Waiting

Companion piece to Ever the Twain

Merry love, where you so eager to leave?  Was the world so heavy that it pulled your eyelids down so you couldn’t see anymore?  Or where you tired of looking up for everyone?  Tired and lonely?  Even with your Pippin by your side?

Gentle fingers through soft curls.

Are you happier now?  Gandalf once told me it was another journey.  Are you waiting for me to take the first step?  When we were young, you would deliberately slow your footsteps and find reasons to pause on the road.  Do you still?

A hand smoothing fine linens over a still chest.

I will come, if you wait for me.  Isn’t that why we made the journey?  To leave our beloved Shire and make it easier to leave each other?  To see the White City one last time and visit old friends with the hope that the comfort of friends would ease the pain of the one left behind?  Did you know it would be me?  Is that why you came here, where I am still their smallest knight?

A kiss on a cold brow.

Wait for me just a bit longer, Merry.  Then we can journey together again.  Maybe Gandalf will be there, with Frodo and Sam.  Maybe they will be waiting.  Strider…

A tear.

Strider will understand and he will explain to Legolas and Gimli.  They will understand.

Two friends, side by side.

Just a little bit longer Merry.  Wait just one more time.

Still.