(Read normally, like a story...)

Halrohir: Well now, what shall we share tonight? I'd like some bread with my ale, what about some milk for you and, after that, sweet one, what about a new story by the fire, eh?

Miyana: *smiles and nods excitedly, her loose blonde curls bouncing around her face and falling almost to her waist*

Halrohir: *finds bread butter and ale, and milk for the little girl, and walks to the chairs by the hearth*

Miyana: *skips along beside him, grinning ear to ear at having him back at the Inn*

Halrohir: *settles his still-aching ribs into the chair by the fire, his boots starting to steam a bit in the heat* Tuck in, little daughter! And a story, too... let's see… *takes a pull of his pint and a mouthful of buttered bread*

Halrohir: I shall tell you the tale, of the Singing Tree! This story happened not long ago, actually...

Miyana: *takes a small sip of her milk then lays down on her stomach, looking up at him with wide eyes that flash in the light of the fire*

Halrohir: A young girl lived in a town of Men, near a wide river and a forest of tall, strong trees.  Now, it was the tradition in the town, to each year, dig up one small sapling from the forest, and plant it in the town square, and the townsfolk would share in the tending and the care of the new tree

Halrohir: So that when the next year came, the strong and healthy tree would be returned to the forest, and a new sapling cared for in its turn.  Now, it happened one year, that the young boys whose job it was to go find the new sapling, stumbled deeper into the forest than usual

Miyana: *nods, staring at him as though he was the only thing around for miles*

Halrohir: and one of the boys saw a tree unlike any that they had seen before - it had silver bark, and leaves that were golden, and it was so unusual, that when the rest of the lads came up, they all agreed that THIS was the year tree for the town - and so they carefully dug it from the earth, and carried it back to town

Halrohir: Well! All the townsfolk admired the silver sapling, and they planted it straightaway.  Later that very same evening, the little girl I spoke of first, came to the square with a small bottle of honey - for this was a gift that all the townsfolk gave the new tree at its planting.  And as she walked, she saw the lovely silver sapling, and she sang a simple, happy melody

Miyana: *nods, listening and kicking her feet in the air as she does so, picturing his words in her mind as clear as day*

Halrohir: Now, the little girl was not really afraid at the sight - rather, she was curious - so she sang a second melody, slower than the first, a lullaby. And the strangest thing began to happen - because as the little girl sang, the branches of the silver tree began to sway, but there were no breezes or winds to blow and as she sang, the silver sapling began swaying slowly, in time with her tune! The little girl was fascinated! And she started a third song, a fast little dancing song that children would skip about as they sang - and she began to dance about as well And as she watched, the silver sapling's leaves began to quake and tremble, and the branches to sway in time with the girl's singing

Miyana: *giggles, picturing the tree and the songs, her eyes sparking with the magic of it all*

Halrohir: The little girl danced until she go tired, then she bowed to the tree, and went home. Now, no one else saw the girl and the tree as she sang, but after a few weeks, the townsfolk began to notice strange things.  Whenever a breeze blew, the strangest sounds came from the square, as the wind moved the silver sapling's leaves... It sounded to those who listened, like a sad voice whispering...

Halrohir: Now, one evening, the little girl who sang and danced with the tree was there once again, with her mother and father And the little girl showed her parents what she could do with the tree -she sang the same three songs, and the silver sapling moved with her but when she stopped, the tree did not - the silver sapling began singing its own song!

Halrohir: The silver tree's boughs kept reaching, reaching towards the forest where it came from - and the sound of its leaves in the breeze was a new song: it was a sad song, of lonely longing for other trees, and birds, and animals under the woods. And the mother and father looked on, as the little girl walked to the tree, and touched its silver trunk, and said, "I'm sorry".

Miyana: *giggles again, covering her mouth so she doesn't disturb him, and thinking that a tree singing is very silly*.

Gothien: *makes her way over to the empty fireplace, where she proceeds to make herself comfortable*

Halrohir: Now, after the full year had gone round, the time had come for the new tree to be found in the forest, and the silver sapling to be returned. But the silver sapling was no longer just a sapling - it had grown strong under the care of the townsfolk, and especially of the little girl. It had new leaves to replace the golden - they were silver underneath, and green on the top, and no one could remember such a remarkable tree!

Halrohir: Now, the time had come, and the townsfolk made to uproot the old tree with the new - but the little girl said "Wait! Look at the silver tree!"

Gothien: *catches drifts of Halrohir's story and smiles vaguely, as if remembering a time in her life when she was told stories*

Miyana: *stays perfectly still as she listens, wishing she could speak to trees and sing to them like the girl in the story*

Halrohir: For there, on one of its boughs, was a little silver fruit, and the branch it was on bent to the little girl's hand, offering the fruit to her. And all who were near heard very clearly, the song from the leaves and the boughs of the silver sapling...

"I will go back to the forest, my home - but my gift to my friend, is part of me... Plant this seed in the dark fresh loam, and you will have a most wonderful tree!"

Halrohir: And they did just as the song said - the silver sapling was returned to the forest, and the little girl planted the silver seed in the town square - and the seed quickly grew in a month's time, into a tree exactly like the silver sapling!  And to this day, the little girl brings honey to the silver tree, and sings to it, and the tree will sing along with her - and this tree has a very special name...  That tree is named, "Mallorn"!