Youth

''Knows we no youth?' it asssks us, my love?' the creature hissed to himself, pacing back and forth on all fours. 'It asks us if we knows not the ways of the young?'

The small, gangling creature paused in his continuous movements and scratched his sparsely-covered head. 'What isss youth?' he finally whispered. 'When did we ever have such carefree, happy hours? Gollum, gollum.'

'Smeagol works, works for his living, now that the precious is gone. Gollum!' He shook his head. 'Smeagol does not know youth,' he rasped. 'Smeagol never had youth.'