B2MeM09:: Day Twenty-Three: Mercurial Monday!

[dawn_felagund]

Day Two Twenty-Three--Mercurial Monday!

For Mercurial Monday, we offer B2MeM participants the choice of two prompts. Participants may choose whichever they prefer. In addition, the second prompt may be used in place of any other prompt in the challenge!

You find an old dusty bottle and, when you pick it up, a genie pops out! What three wishes would you make and why? Now, imagine that your character bumps into a genie (or a Middle-earth variation of it) and she offers to grant your character three wishes. What are the wishes and why would he and she wish for them? Create an artwork, story or poem how your character mulls it over or goes about it.

What is the greatest sacrifice you can be asked to make? Think or write briefly about this. Write a story, poem or create an artwork where the characters make their greatest sacrifice.

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Comments

River of Dreams - Dwim

[(Anonymous)]

River of Dreams

Summary: Be careful what you wish for...


She lies in her curves across the road, across the land; beneath the trees of Mirkwood that darken ever she sighs – a cold, damp thrill.

In other lands, her sisters run and burble their laughter, roar their rages and joys as they plunge down their channels to batter the stones and their shores alike. They burble coyly in little pools, wink dappled-dazzling shade that obscure their depths, and they open their arms into welcoming shallows.

But she is a simple soul. No coquette, she, to tease and promise what she cannot give. And she does but wish to give.

She can give them their dreams – relieve them of the cares and woes they bear. She blackens with the burden of such – they float upon her surface like slick of oil or a bruise. But she draws them down, her dreamers, rests them gentle in her clear bosom, pours herself inside to wash them clean and they are pure – pure, pure, pure as they were once in the womb, when they lived in their mothers' waters.

Dream, dream, she chants, and one by one, they fall quiet, and for a little while, they have what most they want – to forget. Sleep she gives to let their dreams fly free, and she will take the rest.

It is what they wish. What she can give. And later, over loving years, she polishes the bones, and holds them deep and warm in the silty depths of her soul to cherish them, singing to herself:

O shadow-slip O care a-woe
Come seek me now by sorrow banks
Come lie with me, come love me low
My love lies down thy dreamy deeps

Hush na hush na hush na sweet!
Flow, flow, flow, flow with me
Forget forget forget na sweet!
Forget and way with me flow!

***
Author's Notes: So a chapter, a song, and a poem walk into a bar...

The perspective here is that of the Enchanted River in Mirkwood. In The Hobbit, Beorn describes it as dark and dangerous, and warns the Dwarves and Bilbo against it as he hears it is enchanted.

When the party discovers it flowing across the road, they cross by boat, but Bombur accidentally falls in. He falls into a deep sleep during which he dreams of wonderful food.

Somehow, this got crossed in my mind with Goldberry as the River Daughter dragging Tom into her waters *cough* and "Sweet Thames flow softly". What flowed out of this mess was an innocent elemental murderess.

Yeah.

Re: River of Dreams - Dwim

[dawn_felagund]

Oh, but it's beautiful! :D And such an interesting perspective to write. And this line,

And later, over loving years, she polishes the bones, and holds them deep and warm in the silty depths of her soul to cherish them

Her innocence certainly shows here, but to those of us who know better ... *shivers*