By: Pernilla

It is peaceful and quiet in Lothlorien this morning. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the sky is blue and three little Lürien elves are still asleep on this summer morning. Haldir is ten years old and his brothers Rứmil and Orophin are younger than him. Lady Galadriel walks up to them and tries to wake Haldir up.

“Haldir, my little elf, it is time to wake up.” She gives Haldir a hug, but he is not happy to have a hug.

“No! No do not hug me!” he says screaming. His screaming wakes his two brothers up.

“That was not nice, my dear, now your brothers are awake. I had hoped they would sleep for another hour, but now it is too late. Get up dear; you have to follow some of the other elves,” she says to Haldir.

“Why?” Haldir asks being in no mood to talk.

“Haldir, you have to. It is your day for learning about bows and arrows. You have to learn how to use it,” Lady Galadriel answers smiling.

“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Haldir says looking happy.

“I want a bow too!” Rứmil says having heard that Haldir is going to get a bow.

Galadriel smiles at him, gives him a hug and says, “No you are too young, my dear Rứmil, you could hurt yourself, and we do not want that,” she tries to explain, but it is not easy with an eight year old elf who can not wait another two years.

“I want a bow now, not later! I want a bow also! If Haldir can have one, then I can also. He is not better than me, he is…” But Rứmil is interrupted by Galadriel.

“Please do not be angry, Rứmil, you can play with Orophin,” she says looking at the little elf who was trying to go back to sleep.

“He is boring, and he will never let me be with him,” Rứmil sighs, “Alright, I will be good.”

Galadriel smiles and waits while Haldir gets himself dressed, “This day will be your best day this summer,” Galadriel says smiling at him, but Haldir just feels tired.

Haldir walks behind Galadriel to a big tree, when he looks around and can see a lot of other elves his age. They all look so shy and scared also. This day is a new start in the lives of these elves.

“Haldir?” a tall and handsome elf looking at Haldir says smiling, “My name is Tinion and I will be teaching you some really important things today. You must listen because I have no time to be repeating myself,” Tinion tells him and starts talking to all the little elves.

“Who is that?” Haldir asks Galadriel.

“That is your teacher, and you have to listen to him, because it can be really bad if you do not. Now I have to leave you, my dear, I have some other elves to take care of. Goodbye for now, and have a really good day,” she says smiling and walks away.

Haldir suddenly feels sick, “Oh, I do not feel so well,” he says and almost starts to cry, but Tinion comes back to him.

“Haldir, do not be afraid. It is just a lesson to teach you how to use a bow,” he says looking in Haldirs’ eyes, but Haldir starts to cry.

“I do not want to do this! I…..” Haldir can not say anymore. Tinion gives him a hug and in his hand he has a bow and he gives it to Haldir.

“Take this bow, and these arrows, Haldir, you have to learn. No more crying,” Tinion says handing the items to Haldir.

Haldir stops crying. He can not get over this, he has to follow all the others and he can see that all of the other little elves are all boys, and not any girls. He follows Tinion and the other elves and walks around in the forest for a few minutes.

“Here it is,” Tinion says reaching their destination, “Now I will show you how to use your bow and arrow. This is not a toy, so do not shoot each other.” Tinion smiles at Haldir saying, “Alright, do like I do now. Remember, no playing with these things, alright?” Almost everyone is listening to Tinion. Haldir is trying to figure out a way to run away.

After an hour, Haldir is gone from his bow lesson. He has run away, but he can not go home, so he climbs up in a tree to hide. He is sad, because he did not want this. He wants to be the little elf that plays with his brothers, running in the forest, laughing and just being a happy child. He is crying and wants a hug from someone, and to hear the little words, “It is alright, everything will be fine,” but nobody comes for him.

After awhile, he hears a voice he knows, “Haldir, are you up in the tree?” Celeborn asks in a friendly voice. Haldir looks down from the tree and sees Celeborn smiling up at him friendly. “Haldir, it is alright to be nervous and afraid of the bow lessons, do not be ashamed. Come down and I will tell you something.” Celeborn sits down under the tree, and Haldir climbs down and looks at Celeborn waiting for some angry discussion about his stupid behavior.

“Come here,” Celeborn says smiling and giving Haldir a friendly hug. Poor elfling, he feels so rotten about this. “Was it so terrible?” Celeborn asks looking Haldir in the eyes.

“Yes,” Haldir answers.

“I will tell you something. I knew it long before today that you would run away. I know you, and I knew this would be hard for you. You have always been an elf that never wanted to be left alone or do something for yourself. I have talked with Galadriel many times, but she did not listen to me, but I knew I was right. Do not feel bad about this. I am not angry, but you have to learn how to use your bow, but later. I will talk to Tinion tomorrow. He will understand,” Celeborn says smiling and looking up at the sky. “We must go home now. It looks like rain clouds are moving in.” Haldir is feeling better now that Lord Celeborn has talked to him.

When Celeborn and Haldir arrive at home, Galadriel is waiting for them. She looks at Haldir and Haldir starts feeling bad again and looks down at the ground.

“Do not say anything wrong Galadriel,” Celeborn says looking at her and Haldir, and she answers him with a smile.

Rứmil who has been waiting all day for Haldir, goes running to Haldir and hugs him. “You are home! Can we play something now, please?” Rứmil asks smiling at Haldir waiting for an answer.

Haldir looks at Galadriel and she smils nodding her head.

“Alright, we can run through the forest,” Haldir answers smiling and Rứmil follows him into the forest.

“He had a really hard day and was really sad when I found him,” Celeborn tells Galadriel.

“You were right, we can not do this to him, it hurts him too much,” she says to Celeborn, “But he has to learn for when he grows up. One day he will not be with us anymore.”

Celeborn sighs, “He will learn later, he is only ten and has a long life ahead of him. I will be there for him even when he is very old.”

Galadriel gives Celeborn a big hug and they watch the two elf boys who are running in the forest, smiling and laughing.

The end!