[piosenniel]

Niluial's post

The Shire, though still beset with cold winter winds, was now a happy place once again. Of course, how could it not be happy since the Hobbits could have their six dinners again. The hobbits returned hospitable ways and their garden plots, but were saddened at the news of the deaths. It was dreadful telling the families that their loved ones had died, and all Tom and Melody could say was, “I am sorry,” knowing full well that those words held scant comfort..

A huge celebration, with plenty of food and merrymaking, was held to honour the Hobbits who went on the journey to get the much needed supplies. The ones who had fallen were especially honoured and, through the years, were remembered as heroes. To commemorate them, Melody planted six crimson rose bushes.

Madoc was reunited with his family. He still remained great friends with his fellow survivors but the memory of the six that were killed haunted him, and he often realized that he could have been one of them. He never forgot them, never forgot the wolves that had ripped Ivy’s throat, never forgot the cruel deaths of the others. They hadn’t deserved it, but who did deserve death? They had not died as cowards, but as heroes, and the Shire would remember them as such. They had brought supplies to the starving Shire, and the hobbits were merry as the snows melted and the grass turned green and the flowers bloomed. He would try to return to the life of a normal hobbit, but, even through the bounteous dinners and the curling tobacco smoke, he would remember them with fond sadness.

Daisy soon returned to being herself and spent most of her time with her family and adorable nephews. It amazed many at how strong Daisy had been! She was always smiling and moved on with life quicker than the others. But Melody, who soon came to know her better than anybody else, realized that it was a mere façade to cover the sorrow that lived within her. As the years fled by, Melody and Daisy laughed with each other, wept with each other, gardened with each other, and became fast friends.

Melody’s deep wound healed in time. Two months later, Melody and Tom wedded and, as Tom had promised long ago, she got her huge garden in which she grew many flowers and tall trees. They were a happy couple and cared for each other very much, but, though she had a husband’s love, Melody realized that she missed Ivy and that she was incomplete without her. In retrospect, she wished that Ivy had never gone on the journey. She could have been a happy hobbit, sitting by the fire, waiting for the tea to boil. When they had their first child, a daughter, they named her Ivy, who somewhat filled the hole that the first Ivy had left.

The four remained good friends and, once a week, they would stroll to the entrance of the Shire and would chat and remember their fallen comrades beside the six rose bushes Melody had planted. Trials and misery and sorrow had forged bonds of friendship that the other simple hobbits could not understand. Out of the death-ridden trip had been born friendships that would last forever.