Final Dream

The sun. The sun was shining right at him, beaming through the tree branches. And it didn't burn his skin any more. It didn't hurt his eyes any longer. I didn't scare him... It was giving him warmth instead.

Ugly sun... How could he ever say such a thing?

He realized he was laying on his back in high soft grass. The colour of it was deep green and he felt the thick scent of moist soil. He slowly reached his arm, grasping the soil in his hand and clutching his fist, relishing the touch of it.

A bird chirped above his head. It sat down on a tree branch, stretching its wings

Didn't he hate such creatures? Didn't he use to eat them? Why? He couldn't remember.

The sound of water was near and he would swear there was a stream behind him. Small drops of cold water were falling on his face and he half-closed his eyes. He had such a strange feeling. He was convinced something was missing there, something that belonged to him. But what was it?

Or... Did he find odd the fact nothing was missing? Nothing...

Suddenly, he saw a woman walking in the green grass, approaching him. Did he know her? Her face seemed so familiar and yet, he couldn't remember even her name... She had a round face and nose, lined with curly dark hair. The features... Felt so known, so close...

"Where's the boy..." she kept saying, smiling and pretending to be looking under every bigger leaf.

"Where could he hide?"

He finally understood she was looking for him! He was the boy! But that was a nonsense. He was no boy! He tried to recall his water reflection he sometimes saw when he kept staring into the lake. The face of an ugly monster. The bulging eyes, the bald head, the crooked teeth, the pale skin... He was no boy...

"So... where are you hiding, my boy?"

Or was he?

"I will find you, I will find you..."

He glared at her. She was just a few feet away.

"Ha, there you are!"

Their eyes met. He widened them with shock. He surely knew these brown eyes of her! He'd seen them before, and many times!

She knelt to him and he backed off, scared a little bit. Concern filled the woman's look.

"What's that, my boy? Are you scared of something?"

"I'm..."

This wasn't his voice. How was that possible?

"You're what?"

"I'm an ugly monster..."

"What?"

The woman laughed, shaking her head.

"No, you're not. Let me show you, you little chicken..."

She lifted him easily in the air and carried him to the stream where she lowered him to see his reflection. There was her, holding a small boy in her arms, a boy with curly hair and a very, very confused expression.

"You see?" she said, raising and looking him in the eyes.

"You're no ugly monster."

"But I remember -"

He stopped, touching his ring finger and blinking.

"Did you lose something, my boy?" the woman asked and he looked at her absently. No, he didn't lose anything... He didn't miss anything...

"Are you my mother?" he asked silently and she laughed again.

"You're somehow witty today! But let's play. Yes, I'm your dear mother. And you are my dear naughty boy."

"Mother..." he murmured... He felt the close embrace, the loving and kind touch of her. She wasn't lying. She truly was his mother...

And then, a hot tear leaked into his eye, falling into the grass. He wiped it away and his mother tilted her head.

"Oh... Hush, hush, my boy..."

She hugged him, pressing him against her chest and stroking his back with her palm in a soothing way.

"Hush, my child..." she whispered. "You've only had a bad dream, that's all... The dream belongs into the night and now it's a bright sunny day. And you're free from it. You're free..."

"Yes, mother..." he uttered, wrapping his tiny arms around her neck tightly. "Yes..."

The burning lava of Mount Doom had already swallowed and eaten up half of the dark land. It would kill everything, but there was nothing living in the dark land anyway. However, it did kill one particular person. In the heart of the mountain, in the middle of it, where the lava was spurting from, a small creature fell off the bridge.

The burning surface closed above him very quickly. The heat was so strong he didn't even feel any pain. He looked up and saw blue sky.

Blue sky and the sun...

"Yes, mother..." he breathed out, a second before the lava washed over him forever.

"Yes..."