Merry stumbled, blinded by tears, into the bright sun. Ahead of him, Pippin
fell, too tired to go on any farther. Merry sat down next to him, weeping,
and held Pippin there. His thoughts were racing. He couldn't keep them straight.
"Moria...Balrog...Fly you fools....orcs...." It was all too much for him.
Before it happened, Merry didn't take all this seriously. He had heard Bilbo's
stories of adventure and escape and thought it was just a fun trip. Something
the Brandybucks were known for. He didn't realize how much danger would be
involved. Untill now. Untill someone gets hurt.
Still holding Pippin, who was shaking and soaking Merry's knee with tears,
Merry tried not to think about anything. He wanted this nightmare to be over,
and Gandalf would walk out of the entry and say "It was all a joke! I'm not
dead!" but Merry knew that was not possible. His leader, mentor, friend,
was gone.
Boromir placed a hand on his shoulder and Merry looked up, trying to blink
away the tears so he could see. Boromir was deeply distressed but looked
at Merry with comfort and concern. All this young Brandybuck could think
was "I should never have come"........
