A Day Will Come

Companion piece to Just Over the Horizon

It was beautiful here.  Part of Sam was vaguely surprised, but the other part knew it shouldn’t be any other way and, if it was, then something was wrong.  Sam inhaled the warm, earthy air and felt distinctly hobbity in a way he hadn’t felt in a very long time.  Sam curled his toes in the dirt and took a moment to look around.  He was on a path and the only thing to do on a path was to go forward, but he hesitated.

There, to the right.  Sam’s breath caught at the magnificence.  A sturdy little gate swung on its hinges in the wind and beyond lay a mish mash of greens, reds, purples and any other color that belonged in a garden.  The plants of this garden ran wild, tangling each other and running up the posts of the fence.  Sam’s hands immediately began to burn with the itch to tame this rampant growth.  The gardener within him roared to life.  He could manage it.  He could nurture these plants into something bigger and more beautiful than before.  Maybe he would find his old Gaffer in this untidy forest.  Maybe together, they could…

Mr. Frodo is waiting. 

He didn’t know where the thought came from, but he knew it was true.  As he tore his eyes from the garden, the gardener’s itch became a burning desire to see Frodo gain.  He had been gone so long now, and he was so close.

He followed the path down and around, passing little gates and gardens and perfect little hobbit holes that Sam longed to settle into. With every step the need to see Frodo again increased, until Sam couldn’t stand it and broke into a run.

He stumbled to a stop in the middle of a grove of trees.

“Mr. Frodo!” he called.  The path did not go on.  Was this the end?  After everything?

“I’m here Sam,” he heard Frodo call back.  Sam’s brow crinkled at the line.  It seemed that he had heard Frodo say that before, when night was dark and evil.  Sam shrugged it aside.  Night was never dark here.

“It took you long enough,” Frodo continued.  He sat with his back against a tree, a book open on his chest, as if he had fallen asleep reading.

“I came as soon as I could.”  Frodo smiled at him brightly and beautifully.  Sam felt relieved that Frodo could smile here, that Frodo was finally healed. 

“Well then, now we can go on,” Frodo said, standing up and brushing himself off.  Now Sam could see a small path between the trees, nearly overrun by the surrounding forest. 

“Where are we going?” Sam asked.  Frodo smiled an easy smile that Sam hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I don’t know,” Frodo laughed, “But wherever it is, we’ll get there together.”  He reached back. 

Sam laughed pure joy as he took the offered hand and they disappeared between the trees.