A/N: Here is a nice little songfic I came up with based on Green Day’s song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. I hope you enjoy it. It’s one of my favorite songs, and my sister gave me the inspiration for this little story. And just so you know, this is my first songfic, so don’t be too harsh, but any constructive criticism is heartily welcomed.

The words inside the ************* are the lyrics to the song. I removed a line from one of the verses because it contained a swear word.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

**************
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don’t know where it goes
But it’s home to me and I walk alone
**************

Without a sound, Éowyn stood from her bed, wrapped her warm robe around her, and slipped on her slippers. Whenever she could not sleep, she found it comforting to walk through the Golden Hall by herself.

*************
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I’m the only one and I walk alone
*************

She slowly made her way across the hall, not needing the light of the few torches to guide her. She had walked these halls so many times at night since she came to live here after her parents had died that she had memorized them years ago.
Some nights, she could not find sleep because she used to be afraid of the dark, or because of nightmares that haunted her. But tonight was different.
She could sleep because she was worried. She was worried about Théodred, her cousin, and Éomer. Théodred had left with his éored several nights ago for the Gap of Rohan when they received word that it was under attack by Orcs. Éomer, suspecting a trap, had left that very day.

************
My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone
***********

Stepping outside, Éowyn felt the cool night breeze that blew over the sleeping city ruffled her hair out of its loose braid. The door wardens, who were accustomed to her doing this most nights, paid her no attention. She could run up to them, stick out her tongue at them, and taunted them, and they would not pay any attention in their unwavering watch over the doors to the Golden Hall. It was almost as if she was a ghost, invisible to all.

************
I’m walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
Check my vital signs
To know I’m still alive and I walk alone
************

Of course, she wasn’t really a ghost. She didn’t want to be one. What she wanted was to be free. To be free of the gilded cage that she was trapped in. The cage called Woman-hood.
When she was younger, she could run around the city as she pleased, playing with the other children, or riding her house, or doing whatever children did. But now, she rarely even had time to groom Windfola, her horse. When she was not stuck sewing or the like with other women of the court, she spent at her uncle’s side, trying to get him to show any response to anything.
He had aged so much and his mind was so clouded that she did not know if he even recognized her anymore. He was the ghost.

***********
My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone
***********

With both Éomer and Théodred gone like this, Éowyn felt so exposed, so vulnerable. She was not afraid of an attack on the city; it was well enough protected and she could defend herself easily enough.
She was afraid of Grìma Wormtongue, her uncle’s advisor. She could always feel him watching her. Sometimes when she went on her nightly walks, she thought she felt him watching from a dark corner. It made chills run down her spine. There was something about him that was just not quite right.
Whenever her brother or cousin were around, he would never try anything. But with them both gone, would he? Éowyn decided that she did not want to know the answer to that question.

***********
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk a…

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone…
***********

After standing outside for quite a while, Éowyn decided that the nigh air would not help bring sleep. She turned around and walked back inside. Perhaps the next day would not bring anymore broken dreams.