A/N:  250 words. Going waaaaay back in time. I'd wanted to follow up on "Doubt" but Olwe insisted on this flashback tonight.

Destiny

Young Olwë squealed in glee as the water in the lake lapped around his ankles, tickling them. His brother, Elwë, was further up the shoreline, playing with other elflings. Olwë hopped up and down, splashing harder, droplets of water landing on his face. He licked his lips and laughed at its sweet taste. A bright pebble beneath the surface caught his attention and he stooped over to grab it. It was further away than he thought; his face dipped into the water as he overbalanced. As he stared at the wavering gleam of starlight through the water, he heard a kind and deep voice in his head and not his ears.

*Greetings, little one. It is not yet time for you to know me, but know that water will always be your friend, no matter where you are in Arda.*

Even as he felt his amillë's hands seize him around the waist and pull him upright, Olwë heard a beautiful sound that was unlike any he'd heard before. In the fuss of drying him off, and the scolding he received for not staying on the shore, it echoed in his head and lingered to resound when he slipped onto the Path of Dreams.

Yéni later, he heard it again, when he stood on the westernmost shore of Beleriand, his bare feet ankle-deep in the waves. He watched Lord Ulmo play upon the Ulumúri, and he finally understood that even from his elflinghood, he had been called to find the Sea.

(Written Nov. 20-21, 2008)