The Mermaid's Flute by octopus_fool  

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The Mermaid's Flute

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"What is that?" Eärendil asked, approaching Voronwë where he stood looking out across Gondolin. Their hair fluttered in the strong wind and Voronwë was trying to imagine that there might be a hint of the scent of the sea in the air.

Voronwë stopped fiddling with the object in his hands and turned away from the white, sunlit balustrade towards Eärendil. He held out the object to Eärendil.

"What do you think it might be?" Voronwë asked.

It was Eärendil's turn to shift the object in his small hands, examining it from all sides. It was about half as long as Voronwë's forearm and its widest point was the length of Voronwë's index finger. It was a pale green and felt like wood or dried leaves.  A strange sort of handle with a hole came out of it.

"It has holes!" Eärendil noted.

"Indeed. Do you think they were put there intentionally, or that they are the marks of the worms that kept eating the wood of our ships?"

Eärendil scrunched his nose in thought. "They have different sizes, not like when Ecthelion drills holes into something."

"You are very observant," Voronwë praised. "Do you see a pattern in the holes?"

Eärendil ran his fingers along the holes and Voronwë could see that there were still traces of jam from his breakfast on them. He must have escaped before Idril could check if he had washed his hands properly.

"They are in two curves."

"Yes. Can you place your fingers over them?"

Eärendil tried, but his fingers were too short.

"Let me try," Voronwë said, and Eärendil handed the object back to him.

Voronwë placed his fingers over the holes, just barely managing to. "My fingers are also a bit too short. And there are some holes I can't cover. "

"But your hands are so big," Eärendil replied.

"I think this must have been made by someone with even bigger hands and even longer fingers. Maybe even with more fingers than I have."

"Is there music kept in it, like in Glorfindel's flute?"

"That is a very good guess," Voronwë said. "I think so."

He brought the hole of the handle to his lips and blew.

Eärendil clapped his hands in delight at the sound that emerged, and Voronwë moved his fingers across the holes.

Voronwë was immediately taken back to waves crashing against cliffs, and seabirds wheeling overhead. He could hear the wind in the sails and feel the deck dip and rise beneath his feet. It was the same as every time he played the instrument, which was why he only did so on rare occasions.

Finally, he let the instrument sink.

"That was very pretty!" Eärendil said. "It sounds so different from Glorfindel's flute."

He looked at Voronwë's face, and his smile turned into a concerned frown. "Why are you crying? Are you sad because you want it to sound like Glorfindel's flute? Don't worry, I think it was prettier than that."

Voronwë tried to wipe away the tears. He shook his head. "No. That is the sound of the sea. I miss the sea, very much so. So hearing something that sounds like the sea makes me sad."

"Because you can't go back?"

Voronwë nodded.

"I can ask grandpa if he will let you go, it that makes you happy."

Voronwë smiled. "That is very kind of you, but it is not necessary. I can not return even if he allows it, and Gondolin is beautiful. And do you want to know a little secret?"

Eärendil nodded eagerly.

Voronwë lowered his voice. "I think this is a mermaid's flute."

"Really? But grandfather says mermaids aren't real."

"I saw the tail of one during my journey," Voronwë said. "And the next morning, I saw this floating on the waves. I think she gave it to me as a gift so that I would remember her and the sea."

"Wow!"

"I'll let you play it when you are bigger. Maybe your hands will grow big enough that you won't have any trouble holding it. Maybe we can have Ecthelion make you a smaller one so you can practice before then."

"Oh yes! I want my own mermaid flute!"