Untitled (Mirkwood)
The child has a secret place in the wood: a heart of trees, where through the spring a knot of honeysuckle opens like his own star.
Later, when the air turns chill, he is bidden not to go there. When he goes nonetheless, he sees broken leaves; blood is on the ground, and a strange, splayed outline hoisted in the tallest tree.
He stands and sobs, and hears the strain of the winter wind. Someone picks him up and carries him away, and he somehow knows that the flowers are over, and that his people will never return to this place.