Fourth Age, 62.

The silver horses gleamed as Merry slowly raised the horn. Their shapes, stretched flat in a powerful gallop and once so sharply outlined, were rubbed smooth from his hand. It would be the last time he blew it and the last time he held it. Around him the crowd murmured, stirring in anticipation.  Most of them had not even been alive the first time the horn of Rohan sounded in the Shire; they only knew it as the signal to what had become an annual celebration, a tribute to the last battle fought in the war of the ring and the only real battle as far as the Shire-folk were concerned.

            Merry took a deep breath, waiting for the world to fall away like it always did, leaving only the sound of his heartbeats.  It was the same every time when he blew the horn, the same rush of blood and a thrill he’d mostly forgotten.  But…this was different. He couldn’t feel anything but the wind and the press of hobbits around him.  Merry’s brow furrowed as he shifted his fingers on the horn’s polished surface...what was wrong?  He swallowed nervously, moving his feet as the crowd got just a little louder.

            Something was not right.  There was a sense of disquiet in the air, and of misplace, absence.  Merry looked up at the mallorn tree and frowned.  Usually it was still in bloom, but this year there was not a single flower.  Even the gold leaves seemed limp and dull, twisting listlessly in the breeze.  All around him were hobbits, husbands, wives, little rosy-cheeked lads and lasses, young hobbits and old hobbits waiting for the horn’s cry—the signal to celebrate.  They were growing impatient. 

            “Merry?” Pippin’s voice made him jump.  Blushing, Merry realized he’d been staring up at the tree for quite some time.  “What is it?”

            “The tree, Pip, look.” He murmured. “Do you think it’s dying?”

            “Why would it die?” Pippin said incredulously. “Sam’s been out here every week for years…”

            And there it was.  As Pippin trailed off, Merry remembered what was wrong, what was missing.