The elf

Just a story:

On the the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry, and Noah lead the way out of the ark. The animals followed him as though they knew him personally and I was not longer afraid of the mouths of the lions or the great tusks of the elephants. At least not with Noah around.

I gazed at the land in astonishment. Middle Earth was no more! I had no idea where the Shire was or where it would have been located. Canyons had been formed where there weren’t any and what was left of the vegetation was a horrible mess. Grass had eroded and the ground was moist, yet fertile. But how were we to till this land? I spoke with Noah about this and he said,

“Don’t worry, the Lord will provide.”

The Lord will provide by the hairs on my head! Just look at this mess! What were we going to do?

Once free the animals had dispersed into a mix of dead seaweed and what was left of the woods. I followed one of the great lions into the woods. He looked back and gave me such a fright, I scrambled up the remains of a tree! It was there that I heard the laugh.

“Higher, Higher, climb your way,

The Lord has started a brand new day.

What shall you do now that your all alone?

Higher, Higher, don’t worry, your known!”

The voice sounded so wonderfully familiar I could have cried. Joyfully, I climbed up to the top of the tree and was greeted by Melkor, son of Eleandor. But there was something different about him. He appeared to be none other than an elf with wings!

I threw myself around his leg, which was as high as I could reach.

“However did you come to be here?”

“Forty days and forty nights!

That’s a mystery I can not tell,

Not if I’m to keep your young hobbit skin well!”

But he wrapped his arms and his wings around me, and I felt safe for the first time since I left the ark. Eventually, but not unkindly, he unwrapped me from himself.

“Your wings,” I said. “Was that how you survived the flood?”

“I did not survive the flood. And yet I did. The wings are a gift soon to become legend.”

“But a better question little one, would be why have I come here?” said the elf.

“Well the, why have you come here?” I asked.

“For this – ” he withdrew a large bundle from behind his wings. I unwrapped it with enthusiasm.

“Seeds!” I cried out.

“Yes. In the name of the one most high, I give you the task of repopulating the earth with good food for you and your companions.”

The bag was heavy and full of seeds of all sorts. “How will I know what to plant where?”

“Why, have you already forgotten? There are no gardeners like you hobbits. I trust you will help the humans, for that is your given task.”

With that he begun to move away. I started at the variety of seeds. Squash and carrots! Lettuce, cucumbers and herbs! Watermelon and strawberries. I looked up to thank him, but he had disappeared.

Disappeared? Since when can an elf just vanish into thin air? “How shall I find you again?” I cried out. Then it came as a whisper in my head. I, Melkor, have been given the task of being your angel, for I am an elf no longer. When you really need me just call, and I’ll be there.

I’d better tell my wife! It was quite a task getting the bag of seeds down from the tree. But Noah had been right. The Lord had provided.