A New Friendship
Beta'd by Jesus' girl 4ever
Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings Tolkien does, and New Line Cinema owns the movies.
"Make yourself comfortable," said Bilbo before he closed the door.
Frodo sat down on the large bed with jumbo mattresses, and looked around the room. The light brown walls were smooth without a chip in them; the two dressers were made out of chestnut with brass handles and deep drawers. On top of one of the dressers was basin of water to wash his face and hands in. Near the window was a book shelf for his books, games, and knickknacks he had collected over the years.
I'm going to fill the top shelf with items I got from mama and papa, Frodo thought.
He even had a few toys. He knew he was too old to play with toys because he was now a tween, but he still kept them. They reminded him of his parents because his parents gave him those toys. He often let the younger children played with them, and sometimes he joined them. He was very fond of his younger cousins, especially Merry, and he spent more time with them than with cousins his own age because some of them were bullies. They picked on him because he was small for his age. He looked at his suitcase and extra bag that was on the floor. He made a mental note to himself to unpack his bag and put everything away. Facing him was a hearth for fire to fill the room with warmth, but there was no fire because the room was warm enough without it. He walked over to the large round windows which overlooked the garden. Near his window some tulips were growing, and further back was a large garden with a variety of flowers including pansies, daisies, roses, etc. He looked down and saw the hill that Bag End was standing on. The grass was tall and needed trimming. He looked toward his right and saw a few hobbit holes which looked smaller than Bilbo's. One of them had a candle in it. He looked at the sky which was sprinkled with tiny lights, and a crescent moon that was like a night light to him. He opened the window and felt the night air; it was cool yet a little warm. It was the beginning of summer.
He climbed in bed and under the thin covers. The bed was so cushiony and comfortable that it felt like he was sleeping on clouds.
He was very happy that he now moved in with Bilbo. Bilbo was the closest thing to a parent to him. He was closer to him than any adult, even Saradoc and Esmeralda, except for his parents of course. He loved his Aunt Esmeralda, and Uncle Brandybuck, and other older relatives, but there were too many people in the house, and he often felt lost among them. Sometimes they did not notice him. Bilbo paid special attention to Frodo whenever they visited each other, and Frodo felt that he needed that. Plus he and Bilbo had more in common with each other than he did with any other adult relative. His dreams of living in Bag End with his favorite older relative came true, and with a smile on his face he fell asleep.
The next morning the sun was showing its rays through the window and gently woke Frodo up. Frodo had a wonderful dream about going on an adventure with Bilbo. He put on his robe and walked out of his room, and down the hall and passed several rooms. Then he walked turned right down another hall and passed more rooms till he came to the end of it and entered a very large and spacious kitchen. There was a counter top, a coal stove, and a large table where Bilbo was sitting down in front of two plates, and passed one on to Frodo who sat across from him. He also poured two glasses of fresh orange juice and passed one of the glasses to Frodo.
"Good morning Frodo, how did you sleep last night?" Bilbo asked.
"Great," said Frodo.
Frodo plunged his fork in the egg and brought it to his mouth. The egg tasted light and fluffy with cinnamon.
"This is delicious, Uncle Bilbo. What did you add to it?"
"I added a few spices to it," Bilbo answered.
"I can taste the cinnamon," said Frodo. "I love Cinnamon."
"I'll make some cinnamon cake for you for tea time," said Bilbo. "Make sure you drink your orange juice."
"Yes, Uncle Bilbo," said Frodo.
"You know lad, it's a beautiful day outside, nice and warm and sunny. It will do you good to get some fresh air, and there are a few people I would like to introduce you to today."
"That would be wonderful. I would like to meet new people and make new friends."
A few hours later Bilbo and Frodo were outside. They walked to a vegetable patch where Bilbo's gardener and his son were weeding.
"Hamfast, Sam, I would like you to meet my nephew Frodo Baggins. He is living with me now."
"Nice to meet you, young sir," Hamfast said while he got up and shook his hand.
Sam also got up and stared at him. He said nothing for a few seconds; then he asked, "Are you an elf? You look like an elf."
"No, I'm not," said Frodo. "I'm a regular hobbit."
"You don't look like a regular hobbit," said Sam.
"Would you like to take a walk with me to the pond, and play some games with me?" Frodo asked.
"I would love to," said Sam excitedly. "I love playing games. When can we go?"
"Right now if it is ok with your Gaffer," Frodo answered.
"Can I go with Frodo to the pond now, Gaffer?" Sam asked.
"I'll give him to you in another hour," said Hamfast. "Right now I'm teaching Sam how to weed a vegetable garden."
"I'll see you in an hour, Sam. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Gamgee."
"It was nice to meet you too, Master Frodo."
Bilbo nodded goodbye to both of them, and they went back inside the simile.
An hour later Frodo and Sam were walking in the woods. The trees were spread apart so that sunlight was able to go through. Sam preferred it that way since he was afraid of the dark. There were also some birds singing in the woods.
"What do you like to do, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.
"I like to read books."
"What kind of books?"
"I'd like to read tales of adventures romance stories," said Frodo who was 21 years old (13 in human years.)
