Boromir panted as sweat poured down his face. Here he was in another training session with his father and he was sick of it. Denethor kept coming at him with repeated attacks until Boromir was on his knees with his shield above him.

"Fight back!" he said. "If you want to be a warrior you must fight back! Do not cower like a weakling!"

"Papa, you're too fast", Boromir said.

"That is no excuse", Denethor said. "Fight me!"

Boromir looked at his sword then to his father. He didn't want to train anymore. All he wanted was to play with the other children in the city. He just wanted to take care of Faramir like he promised Finduilas.

"Can we stop for today?" Boromir asked.

"No", Denethor answered. "Attack me."

"I don't want to!" Boromir yelled throwing down his sword.

"What did you say, boy?" Denethor asked getting mad at the way he was behaving.

"I don't want to fight anymore! I don't want to be a warrior! I want to go outside and play! I want to play with my little brother! Mama didn't want me to fight too! I want Mama!"

Denethor dropped his sword to grab Boromir, but he already turned and ran outside. Boromir ran down the hall wanting to hide from his father. He knew he was in big trouble, but he didn't want to train anymore.

Boromir looked down the levels to see all the other people working and the children playing. He walked to the gate to the lower levels seeing two guards standing.

"Where are you going, my lord?" one of them asked.

"Just to the lower levels", Boromir answered. "I'm going to go play."

"Does Lord Denethor know about this?" the guard asked.

"You can ask him and get in trouble for not letting me play."

The guards stepped aside letting Boromir pass. He smiled as he used the same excuse on all the other guards who tried to stop him from going any further.

Boromir looked at all the children that were playing outside. The girls we playing with their dolls or helping their mothers sew clothing. The boys were pretending to swordfight with sticks or doing chores with their fathers. Boromir walked over to the boys with sticks.

"Hello", he said with a smile.

"Who are you?" one of the boys asked.

"My name is Boromir. Can I play with you?"

"Lord Boromir, son of Lord Denethor?" the other boy asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I just want to play", Boromir said.

"Shouldn't you be in your home with your maids and your servants?" the boys asked. "Why did you come down here to play?"

The boys walked away leaving Boromir alone. He watched sad as they walked away before turning to the little girl who was playing with a doll.

"Hello", he said. "Do you want to play?"

The girl said nothing as she looked at him. Her mother saw the two of them and took her hand pulling her away.

"Stay away, child", she said to her daughter. "He's the son of the Steward. Lord Denethor will not allow us to talk to him."

Boromir walked around the city hoping to find someone to play with. All the children either laughed at a noble boy wanting to play with low class people, or walked away hoping to avoid trouble.

It was when the sun began to set when Boromir decided to return home. He knew he was in so much trouble with Denethor.