In Dreams

It was the middle of the night almost exactly when something awoke Eglantine Took suddenly. For a moment she didn’t know what it had been, until she heard quiet sobs coming from the room next to hers. She rose quietly, so as not to wake her husband, and slowly edged open the door to see two young hobbits crying in each other’s arms. One was Frodo Gamgee, who had just recently turned twelve. The other was his younger brother, eight year old Merry. They had come to stay with Eglantine’s son, their Uncle Pippin, while their parents Sam and Rosie were away in Sarn Ford for the month.

“What’s wrong?” Eglantine asked, taking the younger boy in her arms and sitting on the bed, her back to the wall. Merry put his little arms around her waist and said, “We hadded nightmares.”

Eglantine looked to Frodo, who said, “He had a nightmare almost exactly like me.”

“What about, love?” Eglantine asked.

“Mum and Da. They were in trouble and couldn’t get help. In my dream they got eaten by trolls and in Mer’s they got ‘tacked by a giant spider from Da’s stories,” Frodo replied, wiping a tear off his cheek.

Merry began to cry again, remembering his dream. “I want Mummy back!” he said.

“Shh, dear, it was only a bad dream. She’ll be back in a few weeks,” Eglantine said as Frodo scooted closer to her.

“But it was scary, Aunt Tina,” Merry said.

“I’m sure it was. But it’s over now. Do you want me to stay with you for a little while?”

“Tell us a story, Aunt Tina,” Frodo said, looking pleadingly at her with his shockingly blue eyes, the only part of him that resembled his namesake.

“Tell us about when you had a bad dream,” Merry requested, resting his curly head on her shoulder.

“All right,” Eglantine said. She remembered one such instance vividly. It had been only a few days before Pippin, Merry, Sam and Frodo had returned from their adventure.

***

Eglantine awoke suddenly. It was nearly midnight, and she was trembling in fear. She had dreamed about her son standing in front of a burning funeral pyre, with a tall man burning to death in the midst of it. She saw the expression of horror and hopelessness on Pippin’s face. Not knowing what had happened to her son made her mind imagine all the most horrible things that could have happened to him.

She had suffered from nightmares since a few days after she had realized that he was gone, and had spent most of the next year and a half sticking close to home in case he were to come back. But she had lost her hope of that months before.

Thus when he did return, she fainted at the sight of him, not able to believe it was him. She never told anyone why. They never asked. Her dreams had ceased and she knew Pippin was safe, and that was the end of it.

***

Of course, Eglantine did not tell this whole story to the children. They were too young to understand. “It was very scary,” she said. “But then… Guess who showed up at the door, Merry!”

Merry scrunched up his nose in concentration, totally immersed in the story. “Who?” he asked.

“Frodo, do you know?” she asked. Frodo had heard the end of this story from his Da, who thought Merry a little young for the real version still.

“It was Uncle Pippin!” Frodo said excitedly.

“Yes it was. I was very surprised, because my dream said he wasn’t coming back home.”

“Does that mean Mum and Da are coming back?” Merry asked. “They’re alright, aren’t they?”

“Yes love, they’re fine.” She bent over and kissed Merry’s forehead, then Frodo’s, and said, “Do you think you can go to sleep now?”

“If Frodo stays with me,” Merry said, curling up beside his brother under the covers.

“Of course,” Frodo replied, hugging him comfortingly, scaring away the demons of the night.

Eglantine smiled and closed the door quietly.

“You dreamed about me when I was gone?” said a familiar voice behind her.

She turned to give her son a hug. “What are you doing up?” she asked.

“I came to see if Frodo and Merry were alright, I heard them from my room. Answer my question,” Pippin said, smiling at his mother.

“Yes,” she replied. “I dreamed about you and Merry on top of a great tree. I dreamed about you going to war, and I dreamed about you watching a Man burn to death.” She shuddered and said, “They were horrible, but they were just dreams.”

Pippin looked at his mother sadly, slightly confused. “They weren’t just dreams, Mum,” he said. “That all happened.”

Eglantine stared at him a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I was there, remember?” Pippin answered. He shook his head. “No matter,” he said. “I need to get to bed, and so do you.” He kissed her cheek, then turned and left.

Eglantine watched after him, the realization of what he had been through finally dawning on her. Then returned to her room, only to be awakened a moment later by Rose and Little Goldilocks climbing under her covers saying, “Aunt Tina, can we sleep with you? We had bad dreams!”

The End