Hope - A Lord Of The Rings Chronicle

The Dam of Rivendell

I manage to find an isolated spot in one of the gardens, underneath the nook of a tree to eat my food. A fountain lies nearby, crisp clear water pouring out of it. Red, orange and yellow leaves decorate the trees, though some are still green. The fallen autumn leaves float gently in the wind, and the grass tickles my legs. Here I stay, in this mostly secluded area, thinking over everything and wishing things had been different.

Everyone here severely dislikes me. Check that. Hates me. I always thought, hoped...dreamed, imagined that...should I come here.. they'd all become my friends. Brothers and Sisters in arms. Merry and Pippin could prank everyone with me. Sam and I could talk about what form potatoes are best in, my personal favourite is fries. I could encourage Frodo to never give up hope. Gimli could tell me of the fabled hospitality of dwarves and the jewels they used to make, Aragorn could teach me how to sword fight, Boromir could tell me about Gondor, Gandalf could instil his famous ancient wisdom...and...Legolas, well...maybe he could just....be a someone to lean on. That's all I want.

But I guess not.

Maybe it was wrong coming here. Maybe all this is a dream. Right now, I'm starting to wish that it was.

My mind wanders, and I place my plate down and grope for a flower, and than another, and than another. I'm picking petals, when to my surprise, I hear a voice to my left.
"You know, you really shouldn't be doing that to Lord Elrond's flowers."
I jump, turning my head and dropping the stem on the floor. Gandalf. The wizard smiles at me fondly, and with a groan he sits down beside me and pats my knee.
"So?" He asks "What's wrong?"

I sigh, looking up from the tips of my eyelids

"Is it that obvious?"
He just smiles in response. I sigh again, beginning to pull up grass.

"Nothing, it's just..." I trail off
"Nobody trusts you isn't it?".
Spot on. I nod. I suddenly speak, eager to open myself

"And I doubt they like me very much either. I thought that by today things would've smoothed over, but I feel like they've just gotten worse. Gimli and Boromir want to skewer my head on a stick. And Legolas keeps looking at me like I want to murder you all in your sleep."
At this Gandalf laughs.
"Don't mind the dwarf and the elf, they're both hot heads. As for the man, it is hard to earn his trust, but impossible to lose. In time, they'll see."
"How much time?"
Gandalf shifts, turning to me.
"I don't know. But what I do know is that, once you have their loyalty, you will never lose it. Be patient." He taps my knee, and then stands up. Gandalf moves to leave, but then stops, as if remembering something

"Oh, and Pippin said to meet him and the other three by the river at 4 o'clock."
Pippin. I smile.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."

Maybe things are finally looking up.

****
Lunch was much better than breakfast, probably because I was not actually required to be present. Elrond said I could dine in my room, and so I sat outside by the balcony, spooning meat and greens into my mouth. I washed it all down with some tea, and savoured the taste of some Sponge Cake, as I watched the world go by. There were so many elves here, a lot more than the movies let on. Rivendell just wasn't one house, but a whole village, maybe even town of elves.

After I finished my lunch at one thirty, I sat around, bored, aching for something to do. I was in no mood to show my face to anyone unless absolutely necessary, so coming out of my room wasn't an option. I decided to see if Smithie had left anything useful for me to tinker with in his, 'pack of essentials.' Maybe I could even try to contact him too.

I tried, but there was only static noise through the radio, no matter how many times I smacked it. I sighed, placing it back in my jacket pocket, wishing I had taken my phone instead of leaving it behind for fear of it interfering negatively with the teleportation device. I could be listening to John Vaughn and PUBLIC right now.