B2ME Day 25 - Shards of Glass by Erulisse

Chapter 1

Shattered Dreams

She knelt on the floor, carefully picking up the shards of glass.  Why did it have to be this one that broke?  As she swept the shards together into a pile of color, her thoughts went back to the day her daughter, the light of her life, had brought the bowl to her. 

It was early in her marriage; she and Curufinwë were happy, sharing each other’s company.  Their son, Telperinquar, was growing in skill at the forge, meeting challenges set by both his father and his grandfather.  When he was barely of age, she gave birth to a daughter, Helyanwë.  A female child was a rarity within the Finwëan houses and the baby was treasured by all of her male relatives, as a rare flower would be. 

As a young child she played near her grandfather’s feet, organizing detritus by shapes and colors.  It became apparent that color and light were her loves.  As she grew older and could be trusted with the flames of the forge, her grandfather taught her the mysteries of glass.  She was soon experimenting with glass on her own. 

This bowl  this shallow vessel in which her mother had floated the heads of flowers, and whose swirls of color painted the walls of the room when light passed through it, was one of her first efforts.  Helyanwë had first made the glass, then colored and painted it, then layered it, and finally, by placing it into a controlled fire, had melted the layers together.  After it had cooled, she had shaped it and then melted it a second time over a fluted form.  Finally, she had carved swirls into it to accent the shape.  It was the first vessel that she was happy with, and she gave it to her mother, knowing that the colors would lighten her spirits. 

Helyanwë had been very young then, not even forty years of age, and soon afterwards had been accepted as an apprentice to Lord Aulë.  This gift, this vessel, had been a gift of love.  She had cherished it as a part of the light that lay within her daughter who was now parted from her by an ocean of time and of distance. 

She wept as she gathered the shards and placed them into a box.  Perhaps, if her daughter was ever returned to her, something might be made anew from the remnants of her dreams. 

Chapter End Notes

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