Sam's eyes lit up when Frodo mentioned adventure stories, but almost made a face when Frodo mentioned romance. Sam was only nine years old (five or six in human years) and thought girls were yucky.
"Do you like to read, Sam?"
"Mr. Bilbo is going to teach me my letters. I would like to learn to learn how to read stories about adventures, and about elves; I love elves. I don't want to read romance stories though," said Sam. "Girls and kissing yuck."
"You'll feel differently when you are older. You will probably get married one day."
"No, Mr. Frodo, I am never going to get married."
"Look, there is the pond," said Frodo.
Frodo and Sam walked into the clearing and saw several ducks swimming in the pond including a mother duck followed by her ducklings all in a row.
"Let's sit down and watch them," Frodo said.
Both of them sat on the rocks.
"I like watching ducks," said Sam while one of the ducks dived into the water. "They are beautiful birds."
"They are," Frodo agreed.
He handed Sam a scone and a small bottle of apple juice. Sam took a bite out of his scone and tasted the blue berries.
"Mmm! This is delicious, Mr. Frodo. I love scones."
"Me too," said Frodo. He began to eat his scone which tasted like sweetened lemons.
"Did Mr. Bilbo make them?" Sam asked.
"No, I did."
"Did he teach you?"
"No, my mother did."
"You don't have a mother anymore," Sam blurted out.
When he saw the sad look in Frodo's eyes, he realized his mistake.
"I'm sorry Mr. Frodo; I should not have said that. I'm a ninny hammer."
"It's alright," said Frodo. "I do miss my parents, but I'm not so sad about it anymore. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"I have five of them, two brothers and three sisters. I'm the second youngest after Marigold."
"I'm an only child, but I play with my cousins in Brandy Hall. My favorite cousin is Merry. He is around your age."
"Let's play some games now!" Sam said excitedly.
"Would you like to go swimming? It's warm enough to go in the water."
Sam's eyes grew wide and his mouth was open.
"Uh, no, Mr. Frodo, I don't like to go in the water."
Frodo, seeing the horrified look in Sam, decided to drop the subject. "Would you like to play hide and go seek.
Sam's eyes lit up with joy. "That's my favorite game, Mr. Frodo. I would love to play hide and seek. I play that game with my brothers, sisters, and the Cottons a lot."
"It's my favorite game, too. I used to play it with Merry and my other cousins."
"Let's start playing the game. I'll close my eyes and count to twenty, and you hide. Make sure you don't go too far from here."
Frodo leaned against a tree and covered his eyes.
"ONE…..TWO…..THREE…FOUR…"
Sam ran towards the left and walked between two trees. He walked through the trees until he saw a large bush. He crawled underneath the bush and hoped that Frodo did not find him in there.
"EIGHTEEN…NINETEEN….TWENTY! READY OR NOT HEAR I COME!"
Frodo began to look for Sam. He walked through the woods, and found a small bush. He heard a rustling in the bush, but when he peeked inside he saw a badger which hissed at him than scampered away. He walked a few feet more and saw a squirrel scampering up the tree with an acorn. He knew that Sam did not climb that tree, because the branches were too high for him to reach. He came to another tree, but did not see Sam hiding in it. He did not know at that time that Sam did not like to climb in trees. He walked a few more feet, and this time he saw a larger bush. He wondered if Sam was hiding in it. He walked around the bush and saw a hobbit foot sticking out at the bottom of the bush.
He peered through the bush and saw Sam kneeling inside.
"There you are, Sam; I found you. Now it is your turn to count."
They played the game for another two hours, when Frodo decided that it was time for them to go back home.
"Can we play for a little while longer, Mr. Frodo?"
"No, we can't; I promised your father to bring you back home by lunch time."
They began to walk home.
"I like playing with you Mr. Frodo. I had a lot of fun today."
"I did, too," said Frodo. "Maybe we can do things together again tomorrow."
"That would be great."
"Look, Mr. Frodo," said Sam when he saw few rabbits nibbling grass near a bush.
Frodo looked at the rabbits. One of them stopped nibbling and sniffed the air when the rabbit realized that there was no danger he resumed eating the grass.
"I love rabbits," said Sam.
"I do, too," said Frodo.
"I want to take one of them home and make it a pet."
"I don't think the rabbit will let you," said Frodo.
They continued to walk home.
A thought came to Sam's head.
"Maybe I'll get a puppy instead."
"You'll have to ask your gaffer."
"What if he says no?" Sam said with a frown on his face.
"If he says no, you can always watch the animals, and even pet some of them. Just make sure you know the animal. Some of them are not friendly."
"Some of the hobbits here are not friendly either. I hear them talking about you and Mr. Bilbo."
"I don't let that bother me; besides, I'm sure there are nice hobbits here too," said Frodo.
"There are," said Sam. "Mrs. Lilac Proudfoot is a very nice lady. She bakes pies for us."
The birds began to chirp again, and many of them were flying in and out of trees. Frodo and Sam walked in silence for a few minutes listening to the melodious voices of the bird.
"Mr. Frodo…" Sam said, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Sam?"
"I'm glad I met you," said Sam. "I hope we can be friends."
"We are friends, and I hope our friendship will last for a very long time."
The End
