Uncle Frodo.

     He had been there for as long as Elanor could remember.  He was ever present but not foremost in her young life.  Like the beam of sunlight that illuminated the subject of a portrait.  He could be at once a disapproving babysitter and a partner in crime, often as much in need of a babysitter as she was!

     Elanor remembered very well from her childhood the time that she and Uncle Frodo had gone out to play in the rain.  Rosie had caught them and even now Elanor could not help but giggle at the memory of Frodo's sheepish grin, his hair falling in dripping curls into his face.

       " We were just trying to save you time doing the washing," he had replied to her scream of horror.  Rosie didn't buy it and rewarded both Frodo and Elanor with a rather rough towling off and cup of nasty tasting tea. 

      "To ward of Heavens knows what ya'll get playin' in the rain!", as Rosie had put it.

      That was a good day.  After they had faced Rosie's formidable dressing down, not to mention her tea, Elanor and Frodo sat by the fire to finish drying out.  Elanor had sat watching the rain watching the rain come down. She'd looked over to see Frodo staring into the fire with that vaugely pained look he sometimes got.  Elanor knew how to cure that.  She slid down from the window seat and crawled up onto Uncle Frodo's lap snuggling her head into his shoulder.  Frodo lifted his free hand to stroke her drying curls out of her face.  She felt him exhale a soft sigh of relief and she knew his face was tranquil now.  Elanor, warm and tired from her romp in the rain, began to drift off to sleep in his arms.  Uncle Frodo's arms were perfect for her to snuggle in.  Her father's were big and strong. Good for chasing away his little girls troubles, but a little bulky to rest on.  Frodo's were thin and perfect for settling her neck against.

     Elanor straightened up from scrubbing the floor of her modest home and pushed her hair out of her face.  That was a long time ago.  She felt so old.  She wasn't; but she felt she was.  He had been gone for so long.  Was he happy?  Elanor was beginning to feel that empty place inside her ache again; then she heard the rain. He was always there again when it rained.  Elanor walked out into it, letting it soak her through and make her old soul young again.  She could feel Uncle Frodo's arms around her again. The wind sighed in relief.  Elanor smiled, she knew again without seeing.  He was smiling.  Yes, he was smiling...