Ariel

[altariel]

Finduilas is made of air. A tiny ghost story.



Ariel

Finduilas is made of air. Houseless, breathless, she drifts like dust amidst the walls and chambers of her old worn life. Fire cannot touch her, nor water carry her. Finduilas is almost gone.

Hovering, she watches the world unfurl, lifelike as the tapestries that used to shape her days, stitch by careful stitch. The young man’s strength is not enough; the old man’s foresight falters.

Then a fresh scent comes from the Sea. And by the fever-bed, for a son she hardly knew, Finduilas finds her vanished voice. “Breathe,” she whispers. “Breathe the free air.”

Now Finduilas too is free.

Comments

[wormwood-7.livejournal.com]

This is so lovely. I can see Funduilas lingering, "like dust" in the fabric of her old life.
I like the thought that she sat by Farmir's sick bed, "a son she hardly knew", and had a hand in his healing, and that his healing freed her, in the end. Thanks for sharing :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. The idea of her having even a slight hand in his healing struck me very much. I'm glad it worked for you too.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

It is a lovely, tiny ghost story, as light as the flicker in the air it describes.

ETA: Just to say I meant 'light' in the delicate use of words, not that it was 'lightweight' in any derogatory sense.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you. (And I took "light" to mean, as in: "My life is light, waiting for the death wind/Like a feather on the back of my hand.")

[illereyn.livejournal.com]

Lovely! I especially likied the idea of Finduilas supporting her son through the Black breath

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you like that idea, it struck me as having the potential to be very tender.

[lhun-dweller.livejournal.com]

Lovely image!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

Oh my. That's heart-breaking, but ultimately hopeful.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I think it's part of the great exhalation that happened at the end of the Third Age.