[piosenniel]

theWhiteLady's post:

A few lazy crickets called into the dusk and, somewhere out in the darkening sky, a bobwhite sang his solitary note. Rose sat at the window by her bedside and watched the darkness spread slowly, almost imperceptibly, over the Shire. The sunset had not been brilliant, with bright colours shining desperately for their few moments of glory before fading quickly into the night. Rather, the night had come softly, creeping stealthily, so that it was with surprise that one realized that night had fallen.

Rose felt her lids droop as though the soft glow over the horizon was a lullaby singing her slowly to sleep. The young hobbit roused herself to crawl into the delicious bed waiting with open covers to harbor her in its refreshing embrace; Rose was happy to sink into the soft mattress and forget the sad events of the dying day. It was a relief to fall into forgetfulness and only a moment later, Rose was quite asleep.

A few hours later, which seemed only a few minutes to the sleeping hobbit, Gilly’s persistent voice brought Rose back into the dark room.

“What is it, Gilly?” she mumbled. It took several tries to disentangle herself enough from sleep’s grasp to decipher her friend’s jabbering. Listening carefully, Rose’s eyes became very round and she felt her heart beating faster. It seemed the day had not yet finished with its troubles and thoughts of sleep were quickly chased away by concern for Mithadan’s safety.

“But, what can we do? It’s near impossible to change Pio’s mind about anything once she’s set on it and Mithadan’s almost as bad! It’s not right though,” Rose was impatient with frustration. “They are always tending others, it’s not right that Mith should be gone when Pio has her twins! But what can we do about it, Gilly?” Rose’s hazel eyes filled with tears and turned to her friend for help.

[ April 19, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]