The mist cleared as the girl walked through it, her sword gleaming in the damp air.

“I’m waiting for you!” she cried out to the mist. “Come here and fight! I’m not afraid of you!” Then, out of the darkness, there loomed a tall, dark figure.

“Who are you?” demanded the girl.

“Does it really matter?” spoke a voice that was like rocks grating slowly against each other. “All you need to know is that you will not see tomorrow. You will never see the sun again, nor will you ever feel the grass beneath your feet, the wind against your face. This is it. It is over. I have come to take you away, and I never give back what I take.”
Suddenly, all her braveness fell from her, just as leaves fall shaking from their trees in the fall. And it was in that moment, that she recognized the voice. It was a voice that she constantly feared, that constantly hunted her; even in her dreams. It was the voice of darkness, and of loneliness. She knew it well. Suddenly she was falling, falling to a place she could never escape, a place that had no bottom, no top, no beginning, and no end. A place that went on and on, with no light to be seen anywhere. She was falling into fear. Then, just as she was losing all hope of ever seeing the world again, there was a faint call.

“Elanor!” At first she thought it merely a figment of her imagination, but it steadily grew louder, a distant voice, calling her back to the light.

“Elanor! What’s wrong dear? You’re as wet as if you’d just been swimming!”
She was back home. It had all been a dream. An all too familiar dream, and now Elanor had to get outside, for the terror refused to leave her.

“Yes mother, I’m sorry. It was just a dream.” Her mother Rosie looked at her for a moment; then sighed.

“Well dear girl, you best run along to tell your father good morning; he’ll be off to Mr. Baggins’s house any minute now.”

“Yes mother.” Anything to get out of this room, and out in the fresh air. Elanor walked quickly down the hall to tell her father good morning. Her dream seemed to cling to her like a mist, and she shook her head, trying to clear the fog. She stepped into the kitchen and took a deep breath. This was her favorite room in the house, for it was the brightest. Her father was sitting at the table, just finishing his breakfast.

“Why, hello Elanor! Did you sleep well?”

“Not well at all. I had the dream again.” Sam Gamgee was as kind hearted as hobbits come, and he and his daughter were very close.

“I’m sorry my dear, is there anything I can do to help?” Elanor smiled and blinked her eyelashes.

“You could let me go visit Faramir. He always knows how to keep the shadows away.”

“Well then my dear Elanor. It is a beautiful day; I guess you may go see him. Just don’t be late for supper.”

“Yes papa, I won’t be late,” she promised. She put on her cloak, for it was still cool in the mornings, and began to walk out the door.

“Elanor.” She stopped mid stride and looked over her shoulder.

“Yes, papa?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something? Mr. Frodo will be very disappointed if he doesn’t get his flowers.” He winked at her playfully.

“Oh my! I almost forgot. Yes he would be terribly sad, and I wouldn’t want that. I’ll go pick some right away.” She hurried out the door and down the lane towards the garden out back. This was one of her favorite thinking places, she loved to come here and sit, and smell the flowers and the damp earth. She never told anyone, but one of the reasons she loved this place so much was because there was plenty of space, and never was there a shadow. Hurriedly, Elanor picked a variety or colorful flowers and then ran back into the house.

“Here they are father! Tell Mr. Frodo hello for me.”

“I will, now hurry along or you won’t have much time to visit.”

“Goodbye papa, have a good day!” And with that, Elanor skipped out the door and down the road on her way to Faramir’s house. It was a beautiful spring day, and the Shire was already green. There was that smell of being alive in the air, and it quickly pushed all thoughts of Elanor’s disturbing dream out of her mind. Her blond curls bounced up and down and she walked down the road. The birds were singing, and she had a smile on her face, nothing in the world could keep her spirit down today. But just as she was thinking this, a dark shadow clouded the road. Elanor looked up in alarm, but it was only a passing rain cloud, so she continued on her way. But the further she walked, the more she began to notice, these weren’t just passing rain clouds floating by, it was definitely going to rain; and rain meant darkness; and darkness meant fear. She walked a little faster, and as the first raindrops began to fall, making little clouds in the dust on the road, she began to run. She was soaked by the time she reached Faramir’s house, and she fell against the door, eyes wide with fright.
“Faramir!” She yelled, banging on the door. Faramir opened the door quickly, and she fell against her old friend in a shivering heap.

“What happened Elanor? It’s only a summer storm, nothing to be afraid of.” He spoke softly as he led her to a chair near the fire.

“I-I had the dream again last night,” she stammered, feeling foolish now at being afraid of a little rain. But she knew her friend would understand, after all, they had been friends for as long as she could remember. Even their fathers had been good friends. His father, Perigrin Took, had gone with her papa on their quest to destroy the one ring. It was a tale her father told many times, and she never grew tired of hearing it.

