[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Crisp air filtered through the cracked windows of the White Horse, heralding the harsh end of winter and coming of spring. It was a brilliant morning and it seemed the sun was yearning for a time when it could bring its warmth. Aylwen smiled contentedly as she went about her work in the White Horse.

The day would be particularly busy, for celebrations in Edoras as well as within the Inn would begin that night to commemorate the strength of the Rohirrim in the War of the Ring, not so many years before. Stories would be told later that evening, songs and poetry would be recited as people reminisced about ages and relationships past. There would be dancing and reenacted tales of the heroes from the War. For some it was hard to remember without feeling pain, but for others who had moved on it was a time to show appreciation through the happiness that had been restored.

For Aylwen, it had been fourteen long years at the White Horse Inn. So much had happened and so much had changed as the days had flown by and the years had culminated. The White Horse had been given paint touch-ups and the roof had been repaired, but it all seemed the same to Aylwen. One kind apprentice to a carpenter in town had shaped and painted a new sign for the White Horse Inn, with a white stallion on a field of green. Before the nipping chill of last winter had come, Aylwen had gone out with some of the children to plant the flower bulbs that would grow along the lane leading to the door of the Inn that spring. Looking out the window Aylwen saw the old stable, which had gathered its share of vines the past summer. All the vines had lost their green luster, and had become brown in the winter season. It had been built strong, lasting through long storms and many winters since it had been built. Aylwen still told the story of the day it burned to the ground and the ‘valiant heroes who had saved horses and rebuilt the stable’.

Patrons excitedly ate their food or conversed with their friends, looking as decorations were put up. Children played hide and seek around the tables until a laughing Aylwen told them to take it outside while the grown-ups were working. Looking forward to that night’s festivities, Aylwen continued to cater to the needs of the patrons of the White Horse Inn on that cool near-spring morning.