In the Beginning by Marta
Fanwork Notes
Fanwork Information
Summary: A professor, a typewriter, a rainstorm... and a beginning. (Triple-drabble.) Major Characters: J.R.R. Tolkien Major Relationships: Genre: General Challenges: B2MeM 2009 Rating: General Warnings: |
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Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 298 |
Posted on 22 March 2009 | Updated on 22 March 2009 |
This fanwork is complete. |
Chapter 1
Read Chapter 1
Outside, the thunder boomed ominously into the night. The cat jumped up from his resting-place behind the typewriter, his fur all standing on end. Looking sharply at his companion, he turned around so his tail brushed under the professor’s nose before lying down again. That was his revenge; the professor would swear the cat rubbed against him out of spite, just to make his eyes water.
Revenge for what, though? The professor was no master of cat-lore, but certainly even one as suspicious of him as this beast would not blame him for the storm.
Yet there was a niggling doubt: the rain did seem to match his moods, or his thoughts. It had fallen for an hour and more in steady tempo, peaceful, the water-drops playing a faint symphony against the glass of the window. The cat had hovered on the edge of sleep, then, his soft purr lulling the professor into a gentle tedium. But then the name Melkor had sprung up in the professor’s mind, and a lightning-bolt had torn the sky in two.
It was a bit eerie, really, when he thought of it: how his thought and the lightning had come together. And how persistent those made-up Powers were in his mind; almost as if they were friends, real friends and not just idle fancies. But that was foolishness, and he wouldn’t waste what time he’d found for his faerie-tales on such things. He knew he’d not find another quiet hour again for a while, not with all he had to manage this week.
So he turned back to his typewriter and set down the words that had been circling around his thoughts for too long already: “Therefore I say: Eä! Let these things be!”
The cat hissed, then, but the professor left him alone.
(1) Comment by whitewave for In the Beginning [Ch 1]
The name of Melkor popping in his mind during an eerie moment gave me goosebumps. So "in-character". ;-) I'm enjoying your short Tolkien features very much.
Re: (1) Comment by whitewave for In the Beginning [Ch 1]
Thanks, Whitewave. I don't write much besides shorts, as I tend to like a lot of different characters from a lot of different races and so have too complex a world in my mind to untangle more than tiny pieces at a time.
I'm very glad you're enjoying.
(2) Comment by oshun for In the Beginning [Ch 1]
I enjoyed this one also. Very atmospheric! (Whoops! Just shoot me if I am wrong, but wasn't he handwriting his notes at that time and then later having someone type them up? Nevermind me though, it in no way detracts from the story.)
Re: (2) Comment by oshun for In the Beginning [Ch 1]
No, you're absolutely right about the typewriter; I was wrong. Larner already brought it up over at H_A. I didn't realize how much he wrote by hand when I wrote it, and I guess it just seems so natural to me to write at a keyboard of some kind, I assumed too much. And as my historical!JRRT muse seems to be taking up residence with the horde, it's good to know such things for the future.
I'm glad to know it doesn't detract, though, and even gladder that you enjoyed this ficlet otherwise.
(3) Comment by Robinka for In the Beginning [Ch 1]
Oh, this was very good! You built the atmosphere of this piece perfectly. I loved the cat too :)
Excellent read!