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Fordim was delighted to find himself standing next to the ancient and reverend figure of Bêthberry. It had been many an Age since they had spoken face to face – in fact, now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure that they had ever really met face to face (if he even had a face…).
Shrugging his wings(?) against the doubt and uncertainty that was now a part of his existence, Fordim bowed deeply to the reverend woman, and asked if she were enjoying the fireworks. She returned his bow with an elegant curtsy, but when she arose her face was one of deep meditation. “To be honest,” she said slowly, “I’m not sure how I feel about the fireworks. I mean, they are pretty, but the implications of my pleasure – or, rather, my implication into a network of desire, should I validate them through an interpretative act, well, it’s rather a tricky moment don’t you agree?”
Fordim’s own brow furrowed (if he even had a brow) and his wings(?) rustled slightly. “Yes yes,” he replied slowly, “I do understand what you are saying. I myself have been attempting to determine whether the fireworks are ‘merely’ pleasurable or if they are connected to me by some more necessary means. I mean, they are from the West, after all, so are they more real than the fireworks I’ve seen in this Midde-earth, or do they share the same reality as this realm?”
Bêthberry shook her wise head and began to quote from some learned men and women of old with whom Fordim had but a passing acquaintance. He looked polite and nodded in what he hoped were the right places. Bethberry saw that she was losing him and gave him a grandmotherly smile, patting his hand (very) lightly. “Oh well,” she said, “I suppose, in the end, it doesn’t really matter…does it?”
“I certainly hope not,” Fordim replied, noncommittally. Bethberry saw the book in Fordim’s vast shadowy ‘hand’ – The Lord of the Rings.
“Oh,” she said with delight, “Do you like that book?”
Fordim grinned and a renewed flame ran up his back with pleasure. “Oh yes, very much indeed. It’s positively enchanting.”
“Well, that’s good,” she replied, and they both turned to watch the fireworks.
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