Making Merry- By Foodie

1401 S.R.

Merry-19, Sam-21, Pippin-11, Frodo-32

Merry ran. He clutched a bag he'd packed with his most prized possessions and ran blindly through the cold, dark January night. He hadn't had time to put on a coat, but he kept warm from the exercise he was getting. He hopped onto the Bucklebury Ferry for the ride across the Brandywine River. It was fast, and dangerous in the dark, and Merry didn't have a lantern, but he made it across safely, tied the ferry back up and started running again. He ran up the road and turned left and continued for hours until he reached Tuckburough. It was too late to wake up Pippin or his family, so he climbed to the top of his favourite hill and sat there, thinking about his life.

Eglantine Took woke up that morning feeling out of sorts. Her children were all present and accounted for, but something was wrong and she couldn't put her finger on it. As she set the table for breakfast, she looked out the window and saw a small figure sitting at the top of the hill. She could see who it was and wondered what was wrong. Calling Pearl to take over, Eglantine went outside and made her way to Merry.

Merry had sat on the hill all night long, in the freezing cold snow. He was quite cold, but he no longer felt it. He was glad he was numb, he didn't want to feel anything. He heard footsteps and turned to see his favorite aunt approaching him. She stopped and stood next to him and spoke, "Merry, child, what's the matter?"

Her kind voice and genuine concern awoke in Merry all the pain and heartache he'd been concealing for a long time. He began to cry. Eglantine sat down and took Merry in her arms and held him like a baby. He sobbed and told her about the argument his parents had had the night before. It was about him, like all their fights were always about. He was an inconvenience to them. He was a forgotten, ignored, and unloved child. He couldn't live with them anymore, and he couldn't go back home, because it wasn't a real home.

Eglantine knew that Merry wasn't making this up or exaggerating. She knew his mother and father weren't the best parents in the world. Some people just aren't meant to be parents and unfortunately, this poor child was the recipient of their neglect and bad mistakes.

Eglantine rocked Merry and ran her hand through his hair, smoothing it down somewhat after a night of running. When Merry had finally calmed down, Eglantine asked if he'd like to come and live with them. Merry looked up at her, hope in his eyes.

"Can I really?"

"Of course you can," she dabbed at his eyes with the corner of her apron to dry his tears and gave him her handkerchief to blow his nose with. Then they walked home for breakfast.

April in the Shire was a beautiful sight. The flowers were budding, baby animals were tottering around with their mothers and the weather began to get warmer. It was a great time to be young and alive. Spring was in the air and stirring the blood of all young hobbit folk. It was the time of year adults dreaded because it meant having to look after their kids even more than usual. Now that the weather was improving, the kids would be off at parties and friends' houses and up to who-knows what else.

Every generation in the Shire has at least one hobbit that emerges to make a name for himself. The type of hobbit with charisma; who draws others to himself. For the current generation of young hobbit fry in the Shire, that such character was Meriadoc Brandybuck, otherwise known as Merry.

Merry had always been the life of the party, but over the last few months, his confidence had grown even stronger and he was more fun to be around than ever before. Whatever Merry said or did was the measuring stick to which all young hobbits compared themselves. He was a true trendsetter. For example, one day his sleeve had been torn in a tussle with another hobbit so he ripped it all the way off to get it out of his way. After a walk through town and being seen by several peers, mothers in the Shire were at a loss for words when their sons began ripping off their sleeves in order to dress like Merry.

Merry had always been popular with the girls of the Shire, but his new attitude and the spring air made him irresistible. And he for one had absolutely no problems with that.

So it should come as no surprise at the idea he got in Hobbiton one day, when he saw a wagon for sale. If he had his own wagon, he would have total freedom. He could go where he wanted, when he wanted, and see whomever he wanted. That last point excited him a lot. That is the best idea ever! Merry thought to himself. The wagon wasn't too expensive since it needed lots of work, so he was able to buy it easily. He still had to fix it up and get a pony. But ponies weren't too hard to come by in the Shire, neither were paint or tools.

Over the next few days, Merry worked on his new treasure, fixing, cleaning, and painting it. He painted it fire red and lovingly named it the "Shaggin' Wagon", which he even had enough nerve to paint on the sides in large black letters. For a final touch, he filled the wagon with hay, so he could take the ladies for "hayrides". It didn't take long for the fathers of the Shire to dread their daughters' announcements of taking "hayrides" with Merry.

