Breelanders All! RPG

[piosenniel]

Lily at school

Lily’s tummy was clenched in a tight knot. She was sitting next to one of the Big Folk! They scared her with their loud voices and their tall bodies. Sometimes to her six year old eyes they seemed like giants come alive from Gaffer Goldworthy’s stories.

Still, Berilac the Ranger had called her brave last night. And he had stood up in front of all those Big Folk to talk. Lily clutched the small stone pendant hung on the thin blue ribbon that Poppy had tied round her neck that morning.

‘This is your lucky stone, Lily,’ she had told her as she finished tying it and twirled the wide-eyed lass about to give her dress a final straightening and brush back the curls from her forehead. ‘I found it in my garden, right next to the lilies. And there it was with a hole right through it. I knew it was for you!’ Poppy had smiled widely at the little Hobbit and as she handed her a small cloth sack with a few dried apple slices and a wedge of the morning’s bread. ‘Miz Andreth will have a mug you can use, I’m sure, as well as water from the Inn’s well,’ she had said, taking Lily’s hand and walking her to the Inn.

Lily took a deep breath a ventured a glance at the girl next to her. Her voice had been sweet, not too loud, and she was smiling. She managed to give the girl her name without stumbling over it too much.

And now the girl had asked her another question, and offered her the slate.

The Hobbit glanced up at her face, noting the mass of red-brown curls and the sparkling brown eyes. ‘If she were shorter, she would look just like a Hobbit,’ she thought. The girl, Kari, she remembered, seemed friendly. Lily dropped her hand from the stone and took the slate in both her hands. She offered a shy smile to her seat partner, her big blue eyes wide at her own bravery.

‘Yes, please,’ she said, and then, remembering to be polite as Poppy had instructed her, went on. ‘Thank you, Kari,’ she managed, her voice gaining a little strength as the words tumbled out. ‘My name is Lily Whitefoot. What’s your whole name?’

[ October 18, 2003: Message edited by: piosenniel ]