"The First Cut Is the Deepest" by Just_ann_now

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

B2MeM Challenge:"Textures" card, "Splintery" I-18
Format: Double Drabble
Genre: General
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: Boromir
Pairings:N/A
Summary: Sometimes it's just too hard to wait.



He would have been better off to wait for a proper practice sword. It would have been made of pine, perhaps, smoothly sanded and stained. The hilt would have been properly fitted to his hand. It would have been presented to him at breakfast on his seventh birthday, with all due ceremony, his father beaming, his mother looking both proud and perhaps a bit sorrowful. He would have counted it as his first day as a warrior, albeit a warrior-in-training.

But, of course, he couldn't wait. Once he found those bits of lathe in a corner of a shed by the stables there was no stopping him. He convinced the blacksmith's apprentice to nail them together, and set out to do battle with the monkey-puzzle tree in his mother's garden.

It wasn't a moment before a long, jagged splinter was embedded in his hand. He stared at it, the blood welling out from his palm, dripping onto his breeches, his boot, the ground.

"It was the first time my blood was shed for Gondor," Boromir would laugh, later; but remembering, he always felt slightly sick at the shock of that discovery, that he could be hurt, that he could bleed.

Comments

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

This was great, so very Boromir! I'm amazed at how quickly you've written it!

[huinare.livejournal.com]

That was quick! And an apt incorporation of the prompt. I really like the last line, starts off humorous and becomes quite sober.

(I recall the first time I noticed I could bleed, around age 5 maybe. I was outside in the backyard and found something red and shiny around my toe, though it didn't hurt. It was kind of unnerving, as far as I recall.)

[aliana1.livejournal.com]

Wow, I too am impressed at your speed! It's so in character for Boromir, even as a child, not to be able to wait for his first weapon.

"It was the first time my blood was shed for Gondor," Boromir would laugh, later; but remembering, he always felt slightly sick at the shock of that discovery, that he could be hurt, that he could bleed.

Last lines are so important in fixed-length ficlets, and you really nail this one (no pun intended). That would have been a crucial turning point for him; no wonder he'd remember.

*shudders* ughsplintersIhatethem

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

Ow-yow! I felt sympathy pains for Boromir here, more the physical than the personal realization though i can see that hurting as well. Nice characterizations all around.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

WTG Boromir...

- Erulisse (one L)

[alasse-mirimiel.livejournal.com]

Lovely, so very Boromir! I want to hug him now...

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I admire this so much. You really understand the form and yet always are able to work within it with so much heart. I love baby macho Boromir! Just a tad over confident. The last line is perfect. Congrats on the speed also--I know you are not a fast writer usually.

[dwimordene-2011.livejournal.com]

That last line makes the double drabble - I love how you juxtapose a much older Boromir laughing it off, and yet there is still that painful recognition: this is what taught him mortality.

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this very much. I like having a little look into Boromir's childhood. It would be so like him to want to begin his service to his White City as soon as possible. Lovely writing.

[foxrafer.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear young Boromir! I just want to give him a hug. This is so lovely, I can picture him pulling out the charm to get his weapon made and the look on his face when he sees that he can be hurt. Wonderful.

[starli-ght.livejournal.com]

I *loved* this Double Drabble. The insight you are sharing in such few words is absolutely mind-blowing, as I'm sure it was for Boromir to make his discovery. Watching children learn is an amazing thing: they each get the lessons they need, just how they need them, don't they? Fabulous Drabble!

[dreamflower]

This is perfect! I can so see this, and perhaps imagine him telling the tale on the road in Hollin to his companions.

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

Ah, poor Boromir! I love the last line.

There's a picture here: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/File:Catherine_Chmiel_-_The_Gift_2.jpg (http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/File:Catherine_Chmiel_-_The_Gift_2.jpg) which is perfect for the story!

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Alas, this is something every warrior must eventually realize. At least he learned it early, and came to his first real battle more wary because of it. Lovely!

[havamahal.livejournal.com]

Oh, this sounds so much like Boromir. Poor boy... just couldn't wait, could he?

The first time his blood was shed for Gondor... This line hurts. It makes me think of the last time he bled, pierced by those arrows... :(