Title – Time's out of Joint

Author: Linda Hoyland
Characters/Pairing: OMC, Aragorn, Eldarion

Rating: PG
Warnings: Character death

Book/Source: LOTR book-verse

Disclaimer: The characters are the property of the Tolkien estate. This drabble is written for pleasure, not profit.

The woodcutter could not recall a time when the old King was not on the throne, nor could his father, or even his grandsire.

No doubt, Lord Eldarion, now King Eldarion, would rule well enough, but things felt different somehow, as if the world were turning upside down.

The woodcutter shook himself; he had work to do. The forest remained unchanged while Men came and went. The great oaks outlasted the foresters by centuries; their branches budding anew through countless springtimes.

In the forest's heart, the woodcutter observed that the mightiest oak had fallen, cleft asunder by a lightning bolt.

A/n. Written for the "Oak" Challenge at Tolkien Weekly.