The Damp of the First Spring Rain

“Want some pie, Merry?”

Merry gazed down at his smiling cousin, surrounded by mud pies in various stages of completion, and hid a smile. “Not right now, thank you.”

With a shrug Pippin turned back to his latest creation, a particularly enormous mud pie that was sure to collapse right into his lap in a few moments. Merry shook his head – he never quite understood why his cousin always begged to go down to the river to play in the mud, though he supposed that it gave Pippin a good excuse to have one of his beloved baths.

Shivering a little, Merry glanced up at the sky. It had been sunny when they set out this morning but now there were dark clouds swiftly rolling in, and the air was growing heavy with dampness. “Let’s go back now, Pip. It’s getting chilly, and I think it’s going to rain soon.”

“No!” Pippin squealed. “No, no, no, no!” At the last no he flopped on his back, landing on a mud pie with an unmistakable squish and laughed gleefully.

“Come on, up you go.” Merry hauled Pippin to his feet and shook his head at the state of his cousin’s hands and clothes. “You’re filthy, you know. Let’s get you cleaned up, and then we’ll find some real pies to eat.”

“These are real pies,” Pippin explained patiently. He managed to slip away and headed toward an untouched patch of mud closer to the river.

“You’re going to get sick playing out here, and then what will I do with you?” Merry called as he scrambled after Pippin. The ground was slick and in his haste Merry slipped, landing in a muddy trench, and was rewarded for his pains by Pippin’s unmistakable giggle.

As Merry turned to glare at his cousin the skies opened up, letting loose such a fierce stream of rain that Pippin disappeared into the mist.

“Pippin!” he cried, shaking the wet hair out of his eyes as he struggled to his feet. A movement to his right, and Merry turned to see Pippin, with his arms outstretched and his head titled back, spinning round and round and laughing with such joy that Merry found it impossible to suppress a smile of his own.

“What are you doing?” Merry shouted over the roaring rain.

“Cleaning off the mud!” Pippin yelled back, grinning and seeming quite pleased with himself. He stopped spinning abruptly, and swayed on his feet, still smiling.

“You ridiculous little Took,” Merry said fondly as he scooped up Pippin and headed toward the warm smial. “What we both need is a bath.”

Pippin wrapped his arms tightly around Merry’s neck and snuggled into his shoulder. “And then some pie!”