"He was short-legged and fat-armed, thick and stumpy, and clad only with grass about his waist." RotK, V, `The Ride of the Rohirrim'
From the top of a favoured tree, he sits and watches the gathering of the Horse-Men and the Tall-Men, and he listens to the Tallest Man grant to Ghân a forest that is already his.
At last they go, back to their stone houses, back to their bright iron. And old Ghân creeps along secret paths back to the glade, where the children hide-and-seek naked between the trees; where the men and women, grass-skirted, watch and laugh; where the sunshine speckles the green leaves in endless play. And old Ghân sleeps, and he does not fear the future. Not today.
Written for the B2MEM 2011 challenge. Day 8: Write a story or poem or create a piece of artwork reflecting identification with or connection to one’s land, country or culture. Or write a story or poem or create a piece of artwork featuring kilts.