[Imladris]

I listened to the elf’s voice in wordless wonder: never before had I heard anything so sweet, so pure, so lovely in all my living days; even if she had not introduced herself to be an elf, I would have known it was a member of the Fair Folk who now spoke kindly to me. “Elentari,” I said, savoring the word as I spoke it slowly, then I laughed as I realized that she had asked me what had brought me here (she was from the Wood of Green Leaves, but I was not familiar with the name). “How I came to the Shire, and to this Inn, in particular --” I stumbled slightly over these words -- “is a long story. My family are peasants in Gondor, but we have distant relatives in Bree.” I stopped, for I did not like these aforesaid relatives. Quickly, determined not to dwell upon such unpleasantness, I said, “Some time ago, I traveled here because they had suffered misfortune: the mother had died in child birth, and the other children needed a woman’s hand. So I set out on horseback, to Bree, for I was not blind then.” I frowned, for I was upset. I couldn’t really see clearly when I had departed from Gondor: I could stills see blurries of colours, and I could see large objects. Yet, even then, I had known that my sight would be taken away from me, but instead I had not thought of it, had always been seeking for things of beauty with what little sight remained to me. I had stayed on the roads, and they were considerably safer and I had reached the home in Bree, but then -- “Stop it,” I snapped out loud. I felt the elf stir, and said hastily, “Stay! Forgive me…I was not speaking to you but to myself.”

I rose quickly and promptly stumbled over a wayward stool and soon I found myself again upon the floor. Pulling my knees under myself, I crouched there on the floor so that the Elentari could not see my flaming face. I fought back the tears that insisted on coming to my eyes: of all things, why did I have to suffer this curse of blindness? I felt a helping hand raise me to my feet and guide me back to the seat: “Thank you, Elentari,” I said, assuming it was the elf. I bit my lips and, turning to where I thought she was seated, I said, “Tell me of yourself: from where you have come? How do you look? What is the colour of you hair? Of your eyes? Everything about yourself, please tell me.”