The near adventures of Terry Teal. Or, we can't all be legends.

Just a little drabble of mine. Thank you to Iggy for Betering. Enjoy!

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Terry Teal was a Teal, the name of a Hobbit family of the Shire, in Tookland in fact. Now then, Teals were kind of a servant family to Tooks. Not that this didn't make them prosperous, most of them lived happy lives. They also lived in the same Farthing as the Tooks, Tookborough, The Teals were often seen with Tooks and shared homes with the Tooks so it came as no surprise that most of the rest of the Shire, much to their annoyance, confused them for the famous Took clan.

This particular Teal was a special servant/housekeeper/gardener to one Pippin Took. It wasn't actually too tasking a job, though at times the young Pippin needed looking after as he could get into scrapes and sometimes needed reminding to wear his underwear inside his trousers as the young Pippin could certainly sometimes forget. Terry was fond of Pippin, but time moved on and he acquired different duties.

Terrance was a regular at the Golden Perch, a famous inn at the centre of the Shire. One quietish early-Thursday evening he mentioned this to a few of his pals at the bar of the Inn. A few Hobbits were in the inn, wearing a variety of yellow, blue and green attire. Some were at the fire, warming their furry feet.

'I haven't seen young master Pippin for a while, now. I hope he's all right!'

'He's only in Tookborough, you know. That isn't far. '

'Yes, Fred, but he spends a lot of time in Hobbiton with that Baggins. I would like to see him again, see what scrapes he's been getting into recently . He'll have been in a few if he's anything like the Took I used to know. Oh, hello, someone's in a hurry. Gandalf! Haven't seen you for a while either!'

A grey-robbed Wizard, Gandalf the Grey, had hurried into the inn and ordered a beer. He glanced around. He seemed a little agitated. 'Has anyone noticed anything unusual recently?' asked he. There was a low rumble of 'no' in reply. Gandalf settled down for the evening while Terry joined in the general hubub. Gandalf looked like he was enjoying his beer, but there wasn't much information of use being discussed here. In fact, the highlight of the evening was a much anticipated - by the Hobbits at least - game of darts. Gandalf sighed loudly. 'I'm sorry for barging in on your evening,' he said to Terry. 'It's just had a feeling that something important was happening around here!' Terry shrugged and got on with the game.

It was only after Gandalf had just finished his 2nd pint and moved to depart when Terry finally remembered the thing that had been on the back of his mind all evening, 'I must say one thing Gandalf, you Wizards do move quickly!'

'And what do you mean by that?' growled the Wizard.

'Well, there I heard you were on the Brandy only this afternoon and here you are, well here! To travel all that way in such a sort time is quick going even for a Wizard.

'On the Brandywine?' said Gandalf, sounding puzzled.

'I presume it was you. A Wizard on horseback they say, all dressed in brown!'

Gandalf groaned. 'That wasn't me. That was Radagast you must have seen. Radagast the Brown. The clue's in the name. Now what in the worlds would he be doing in these parts? I'm now going to have to find out. You could have told me earlier, you know, I almost missed that . You are a damned fool of a Took!' he finished, and left the inn in a hurry.

'Damn fool of a Teal actually,' said Terry, looking at the departing wizard.

'Who's Radagast?' asked Fred, to a general shrug!

Terry soon forgot about the incident, but a few weeks later he was sitting on the same stool in the same bar. Terry was a Teal of regular habits. Fred had some information. 'That friend of yours Pippin has been spotted on the road. He might be coming this way. He is fond of inns.'

'Would be nice if he does. I'd like to see the young fellow again. As long as I won't have to travel too much if he is travelling. I'm not a fan of long journeys. From here to the Brandywine or Tookland is just long enough for me!' said Terry with a swig of his beer.

A little way away, on the road , the aforementioned Pippin said, 'It is hard! I was counting on passing the Golden Perch before sundown, the best beer in the Eastfarthing,'

'That settles it! Short cuts make long delays but inns make longer ones,' replied Frodo. They had their reasons for hurrying.

Back at the inn, Terry and Fred were still chatting.' So, if Pippin is likely to turn up you might want to wait for him,' said Fred.

'Yes, but I am working tomorrow . I should leave early . '

'Oh, stay for a while, you don't need an excuse for more beer!'

'Come on , Fred, be reasonable . If Terry is busy tomorrow let him go . You are always encouraging people to stay for alcohol!' said Mandy, a friend of theirs at the bar. But, Terry disagreed with Mandy and decided to stay and wait for his old friend. And it was a good excuse for more beer as Fred had pointed out.

But after a while the landlord called last orders . Night was drawing in and it was clear that no-one, least of all Pippin , was going to turn up. 'Oh, well,' thought Terry, and saying farewell to the few Hobbits left the inn.

Now, that was an extraordinary year! In the East, the Lord Sauron of Mordor tried to take over all of Middle-earth and to destroy any civilizied person's happiness. The whole of the Shire fell victim to Sharkey's schemes for a time and Terry played a minor but heroic role in the Hobbit insurrection that followed. Thanks to him, and brave souls like him, freedom and peace triumphed.

These events amazed Terry. But what he found equally astonishing was that his old friend Pippin played a major role in them. Bumbling Pippin Took taking on demons, duelling with evil Wizards and charging at armies of mighty Goblins? Didn't sound much like the Pippin Terry knew. Though once he found out the true events from Pippin, who Terry eventually met again, he was even more amazed.

But later, Terry had a dream, a nightmare really. He wasn't sure where it came from; he had eaten a cheese sandwich before bed, maybe that was it. Maybe it was a vision sent from the Valar, maybe a peek into another dimension, but it seemed remarkably real to him.

'All right, fine, let's pass the Golden Perch. I am in the mood for a beer myself!' Frodo replied to Pippin in the dream. Terry met Pippin again. Against his better judgement he was persuaded to accompany the Took on his journey. A bad idea. Not a journey he was made for. Terry was captured by Sauron's agents , dragged to Barad-dur , tortured, interrogated, revealed vital information to the Dark Lord and as a result Sauron triumphed, darkness covered the world, freedom and peace was destroyed and evil triumphed forever.

Terry woke up in a cold sweat. 'Ruddy heck,' thought he. 'That was a journey I am glad I avoided!'