Read My Shorts

And in the Darkness Bind Them

One Sock to rule them all,

One Sock to find them;

One Sock to bring them all, 

and in the darkness bind them.

JRR Tolkein

~

A short story challenge by Challenge Corner (see external link) where we had to produce a Lord of the Rings fan fic. The only character from LOTR we were allowed to include was Gollum with a rather unexpected Precious where Precious could be anything except the ring. It also had to be a three page story. And include three quotes from a list. The ones I chose are highlighted in bold. Enjoy!

~ 

And In the Darkness Bind Them

The fish broke through the surface of the underground lake, its pale skin gleaming in the faint phosphorescence of the slimy rocks. Gollum's hand darted into the water and flipped the fish onto the rocks where he pounced on it, killing the colourless creature with a swift bite to the back of its head.

"Fish Precious, lovely lovely fishes." Obscene smacking noises filled the cavern as Gollum chewed his way through his meal. 

A short time later Gollum lay replete stretching out his long sinewy limbs on his favourite smooth rock, a few fishy remnants spattering the rocks nearby. Reaching into the grimy pouch he wore around his waist, he caressed the contents lovingly. "Hello, my Precious." The Sock was shaped onto his hand like a puppet but said nothing: it seldom did, but dark intent radiated from it and Gollum planted a kiss on the 'mouth' of the Sock.

He bent an ear to the sock puppet as it moved, and nodded sagely. "Yes Precious, fishes is always good to eats, lots and lots of fishes in the caverns. Nasty Spiderses don't like fishes, only orcses and big warm things. Warm things like me. So we eat fishes. But I have you Precious, you protects me, don't you Precious."

There was a knock of stone on stone from the depths of the caves beyond the cavern and Gollum's large eyes widened in fear.

"Something comes Precious, we must be careful."

The Sock that once belonged to the lord of darkness was stowed back in its pouch and Gollum crept into the maze of caves to investigate.

~~~

"I am liking this escapade less by the minute, cousin."

"Don't be such a daisy. All we have to do is make it to Durin's Bridge, chuck in the cursed thing and we can be away."

"Aye, that's simple. 'Just chuck it in' he says." The shorter of the two men cast a dark look at his cousin. "And how do we know some creepy little creature won't fish it out again?"

"You heard the elder when he was harping on the other day Torlin." The taller of the two men struck a pose and deepened his voice. "Deep is the abyss spanned by Durin's Bridge, and none has measured it. Yet it has a bottom, beyond both light and knowledge."

"Thankfully the elder's bottom is beyond both light and knowledge," muttered Torlin. "I don't like this place Andra, it's dark and full of spiders: big spiders."

"Aye, well we'll try and avoid them eh? I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Spiders are definitely one of them."

The two men continued for a while in silence, both stopping as the cave opened out into the cavern.

Gollum, who had been watching the two men for a while, slipped the Sock onto his foot with a whispered "my precious" and, now invisible, snuck up behind the two men to listen in on their conversation.