Later that afternoon, Aaliyah found me sitting on the back porch swing in a baby blue onesie with a long tail. I was daydreaming as I held my tail against my chest, stroking it gently.
"Hey, Sméagol," she greeted as she sat next to me.
I looked up, and smiled warmly at her. "Oh, hi, Aaliyah."
"Isn't that uncomfortable?"
"What, Precious?"
"The way you've got your tail."
"Oh." I was sitting on my tail as it was lodged between my legs, allowing me to hold it against my chest. "Not at all," I said happily as I continued to stroke it. "No, Sméagol is comfy, isn't he? Aren't we, Sweetie?" I said to my tail in a baby voice.
Aaliyah giggled. "You talk to your tail, too?"
I giggled softly. "I do, yes."
"How come?"
"What?"
"How come you talk to your zipper and your tail?"
I smirked. "I don't knows, Precious. I just wuvs my zipper and my tail so much. They're my little babies."
"So, they're like your children?"
I giggled again. "I guess so," I said innocently.
Aaliyah grinned. "You're so cute, Sméagol."
I giggled more. "Awww, thank you, Sweetie."
Aaliyah patted my back, which felt wonderful. So long it had been since anyone ever gives me a pat on the back. "So, watcha doin' out here?"
"Oh, just thinking, Precious."
"Thinking?"
"About today, our show we puts on at the nursing home."
"Yeah, that was great."
"It was. Very good it felt to makes all those people smile."
Aaliyah nodded.
"They looksed so sad, some of them."
"Well, living in a nursing home can be miserable. Like, with Rosie, her daughter's husband just dumped her there. A lot of them, their families just dumped them there, don't even bother to visit often, if at all."
"Aww, why do they do that?"
"Well, sometimes, when you become elderly, you have more problems that need extra attention. Some of them are sick. Some have mobility issues, and they can't get around their own homes anymore. Some have cognitive issues. These people can't live independently anymore for a number of reasons, and unfortunately, some of their families see them as a burden. They don't wanna take care of them anymore. Some of them can't take care of them, which is understandable, so they put them in a place where they know their loved ones will be taken care of. Some of the families do make an effort to visit them, and make sure they know they're loved, but some of them, their families just... don't even seem to care. And, some of them have no family left, because they all died."
"Like Rosie?"
"Yeah, just like Rosie. A lot of these people are so lonely and miserable. They desperately need a reason to get up in the morning, but they rarely find one, if ever. So... they're just sitting around, waiting to die."
And, with that, my heart shattered once again, and very quickly I was reduced to tears. "Oh, those poor people," I sobbed. "I knows how they feels."
"I know you do. But, let me tell you, Sméagol, you gave them a very good reason to wake up in the morning. You brought so much joy to them, and you'll be back next month. You're now their reason for hanging on. You know, this reminds me of a quote I read somewhere that's always stuck with me, and it makes me think of you every time I remember it. 'Be the person you needed when you were younger,' Ayesha Siddiqi. I think that fits you perfectly, because you are the person you needed when you were struggling. You're that person to other people who need it."
"And, it makes me very happy, it does. I don't even wants any reward from it. I only wants others to be happy."
"I know, and that is the best form of kindness, giving with no expectation of receiving."
I smiled as my eyes wandered.
"Watcha lookin' at?" Aaliyah asked.
"Oh, everything."
"Everything?"
"The trees, the grass, the flowers, the blue sky, the birds."
"Nature."
"Yes, nature. Sméagol used to love nature. Could not enjoys it for so long."
"Nope, because the Ring made you intolerant to sunlight and... light in general."
"Yes, but it's gone now."
"Yep, and you can enjoy nature again, can't you?"
"Oh, yes, and so much more beautiful it is than I remembers it."
"Well, when you've lived in darkness for centuries, and you can suddenly handle the light again... it's like being born again."
I took a deep breath in and out. "Very much so, Precious. Very much."
"You wanna go for a nature walk?"
I suddenly became very excited. "Oh, yes! Yes, Precious, yes!"