�I�m leaving.� I said it as curtly as I could.
�Good.� It was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to be begged to stay, but I should have known Odo would not do it. �I thought I�d raised you differently, but the evil spirit of your family is in you. I can�t have you creating dissension among us. We can�t have another feud.�
�I know.� I turned to face him. �And I can�t deny what I am. The truth is there is a family out there that needs me. I don�t care what you say, the Big Man brought me a message and I have to know what it means. I�m not you, Odo and I am looking for more than the Shire has to offer.�
I pushed past him through the doorway and walked as quickly as I could to the red, round door I was exiting for the last time. All the family was sitting at the table, speaking not a word, their eyes intently on me. I ignored them, opened the door and had gone but a few paces when I felt a hand grab my arm. With strength even for an older Hobbit, Odo turned me around. Something in his face had softened.
�It�s a hard path you�ve chosen, Pady. Go. And I wish you a good journey.�
He turned, shut the door and I was left alone in the dark, staring at the door I had known all my life. It was then my heart cried out and I could not believe I had let things come to this. But I could not go back. My pride would not let me. I had said I was going and I would, even if it killed me.
That is why I am at my pine. I slept here last night and this morning, my quest begins. Something is out there waiting for me. I do not know what it is, but it is there. Pride has sent me out and even though I grieve over the loss of all I have known, I must look forward. I do have a spirit and it has come from the river and my kin. I am one of them, whether I want to be or not. And no matter what they have done, they are mine and I must find them or die trying. Farewell, my Shire and farewell, my pine! You are in my heart though I may never lay eyes on you again.