Tengwar: To The Letter by cuarthol

Súlë (spirit)

'Till the end of all things
(No warnings.  Double drabble.)

I am not dead.  I am not alive.  Though my body faded away to nothingness, my senses no longer material, what remains inhabits still the forests of my forebears.

It has dwindled now, only a small grove at the edge of a park, but I am content, for people are often here walking the paths which I walked untold ages past.  They listen to the birds in the boughs, listen unknowing to my discarnate song.

They turn their head this way and that, thinking to catch the source, to narrow in on a scent from a long distant memory.  It passes as swiftly as it arrived, leaving but a kiss upon their brow that lingers, a sense of calm they are drawn back to.

The Elves of Middle-earth disappeared long ago, but our spirits remained in the woodlands and the wild places.  Our essences mingle in passing like wisps of incense: wood and moss, nut and berry, earth and rain.  And not all who remain are welcoming or good, some leading the unwary astray or driving them away in otherworldly terror.  

But I have grown fond of these visitors who come; who, for a brief moment, know me, and smile.

Chapter End Notes

"In after days, when because of the triumph of Morgoth Elves and Men became estranged, as he most wished, those of the Elven-race that lived still in Middle-earth waned and faded, and Men usurped the sunlight. Then the Quendi wandered in the lonely places of the great lands and the isles, and took to the moonlight and the starlight, and to the woods and caves, becoming as shadows and memories,..."

 I don't know if how I've interpreted this is how Tolkien intended it, but I am fascinated by the idea of Elves 'fading' and what means for those who never chose to sail Wes