LOTR: The problems with Thursday - Merry Brandybuck FF

We carry on - Chapter 5

Merry stood up from the table, still looking at the floor. His eyes were soar from the painful tears he had silently shed whilst he had read the first chapter of the book. He walked over to the Librarians desk and looked up. 

"Merry? Are you okay son?" Perudo, the Librarian, asked quietly. Perudo was a well built hobbit man with thick, wavy brown hair that fell around his shoulders and he had bright green eyes. 

Merry nodded slowly and pushed the book onto the desk, "Can I borrow this?" he murmured. 

Perudo looked up at him and smiled, "Seen as you're one of my most loyal customers, I'll let you have it" He said, pushing it towards Merry again, who looked quite shocked. 

"thanks Perudo, that means a lot to me!" Merry said, tucking the book into his pocket. He then began to head towards the door, a blank look still occupied his face. In the streets of Hobbiton, it was now quite busy, for a Friday anyway. Merry made his way way through the Market place, looking at all the smiling faces of the children who played and laughed together. Then, he heard somebody call his name. It was a faint call causing Merry to stop in his tracks and look around. 

"Merry!" he heard it again, it sounded incredibly like Alora. It seemed to carry in the wind. 

"Alora?!" he called back, He looked up into the sunlight and blinked hard. A figure then appeared in front of him, but he couldn't see because of the sun light. He blinked. "Alora?!" he asked. The figure tilted it's head to one side. 

"Who's Alora?" The voice said. Merry blinked once more. Pippin was stood less than a foot away from him. "Merry, It's me, Pippin! Ha, Have you been drinking already?" He asked cheerily. Merry's expression fell. He looked at his best friend wide, sorry eyes.

"Lets go for a drink and talk about it.." Pippin said, putting his arm around his moping friend and lead him further into the heart of Hobbiton. 

*************

Alora opened her front gate quietly and then walked up her front door. She hadn't looked up from the floor since she had left Hobbiton. Alora pushed open her front door and walked straight into her room. She heard her father call her name, but she ignored it. 

Alora flung herself onto her bed, and buried her face in her pillows. She didn't cry. She just sat for a while, thinking. Thinking about Merry, "Why?" was the only thing than ran through her head. A few moments later, her father knocked on her door. 

"Are you okay Alora? did something happen?" he said as he pushed open the door. Alora looked up from her pillow and then sat up. She buried her head in her hands as her father sat down next to her. 

"I messed up I think..." she said quietly. Alora looked up at her father and slightly smiled as a tear ran down her cheek. 

Her father looked down at her, a lot of confusion on his face. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Alora shrugged her shoulders and rested her head on her hands again. 

"wasn't he there?" her father questioned again, hugging Alora tightly. 

"yeah... He'd gone by the time I got there" she said miserably. "Or, He just didn't come at all.." She whispered under her breath. 

Her father wiped away her tears and rested her head on his knee. "A boy's got to be mad to turn you down Alora. I'm sure another will come along and steal your heart." he said, glancing down as Alora sniffled loudly. 

"but I felt it dad.. You know, that feeling that you got when you met mum. The feelings you told me about when I was younger..." She explained as she looked across at the portrait of her passed mother. 

Her father sighed loudly, "You really felt that way?" he asked, puzzled. "But you've only just met him haven't you?" 

Alora began to sit up on her bed again, reaching for a pillow to hug tightly to her chest in the process. "not exactly.." she said quietly. Her father shuffled closer to her. "You two have met before, just once though."

A look of confusing occupied her fathers eyes, "how? when? why" he shot the questions out as fast as an elven bow. 

Alora moved her head backwards and blinked at her father. "calm down dad!" she sniffled. Her father looked across at her apologetically before gesturing for her to continue. 

"Well, Merry's the one who brought me home te day I wondered off, do you remember?" she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly. Her dad rubbed his left temple and frowned. 

"I-I.. actually, Was he that blonde lad?" he said, smiling as he said it. Alora's face lit ups lightly as she remembered his golden curls which she had tucked behind his ear the night before. After Alora had partly explained the events of the night before to her father, Alora felt a little bit better. It had taken her father a lot of convincing to make her come out of her room, but to take her mind off things, he had suggested a bit of gardening. Alora enjoyed the fresh air in the noon, and often came out and sat on her front bench reading when she got the time. 

Once she'd finished making her front garden her version of 'presentable', the sky was just beginning to get dark. She walked into her kitchen, where her father was starting to prepare their evening meal.

"You know.. our talk made me feel so much better, thanks dad!" Alora whispered as she hugged him tightly. Her dad ran his hand through her curled hair before pulling her chin up for him to look at her.

"It's because I love you my dear, I may not have the bond with you that you and your mother had, but I can still deal with those sort of problems. I'm here for you and don't you forget that!" he said cheerily. "oh, and it's a good job you're going to the market tomorrow Alora" he joked "we're almost out of bread!"

Alora began to giggle, "can't survive without my toast!" she exclaimed. 

***************

"So you see Pippin, I just can't stop thinking about her and I don't know why!" Merry said, throwing his hands in the air and nearly knocking his drink off the bar. Pippin put his hand to his chin and began to think.

"You Merry, are one of the smartest hobbits when it comes to maps and boats and all that stuff, but you're just not educated in the department of the ladies." Pippin said, raising his eyebrows to his friend. Merry began to laugh and couldn't stop, until Pippin punched him hard in the arm. 

"Pippin are you being serious?" he asked, still chuckling to himself. 

His best friend looked at him, a bit taken aback. "Of course I was! I mean, just look at me" He answered proudly. 

Merry put his hands to his lips, to stop himself from dying of laughter. "Pippin, the only girl you've pulled lately is Ra.. and we'll just have to see where that goes hey?" Merry winked towards his friend, who huffed and folded his arms across his chest. Merry looked across to the window into the now dark sky, he then sighed loudly causing Pippin to look a little concerned. 

"What's up Merry? you don't usually day dream at all" his friend said, placing his hand on Merry's shoulder. Merry looked back at his friend again and smiled warmly before removing his hand.

"I'm fine Pippin, I think I have to go now though. Anyway, Good night!" Merry said waving at his friend as he walked out the doorway and disappeared into the darkness. 

Merry's walk home was slow, but his spirit were still high as ever. Although when he got home, everyone had gone to bed, he still quite enjoyed his time alone in his room. Merry crawled under his duvet and then started starring up at his ceiling, watching as the flame from his candle cast shadows which danced across his ceiling. After many minutes of imagining what the day would have held if Alora had have come, Merry's eye lids grew heavy and he drifted into a peaceful sleep.