Summary: A look at Smeagol's thoughts as he retreats from the world. This was written for the Middle-earth Express challenge prompt #24: Dark. This story is written in the time frame when Smeagol just starts to retreat from the world under the ring's influence and before Gollum really makes himself known.

Disclaimer: The character is not mine, he belongs to Tolkien. And honestly, if I were going to try to lay claim to one of Tolkien's characters, it wouldn't be Smeagol. ;-)

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"It burns…it burns me. Why does it burn so? I can remember a time when it did not…can't I? I thought so, but now it's gone. All gone. No more spending time in the sun. It burns me now." Smeagol scrambled into the shade at the side of the cliff, avoiding the burning gaze of the sun.

"That's better," he said as he found the entrance to the cave he now called home. "It's nice here in this cave. All dark and quiet. No one to bother me. No strangers to call me names and chase me. No one can hurt me here." A whimper escaped him as he remembered the pain he had suffered at the hands of so many strangers. "Why do they hurt me? I never did anything to them. They call me monster, murderer." Smeagol's face twisted in his anger as he mimicked the villagers who had so recently chased him away from their village. He continued muttering to himself as he crept deeper into the cool confines of the cave system.

"If Deagol had given me my ring, I would not be a murderer. It's all his fault. I'm glad he's gone. Gone, gone, gone. But…he was my friend once. Wasn't he?" Smeagol's head tilted to the side as he tried to remember what his life had been like before. Before the ring had found him and called to him. Shaking his head, he spoke again.

"No, he wasn't. He wouldn't give me my birthday present. No, not my friend." He continued creeping along the caves until he reached the cool, still pool deep inside the cave. Squatting down, he ran the fingers of one hand through the water and went to his special hiding place, digging out his greatest treasure and staring greedily at it.

"I'm all alone here. Just me and…my precious. I don't need anyone else. All the fish I could want from this pool, and no one to bother me. What more could I want?"

His fingers caressed the cool surface of the ring. "Nice, shiny…precious. And it's all mine. Mine alone…all alone." For a moment, his voice trailed off and he gazed sadly back out at the entrance of the cave before he resolutely turned his attention back to his ring, the sole purpose of his existence. It was all he had left, but then, it was all he really needed.