"Crow, get up."
Sammie grunted softly, more asleep than not, and wanting nothing more than to be left alone; but his slumber had been disturbed, by a whisper, nothing more, and the bed wasn't so comfortable, suddenly, and the covers were suddenly too cool. He rolled over, pulling the pillow over his head; that soft, insistent voice was still at his ear, and would not be deterred.
"Crow, I know you're awake. Get up."
Sammie groaned and opened one eye, slowly, and shifted so that his face wasn't pressed against his pillow; he found his sight filled with his sister Daisy, who was leaning in very, very close. "See, I told you so," she said, smugly, with nothing more than a whisper. "Now get up. We haven't much time."
"Much time for what?" Sammie replied, softly. "It must be the middle of the night."
"Its closer to dawn," came Daisy's quick reply. Sammie felt her small hand tugging at his own, and he gave in, curiosity getting the better of his hobbit sensibilities. "What's going on, Canary?"
Daisy grinned. "You'll see," she said, handing him his coat. "Hurry up."
"I'm going as fast as I can," he replied, annoyed, but wondering, too. He pulled the jacket on over his nightshirt and followed his sister as she left the room, similarly attired, in nothing more than a long jacket and her sleeping gown beneath. They walked as soft as shadows, so as not to wake any of their sleeping siblings, and Sammie knew that their Mum would have a thing or three to say, if she found them about, at such a late hour of the night.
Her bare feet whispered against the floor, padding down the hall to the front door. She stopped there, and looked back. "I want you to see this, because you're my most favourite brother," and Sammie couldn't help but smile, then yawn, and that smile turned to a grin as he rubbed at his eyes.
"Well, you know you're my most favourite sister."
They shared a smile and Daisy turned the doorknob, then, and stepped out into the cool night air. Sammie followed after her, and the breeze cut into his jacket, chilly and sweet smelling. The grass was damp, glistening with moisture in the light of the moon; it seemed to have rained, and he could feel it, could taste it, melting on his tongue.
"Daisy?" he queried, and she stopped and turned to face him, then pointed up to the sky, instead; Sammie followed her guidance, and looked towards the heavens, gasping at the sight of myriad shooting stars, streams of silver and white burning against a sky that was still thick and black like midnight.
"They've been like this for a while," said Daisy, and he knew she watched the sky, too.
He wondered, at the back of his mind, why his sister had been out at all, but that thought came and went, and he felt her fingers threading with his own; if she would make no offer to tell, then it must have been something that needn't be told.
He looked to her for a moment, her hair a mute shade of yellow that was almost grey, in the glow of the night, and she smiled but it was almost a frown.
"I'm glad that you're with me, Sammie," she said, very softly, then lifted her gaze back to the sky; and Sammie thought that not being in the world, would be like a sword through Daisy's heart.
And he'd never want to hurt his sister, not like that.
"Don't you worry then," he replied, and he gave her hand a squeeze. "I've no intentions of going anywhere, anytime soon."
And they watched the last shooting stars as they burned up in the pre-dawn sky, with nothing but their hands between.
The end
~
Pretty Good Year