But Merry wasn't the only young hobbit up to such antics. Samwise Gamgee, known as Sam by his friends, had been seen with his share of the ladies himself that spring. In fact, there was somewhat of an unspoken competition between the two over who could get the most girls.

Now, everybody in the Shire knew Merry and Estella Bolger had been an item for some time, but had had a falling out of sorts recently. So it surprised no one, except Merry himself, to see her out driving with Sam. Merry had never felt so hurt and betrayed before. So the only logical thing he could do was to take Sam's youngest sister, Marigold on a "hayride" she'd never forget.

One afternoon, Pippin climbed a tree to pick a chew of spruce gum. All the good gum on the lower part of the tree was gone, so he had to scramble up the tree and sit on a branch to get some. He peeled the knobs off the tree and filled his pockets with them when two young hobbits came crashing through the bushes in the thicket and stopped at the foot of Pippin's tree.

Marigold and Merry were out of breath from running, yet somehow managed to kiss each other without passing out. The kissing progressed. Pippin watched the scene unfold, or unclothe he thought to himself, from above, unbeknownst to the two lovers. He had heard stories about hobbits doing things like this but had never seen anything like it, let alone experienced it himself. He did remember last year when he was kissed by the pretty elf, but this was totally different. He chewed his gum, fascinated at what he saw. His eyes grew wide and stayed that way by the time it was all over.

Pippin managed to stay quiet until the two departed and allowed him to climb down the tree before walking back home. He was quite curious about what he had seen. He wasn't sure whom he should ask about it. He felt it would be strange to ask his parents, so he followed the channels that every young hobbit before him followed to find out about such things: he asked his cousin Merry. Pippin didn't tell Merry what he'd seen, but Merry told him all he needed to know about girls and other such matters. But for some reason, that seemed to confuse him even more than before. When he told Merry this, he laughed and told him to wait a couple of years and it would make more sense then. Pippin was content with that and went off to play with his friends, quite sure that he was now much more knowledgeable than they were about life.

It didn't take long for Sam to find out about his sister and Merry. He couldn't believe it. Merry had broken the most sacred rule of the Young Male Hobbit Code of Conduct: friends didn't go for "hayrides" with other friend's sisters. It just wasn't right. It didn't matter that Sam and Estella had been going out for "hayrides" every night for a week, some lines are never meant to be crossed. Sam had to do something about it, but he didn't know what. It had to be big and unforgettable. He thought as hard as he could, but no ideas came to him.

About a week passed and still no good ideas had come. Sam was walking to Bywater on an errand for Bilbo as he passed the far end of the Bywater Pool. He spotted on the other end, an unmistakably red wagon. He could see water splashing over there as several young hobbits played in the pool. Immediately forgetting his chore, Sam snuck through the bushes to the far end of the pool. He spied Merry in the water with the two Boffin twins, Vera and Vula. They seemed game for anything Merry wanted to do, which made sense to Sam, because he, like everybody, knew that the Bywater girls were very easy.

Sam could see three sets of clothing lying over the side of the wagon. Since they were occupied, no one noticed him crawl to the wagon. He dropped the girls' clothing into the dirt and put Merry's inside the wagon. Then he climbed into it, picked up the reins and prepared to leave. He called out to the trio to get their attention. "Have fun getting home, Merry!" Sam shouted as he drove off in the stolen wagon.

Vera and Vula were startled and afraid that their clothes were going with him. They ran out of the water and found them in the dirt. Quickly, putting on their dresses, they said a hasty goodbye to Merry who was standing waist deep in the pool. He waded out of the water and made his way to where the dresses had been only to find that his clothes weren't there. A nervous wave passed over Merry as he realized with horror that he had no ride and no clothes, and he was very far from home.

There was nothing he could do but walk home, completely naked. He decided to wait until it was dark before starting, but darkness was still several hours away, so he sat in the bushes until it was dark enough to leave. He walked around Bywater and made his way carefully to Tuckburough avoiding homes where he could, which took a couple of hours on foot.

When he arrived home, Merry had to figure out how to get inside. He peeked in the window and saw his cousins reading by the fire. He rapped quietly on the window; Pippin glanced up and saw him. Merry gestured for him to go to the door. Meeting him there, Pippin asked him why he had no clothes on. Merry explained to him that he had no time for stupid questions and would he please go get some clothes for him? Pippin performed his task and brought the clothes to Merry who was then able to come inside.

