One Ring

It looked shiny and must have been important, the way that horrible creature wailed for it. It would be easy to just pick it up and take it. All he had to do was solve a few riddles and it was his. All his own.

It was his own. He took it, kept it, used it. It started as a game, just a neat trick he could use to just disappear. It made life easier, more interesting. He became more and more dependent on it. He saw this dependence and tried to use it sparingly, but he could never really part with it. He couldn't live without it. Something about it was wrong, but he could never really convince himself it was bad. It had become his precious.

He didn't realize what lay behind it. The evil one had created it. Though it felt so good to put it on his finger, it only led the evil one closer to him. He didn't realize that by using it, he was bringing about the destruction of middle earth. Finally a friend stepped in. He forced him to give it up and leave forever. So he parted with it with the help of a friend.

His cousin inherited it. Its influence had spread. What was once Smeagol's became Bilbo's. What was Bilbo's became Frodo's.

Frodo was innocent. He was created to be good. But he inherited it and everything changed. He understood how evil it was, but fell into its trap. It consumed him and he was not willing to part with it. He became two people, like Smeagol and Gollum. One day he walked forward towards Mordor to the ring's destruction and the next, he selfishly hoarded it and put it on his finger for comfort. The closer it was to its destruction, the more he became attached to it until the final day came.

His true self, the good hobbit, was finally consumed by his false self, right when it mattered the most. When he finally had the opportunity to destroy it forever he couldn't do it. It was the moment of ultimate selfishness. It was the salvation of middle earth versus the self-centered comfort of putting it on his finger. He put it on. His false self won for a moment. He who would have been a strong hero became a weak, helpless addict. His only salvation was for his finger to be bitten off along with the ring. The finger and the ring fell into the pit of lava. It was the only way.

"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."