent, it still managed to be cheery and pleasant and not glum and gloomy. After breakfast they all washed up, Aranor double checked her bag for her, and then they headed down to the clearing.
The clearing they were heading towards was more towards the edge of the city and was a little bit of a walk. Once there Renee saw that Elwen was there along with Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn and a handful of other friends she had made. Renee tapped the nimphredil ring on her finger on the leather strap of her new bag. She wasn't sure how she was getting back, and for as much as she didn't want to leave, if she had to leave, she wanted to just leave already.
There was some casual conversation for a while as everyone was trying to say goodbye and kill time simultaneously. As midday drew near, Galadriel offered Renee a cup of parting, which was something she only vaguely remembered from the books, but she was otherwise familiar with the idea from other cultures. In a way, she felt honored Galadriel even bothered. Once it was done, and with perfect timing, a ball of soft white light appeared about twenty feet above them and everyone gasped.
"What is that?" Renee asked.
"I do not know save that it is how you shall return home," Galadriel answered.
Renee nodded. It was certainly a sight to behold. Everyone backed away as it descended to earth and once it touched the ground, Renee got a feeling she really shouldn't wait too long to go through.
"I suppose I ought to get going," she said. She quickly turned to Elwen and gave her a hug and Elwen kissed her cheek.
"Farewell, friend Renee! Safe travels and safe homecoming," Elwen said, looking just a little misty eyed.
"Goodbye, Elwen," Renee replied before turning to Aranor and giving him a hug.
He kissed her on the cheek too and said, "Take care of yourself, mellon, and remember us always! May your days be filled with joy, health, and happiness."
"Goodbye, Aranor and thank you!"
Next Renee hugged Haldir who also kissed her on the cheek and he said, "Farewell, Renee. We shall miss you! May the stars shine upon the end of your road!"
"Goodbye, Haldir! Thank you for everything!" Renee said, getting misty eyed. "Well, I think I better go now." She clutched the bag strap and headed towards the light and as the last second turned and waived at everyone and gave a final, "Goodbye! And thank you!" and then turned and stepped into the white light.