Waiting by Zdenka

[zdenka]

B2MeM Prompt, Card and Number: Color Burst 3 - Yellow: Butter (G48); Emotions: Apprehension (O68)
Format: drabble-and-a-half (150 words)
Genre: gen
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Characters: Aerin; Morwen and Rían mentioned
Pairings: none
Summary: Dor-lómin awaits word from the battle. Aerin makes piecrust.

Summer is ending, and still there is no word from the battle. The house has grown quieter; Rían no longer sings and barely speaks, seeming to draw into herself. Aerin rubs butter and flour together with her fingertips to make piecrust. If she makes Rían’s favorite pear tart, perhaps she can coax a brief smile.

The wind from the North begins to turn chill. Morwen stalks about the house, her expression forbidding and her tongue sharper. She ignores Aerin’s tentative suggestions that she sit and rest. A nourishing broth will be good for her and the child, Aerin thinks. She plucks sprigs of thyme for flavor and breathes in the fragrant scent.

Aerin is afraid. For her father, her cousins, her friends. Absurd, to think she could defend Dor-lómin with soup, or hold off Morgoth’s armies with piecrust. But if she kneads the bread, it keeps her hands from shaking.

Comments

[oloriel]

Oh, Aerin! <3 It is perhaps absurd, but she's got to do something. She does her best (and, in her way, achieves the most, at least until Húrin blunders along and tears it all down)!

You're bringing the apprehensive mood across really well. Poor Aerin, I wish there could be a happier ending to her story.

[zdenka]

Thank you! Yes, she accomplishes a lot, even in a tough situation. I wish she could have a happier ending too.

[erulissedances]

It's always best to be doing something rather than sit and wait for doom. You manage beautifully at the suspense and fear that is their lot.

- Erulisse (one L)

[zdenka]

Thank you! I agree, it's better to be doing something, if possible.

[jenni_blog]

Very nice. I felt the tension and her struggle to hold it all together as best she could.

[zdenka]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

[hhimring]

Oh Aerin! She cannot save Rian or Morwen, but she tries, and maybe achieves a little, at least.
And her work keeps her in the here and now, too.
Good descriptions and a strong ending.

[zdenka]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.