[Teleri]

"Rose..."

"Not now Lily."

"But..."

"I am speaking with someone, see?"

Lily couldn't see, the counter was higher than her head. Peering around the edge she saw her sister was talking to Andy Goodbody, and blushing so deeply that she was as pink as her name-sake.

Sighing, Lily sat down in the corner, out of the way, and hugged her knees. The Hobbit lass was not particularly pretty (she was one of the few children born in 1420 with brown hair), though something about her eyes made her gaze entrancing at times. As she waited in the corner, she unconsciously tried to rub some mud off the hem of her frock. Her stomach grumbled; a day of hard play had left her hungery. Looking for a diversion to stave off hunger, she drew out a little green book. Over top of it her name was written. Lily had learned some of her letters (quite enough for a girl to know). Out of the notebook, she took a pressed golden leaf. She had caught it last year, as it fell from the mallorn on the Hill. She made wishes on it sometimes. Now she kissed the leaf, and made a wish "I wish that I could have something to eat soon..."

She put the treasured leaf away, and looked up from where she sat. She caught the eye of a stranger. He was a man of the same age, there abouts, as her father. He was small, but he was no Hobbit. He was dressed humbly, like a gardener, and his clothes were worn with age and weather. Something about this child must have struck him (perhaps it was her wide-eyed stare), because he called out to her
.
"What is your name lass?"

"Lily Hornblower, Sir." Lily stood up.

"Well, Lily," said the man, pulling up a stool next to his, "will you let me treat you to dinner?" Lily smiled, and silently thanked her little mallorn leaf.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 6:08 AM January 04, 2004: Message edited by: piosenniel ]