A Conversation at Beaver's Den
By: Aria Breuer
Disclaimers: All canon material from The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I own the OCs, the plot, etc.
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A short one-shot work that I first wrote on mobile, and then formatted and revised on computer. Let's see how it turns out. :)
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For Frodo, taking morning walks meant getting some fresh air. However, on this day in Hobbiton, it was pouring down rain. Now what am I to do? Frodo thought. Well, I guess I might as well stay home today.
Well, Frodo did spend the day indoors. Now that he was the Master of Bag End, staying at home sounded like a good idea. He was just about to put firewood into the fireplace when a great wind blew into the chimney.
Frodo was pulled into the fireplace by invisible hands, grabbing him by the nape of his shirt.
When he came to, the gentle-hobbit was inside a comfortable home, with many sticks serving as the roof and walls. Before him were two woodchuck creatures, which walked on two legs. They stopped upon seeing the hobbit.
"Who are you?" The female beaver asked. She turned to the second beaver, saying, "Beaver, you didn't tell me we had guests!"
"I didn't know we were expecting company, Mrs. Beaver," Mr. Beaver said, chuckling.
Mrs. Beaver turned to Frodo, saying, "It's all right dear. We won't hurt you."
"Of course we will," Mr. Beaver replied. He recovered quickly, "I mean, we won't hurt guests or you. You don't look the troublesome sort of fellow, messing with Narnians."
"What are you?" Frodo asked, quite confused.
"We're beavers!" Mr. Beaver exclaimed.
"Haven't you seen a live beaver before?" Mrs. Beaver asked, curious.
"No! – I mean, um..." Frodo let his voice drop. It was a surprise that Mrs. Beaver asked him such a question. He hasn't expected it in the least. He sighed in relief when Mr. Beaver spoke to him:
"Is everything all right?"
"Yes, I suppose." Frodo tried again. "How did I get here. The fireplace... wait. Did I cross between worlds?" He asked further, "Do you have a fireplace? That must be how I got here."
"We have a stove," Mr. Beaver said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I think he entered our house through the tunnel," Mrs. Beaver said, pointing to the open hatch.
"No. I don't think that was where he came from," Mr. Beaver said, scratching his head.
"You know I'm right here," Frodo said, gesturing towards himself.
"Yes, yes, yes. I'm on it," Mrs. Beaver said, working throughout the kitchen.
"I'm confused," Frodo asked, "What?"
"We need to find the portal," Mrs. Beaver replied, hurriedly.
"What portal?" Frodo asked further.
"Mr. Beaver?" Mrs. Beaver gestured to her husband.
"It's like a wood between worlds," Mr. Beaver said, "barriers, objects, ordinary objects... here we are!" In his paws was a hardcover leather book. Passing the book to Frodo, Mr. Beaver said, "Open it."
The second Frodo grabbed the book, a brilliant flash of light blinded his vision. When the light left his gaze, he was staring at the fireplace. What happened? Frodo asked himself. He knew something had happened... including meeting the Beavers. They were a nice couple. But then he knew there were talking animals throughout Middle-earth.
Maybe he would meet them again someday. He just didn't know when that moment would come.
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Thanks for reading. :)