Legolas's Christmas

The Day of Creation-Part 1

Published 12/25/2013

This book is a work of fiction. The Day of Creation (as far as I know) isn't an actual elvish holiday; I created it for my own purposes. Also, here Legolas is... about 7 or 8 in human years. Enjoy!

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Legolas watched with wide eyes as the servants brought more brightly-wrapped presents into the main hall, adding them to the growing pile. He had been watching for a while and was amazing by how many there were and how many more were still coming in. The young elfling had never seen so many presents at one time, so they seemed like an enormous amount to him, but in reality the pile was not that large. But Legolas still marveled over it, eagerly watching the servants keep bringing more boxes in.

But then Legolas noticed a few servants, instead of coming into the halls, were taking a few presents somewhere else in the castle.

Legolas got up from his seat on the floor and quickly began to run across the hall towards the now out-of-sight servants. But before he could reach them a strong pair of arms grabbed the little elfling, scooping him up into a tight embrace. "Where might you be going in such a hurry my Little Leaf?" The elf holding Legolas asked.

Legolas squirmed until the arms loosened and he was able to sit up to face the elf. Unsurprisingly, he was looking into the face of his Ada [Father]. "Ada, I was trying to look at something!" Legolas complained. He started squirming again, wanting to be let down so he could follow the servants.

Thranduil followed his son's gaze and quickly concluded what Legolas was trying to see. It was, after all, happening on Thranduil's orders, but Legolas didn't need to know that yet. It would ruin the surprise. So Thranduil held on to his squirming elfling and shook his head. "You do not need to see anything that urgently right now. Besides, I still need your help with all these presents!"

Legolas, who had been pouting, now perked up. But then he looked confused, and asked, "But why are we getting presents Ada?"

Thranduil nodded. "I suppose you would not remember yet. Every year, we celebrate the Day of Creation. Do you remember that from your lessons?"

Legolas smiled and nodded. "It is when Ewu made us!"

Thranduil smiled ruefully. Legolas was still young, and sometimes pronounced words with childish vowels, despite his tutor's efforts to break the habit. "That is right. Do you remember anything else?"

Legolas's face screwed up in concentration. "Ewu made us... Then gave us to someone..." He peeked up at his Father. "Right?"

Thranduil smiled. "Yes. Eru, leader of the Valar, made all the creatures and all the lands to give to his children, the rest of the Valar. And so, we celebrate that day as the day of our creation. We give presents to one another and have a feast." Thranduil nodded at the stack of presents. "Those gifts are from our people. They celebrate with us."

Legolas was wide-eyed in awe. "They are all for us?" He gasped.

"Aye. But I doubt they will be of much interest to you; they usually are books of poems, or jewels and coins. Nothing you would enjoy."

Legolas sighed. "But if they are all for us, why were there servants taking some away?"

Thranduil smiled mischievously. "That is for me to know," he bopped Legolas on the tip of his nose with a finger, "and for you to find out."

Legolas pouted again and squirmed to be finally let down. Thranduil let him go, knowing he would not chase after the servants now. They were too far away.

Instead Legolas ran over to the now-finished pile and enthusiastically grabbed a present. He ran it back over to his Ada and sat in his lap as they opened it carefully. Inside was a books of old fairy tale stories, many of which Legolas had heard. That gift Legolas eagerly claimed, and then he ran to get another present, hope that it would be something just as interesting inside.

But alas, most of the rest of the presents were boring, as Thranduil had predicted. There was a finely carved wooden hairbrush, however, that Thranduil allowed his son to have, so long as it was taken care of. Thranduil would not have the freely gifts from his people mistreated.

They finished some time later, and Thranduil instructed a few servants to take care of the now-unwrapped presents. Then Thranduil picked Legolas back up and carried his to his rooms to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was when the feast would be held, and the day after that the presents would be opened. Thranduil thought back to the servants sneaking off with a few packages. A small smile graced his face as he thought of what they contained. Legolas would love them, he was sure.