Laurië Lassi – Golden Leaves by Esteliel

Greed

Greed is good! Write a story or poem or create artwork that will prove or disprove this statement.

Greed

Some say that possessions are a burden. That gold cannot buy happiness; that diamonds cannot buy love.

Glorfindel knows better. Once he stepped from his parents' house with a bundle of hastily gathered possessions. He had packed his favorite jewelry; a set of fine clothes in addition to sturdier gear for their journey across the sea; two books he could not do without. One is a philosophic treatise by his mother, the other a slim volume of erotic fantasies penned by Finrod himself, though Glorfindel is one of the very few who know of his authorship.

There was no ship for them, only the bitter march through ice and night. Like many others, he left his courtly clothes behind like withered blossoms on the ice, exchanging it for the warm skin of a seal when he could.

His jewelry, his books he clings to as a last memory of the home he left behind. The books are lost with fallen Gondolin; the golden rings and necklace melt into his skin in the Balrog's fire.

Now he makes the journey anew. This time, there is a ship. This time, there is no blood, no doom, no despair. Glorfindel has packed well for his second journey. He brings more jewelry: a ring of gold and emerald, crafted by his father a long time ago, the first gift he gave Glorfindel's mother. A locket that holds their picture inside, the parents he loves and yet had to leave behind a second time. A ring with the celandine seal of his lost house, a gift from Finrod who knows what it is to come to life anew after bitter loss. The bottom of the heavy box is lined with a plethora of books; and with him and Olórin, the ship also carries a cream-white stallion, a descendent of the horse that was an unexpected gift from Celegorm so long ago.

Some say that possessions are a burden. Glorfindel has learned better. This golden ring holds his parents' happiness; that diamond holds Finrod's love. Glorfindel cherishes his memories the way a dragon protects its hoard.