drabbles: At the Lockholes

[sophinisba]

Hurrah! Just set up wireless Internet in my parents' house, so I'm back, and with much reading to do.

In celebration of my newly recovered freedom, here's another pair of drabbles (which I actually wrote back in April). G and gen, although not exactly fluff.
ETA: Read Left Behind in the Lockholes (The Outlook Remix) by hyel, written for remixthedrabble in October, 2007./ETA.

At the Lockholes

It wasn’t her age, thank you very much.  And she had never been weak.  The lack of food had had an effect, it was true, and the darkness was disorienting.  But that wasn’t what did her in. 

He was less than half her age, four years younger than her Lotho, even, and had always seemed much younger.

But as he looked at her now she saw a look of such age and experience, such wisdom, and also pity, that Lobelia’s stubborn strength finally abandoned her.  She took a deep breath, leaned on Frodo’s arm, and staggered out into the light.

***

"My son," she whispered, standing still and staring at him as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.  Frodo smiled sadly and tried to guide her towards a waiting carriage.  She glimpsed Peregrin Took tending to the ruin of Fredegar Bolger, and wondered if she looked as destroyed.

"Come, Aunt, we must get you some food and rest," said Frodo, and then she realized what she'd meant. 

Not that fool she had raised, who had bargained the Shire away for the privilege of being lied to.  She wasn't asking for him. 

Frodo needn't understand, though.  "My son," she called him again.

Comments

[grapeofdeath.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That was really good! :)

[sophinisba]

Hey, thanks, I'm glad you liked it. And welcome to my LJ!

[fictualities.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are terrific. I love your Lobelia; tough, and yet there's more to her and than that. These provide a persuasive and moving backstory for the Lobelia in canon who left her money to build homes for hobbits made homeless after the Scouring.

[sophinisba]

Ooh, thank you! It's interesting to me that we have so few female characters in LOTR but the ones we have tend to be very strong. (Um, this may be as close as I ever get to canon in a fic, just so you know.)

[kitcat72.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you have returned. Was beginning to wonder where you'd gone. Enjoy your reading.

[sophinisba]

Hee, yes, I'm feeling all technologically sophistocated now. Love your icon (love Song of Solomon)!

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love these!! I do love Lobelia done with heart, which she did end up er...finally gaining after her experience. Poor thing probably did mourn her son, however awful he may have been. Whee! Sophinisba's back!

[sophinisba]

Well, we've already established that we're both big fans of the Scouring and, er, jails, so... glad you liked 'em.

Very nice to be back! *scampers off to read latest chapter of Lamentable*

[suzy-74.livejournal.com]

Hi! Welcome back.

These were great. Loved them.

[sophinisba]

Thanks, Suzy! Just two weeks till I lose my access again, but I am determined to enjoy them.

[shirebound]

My goodness, these are wonderful! Very powerful and emotion-packed. Poor Lobelia.

*wants to hug her*

[sophinisba]

Poor Lobelia. After the life she's lived, I don't imagine she's getting a lot of hugs, so it's a good thing you're here.

Thanks for reading, Shirebound, and welcome.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

claudia603 sent me here, and these are utterly wonderful.

Have you considered posting them to tolkien100?

[sophinisba]

Claudia is a darling for mentioning me and so are you for commenting (and for all your great writing!). Thanks for stopping by.

I hadn't, because I don't really follow the comm. Also, I think of this as a 200-word set, so I don't know how well it would fit there, but thanks for the suggestion. *ponders*

[mariole.livejournal.com]

Oh. You made me cry.

Really, really moving. *weeps*

[sophinisba]

Do you know, this is the very first piece of fanfic I ever wrote, although I posted a couple others before I did this one. It's also the only one I've posted that wasn't in response to someone else's request, just my own thing. So it means a lot to know people liked it.

I have told you you're one of about three fanfic authors to have made me cry, haven't I?

[mariole.livejournal.com]

She glimpsed Peregrin Took tending to the ruin of Fredegar Bolger, and wondered if she looked as destroyed.

Argh. *is destroyed all over again*

Thank you so very much for the compliment. I'm actually a pretty big cryer. I cry at commercials. But I don't cry that often at fanfic, so thank you for doing it. Crying is fun sometimes; that's why I adore LOTR.

[sophinisba]

Yes, I too enjoy a good cry. It's such a release, and having that kind of intense emotion can help you appreciate happier moments too. And I consider myself lucky that my life has been pleasant enough that I can cry more often over fiction and movies than over RL problems.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I love your Lobelia too. And that she called Frodo "My son. . ." you made me sniffle here. Thank you.

[sophinisba]

Hey, I'm pleased to provide sniffles. Thank you for reading and commenting, I'm fond of this one.

: )

[lithiumnature.livejournal.com]

It's very powerful and evocative. I had an aching, empty feeling when I read it. I know I've said it before, but I'm very impressed and glad that you are writing. I need to work on paying more attention to others.

Re: : )

[sophinisba]

I'm really glad I'm writing and sharing a little too. It's so good to hear that I've made my friends cry and sniffle and feel aching and empty! I'm gonna keep working at that!