The next morning Merry was up and out of the house before the family was awake so he wouldn't have to explain why he had missed supper. He was off to Hobbiton to find Sam and the Shaggin' Wagon. He wasn't sure where he would find either of them, but he would keep looking until he was successful.

There was no sign of them at the Gamgee residence and Bell, Sam's mother, informed Merry that he was already at work at Bag End. He walked up to Bag End and spotted his wagon outside the front gate. In it were his clothes from the day before.

Fuming, he was about to charge into the garden when Frodo opened the front door. Frodo could see how angry Merry looked and made him come inside and sit down and tell him what was wrong over a cup of tea. Merry explained the whole story to Frodo, who sat with a look of amusement on his face. When Merry was done, Frodo doubled over with laughter and said, "Man, he got you good!"

Frodo continued laughing and Merry crossed his arms and responded with "Man, Frodo, some friend you are!"

It was at this moment that Sam walked into the house from the garden. He saw Merry and froze, unsure of what to do. Cheekiness uncharacteristic of Sam took over him. "So, did you have a good walk home yesterday?" he asked Merry, smirking.

With that, Merry jumped up out of his seat and ran after Sam who had already run back out into the garden. They were in the middle of the plot when Merry took a running leap and tackled Sam. In seconds they were rolling around in the dirt, throwing punches at each other. Sam picked up a tomato from somewhere and smashed it in Merry's face. Merry spluttered and coughed and picked up a dirt clod and threw it in Sam's face. Sam spat it out of his mouth and the two continued fighting.

During all of this, Frodo watched the two and kept laughing. He still had his cup of tea in his hand, which he continued to sip during the show. He knew he should stop it, but it was really funny to watch. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Bilbo walking up the hill. Bilbo noticed the fight in his garden and started running the rest of the way home. Frodo slipped back into the house and was sitting with a book in the front room when Bilbo burst in.

"Somebody's fighting in my garden. Didn't you hear it?" Bilbo asked excitedly as he tossed his mushroom-gathering basket onto a counter in the kitchen and ran to the back door.

"No, I've been here the whole time and didn't hear a thing," Frodo responded innocently, following Bilbo outside.

Bilbo marched out to the garden to break up the fight and was able to see who they were. He shouted for them to stop, but that didn't work. He rapped them on the shins with his walking stick, but both boys were hitting and kicking each other so hard that neither one noticed. Finally, he walked to the rain barrel and filled a bucket with water and doused the two boys with it. That stopped them.

For a long time, Bilbo just looked at them. He knew those two had been rivals all spring and it had only been a matter of time before something like this happened. He was not the best disciplinarian, but he would do his best.

Sam and Merry sat side by side on the ground. They were both covered in mud and blood, and their clothes were torn.

"I am shocked at your behaviour," Bilbo started, shaking his head. "What is wrong with you two? I thought you were friends." Bilbo felt this was a lame way to start, but he didn't have much practice with this. "Frodo, have you ever seen anything like this before?" he asked, feeling better if someone else did the talking for a while.

"I am truly shocked and dismayed. I can't even believe it. I am a little traumatized, I must admit," Frodo said, feigning disappointment. Frodo relished at their discomfort. He would be turning thirty three this September and was now considered practically an adult, so he missed not being a part of this group as much anymore. But he still found ways to have fun with them

Sam and Merry sat through that without too much annoyance. Frodo was only observing another important rule in the Young Male Hobbit Code of Conduct: always save your own backside first.

"Well, since you two have destroyed my garden, you will work together to fix it and keep it up, through the entire summer." Bilbo was much sterner now after his little break. "I'll expect to see you two boys here bright and early every morning, starting tomorrow," he continued. "Is that clear?"

"Yes," they grumbled.

The two young hobbits were not looking forward to working with each other, but they had no choice in the matter. They began working by themselves in different parts of the garden, but soon realized that if they worked together, they'd get the job done much faster.

Over the weeks, their hatred faded and the two could actually converse. They realized they were very interesting people and had quite a lot in common. Merry began to give Sam rides to Bag End every morning and soon they were even known to hang out together after work. They even got thrown out of the Green Dragon together. It was the start of a beautiful friendship, and one of the most eventful summers of their lives.

Their friendship continued to grow as they loaded up the "Shaggin' Wagon" with girls for an end-of-the-summer celebration at the Bywater Pool. With the explicit understanding that Merry would stay away from Sam's sisters and Sam would stay away from Estella, their friendship eventually outgrew such youthful issues and continued for the rest of their lives.