“Ahh, that dream. Well you’re safe now, so why don’t we see if my father will tell us a story. What do you say?”

“Oh, that would be wonderful. These storms never seem to last long anyway.”

“Did I hear someone say they wanted to hear a story?” Pippin walked into the room grinning like a little boy. “What shall it be this time?”

“Oh, please tell us about the time you, my father, Mr. Frodo, and Mr. Merry were supposed to meet Gandalf at Bree!” Elanor pleaded.

“Are you sure? It is a dark and dangerous tale, not for the faint of heart,” Pippin warned. Elanor hesitated, but then slowly nodded her head.

“I’m sure.”

“Well then, let me see. It all started when Frodo kept going on about these black riders, and how old Gandalf told him to go to Bree. Now this was strange enough, Bree being filled with the big folk, but Frodo also acted strangely, like the shadows were going to jump out and attack him. He told us of this ring he had. Said it was important. Well we didn’t quite understand, but being the good friends we are, we decided to go with Frodo to keep him company. But it wasn’t too long until we started feeling funny. Like something was following us. So we kept to the shadows, only traveled by day, that sort of thing. We thought we were doing pretty good, until one day we saw this strange rider, all dressed in black, and on a black horse. But he didn’t act like a normal horseman would. Didn’t act like he could see anything. All we heard was this sort of sniffing. Now just imagine our fright! Here we are, four lone hobbits in the woods, headed to who knows where, with no bed to look foreword to, and then suddenly we see one of these alleged black riders, and it seems to be looking, or sniffing, which is more like it, for us! Well you can imagine our confusion, not to mention fear. So we ran as fast as our legs could carry us to the village of Bree, where we were met by some strange folk. Mind you they were more than likely right and normal to their own kin, but to us poor hobbits, they seemed like monsters! So there we are, all dripping wet from a storm much like this one, and when we ask for Gandalf, they say he isn’t there. Isn’t there! Now how do you think we felt? I’ll tell you, scared to death. We were sitting there eating and drinking, trying to figure out what to do next, when this fellow emerges from the smog in the room. Says his name is Strider and that we need to come with him or “they” will find us. We didn’t believe him at first, but he had a letter, from Gandalf he said. So Frodo read it, and said that it really was from old Gandalf, and that this Strider fellow was our friend. Now normally I wouldn’t have trusted the man. He was dressed in mud-stained clothes, and looked rough to me. But Frodo was the boss, so we went and stayed with Strider for the night. Well in the middle of the night, we hear this screech that would be enough to make your blood run cold. And Strider says “They’re here.” Imagine how afraid we were then! This Strider suddenly looked like an angel in disguise, telling us how these black riders, or ring wraiths as he called them, were once men; but were taken over by Sauron and were now slaves to his will. Well I didn’t care who, or what they were, as long as they didn’t come anywhere near me! We didn’t sleep a wink that night, what with those things searching for us. But Strider kept us safe, and it was that, more than anything else, that convinced me he wasn’t going to kill us immediately. Now Elanor, you’re afraid of the dark, well let me tell you, there is nothing that you need to be afraid of. Those ring wraiths are long gone, destroyed along with Sauron; and there are rangers, like Strider, that are always watching over the Shire, protecting it from any evil that is left in the world, and I’m telling you, that’s not much. So you see Elanor, even in your dreams, fear and darkness cannot take you away. There is always light, and beauty, that no shadow can touch, and you just remember that, the next time your dreams come to you in the middle of the night. Oh look! The rains stopped. Why don’t you children go back and help old Sam with the garden. Run along now.”

“Thank you Mr. Took, it was a lovely story.”

“Any time dear girl. My son Faramir and I will always be here if you need us. You know that.”

“I do.” Elanor smiled. “Come on Faramir, let’s go. I told papa I wouldn’t be late for supper.” So Elanor and Faramir began walking back to town, and Elanor knew that the next time the gravely voice came to her in her dreams, and threatened to take everything away from her, that she would be able to say with confidence “You cannot take me! There is always light, and beauty, and goodness, and there is no way you can take that away from me! I am not afraid of you anymore!” And so, with Faramir at her side, she breathed in deep the warm summer air, and realized that there was really nothing to be afraid of in the first place. She kicked at a rock with her toe and sent it flying off the road, out of sight.

“Faramir? Do you think I’ll ever get to meet Strider?”

“I’m sure you will, why don’t you ask your father about it?”

“I think I will. I can’t wait to meet him.” And with that, Elanor skipped up to her house, counting the days until she could meet this man, Strider, who helped her to overcome her fears. Even if he had no idea she even knew his name.