Frodo Loved The Roses
The sun shone a bright and brilliant orange, as it began to descend behind the far lying hills, casting long lazy shadows over the fields and villages of the Shire. By and by most hobbit folk were getting up and heading home for their supper and their beds.
Yet in the large garden at Bag end, one was still working feverishly . Weeding and watering and painstakingly trimming a large wall of bright red roses.
Samwise, wiped the sweat from his brow, as he stood up to dust the dirt from his trousers.
Observing his work for the day he note to himself.
// No doubt about it, I think Mr Frodo will be right pleased with this here garden. He smiled to himself as he absently began to stroke the soft petals of a nearby rose. Memory took him back to a sunny summer day long a go when he was but a lad and his master a mere tweenager.
//days go ...//
"SAM !! " a call drifted up to him on the breeze. He turned to see his love, Rosie coming though the gate.
"Rosie.. " He jumped up to his feet, rubbing blistered hands on his pant legs. And looking at his wife, with affection as she walked up to where he stood by the garden.
"Samwise, I've been a lookin all over for ye.."
"I'm sorry hon....I didn't been to spend the whole day here. I got distracted that's all." he rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Rosie smiled at him, giving a sweet , strong laugh "Aye, it's like your Gaffer always says "if you're a looking for Samwise, you'll be sure to find him in Frodo's garden."
"True enough.." Sam chuckled softly. He gave a deep sigh and tilted his head towards the rays of the setting sun.
"You miss him Sam.." she said. It was more a statement than a question.
"You have no idea..." He whispered looking down at her briefly before, turning back to the bed of roses now bathed in the sunset.
Rosie watched her husband for a moment in silence, tugging at her skirt in a nervous fashion before the uncomfortable quiet became too much for her. Getting up she came up to his side, leaning against him, and savoring his warmth, as she looked out at the garden with him.
"The flowers are beautiful Sam."
He smiled tenderly at her.
"Frodo will love them..." she said, then watched as she saw his throat quiver slightly.
"Yes...he will" Sam whispered, a tear sliding down his cheek.
Rosie brushed it away. She felt for her Sam when he got like this. He was a very sensitive hobbit, his heart ruled him. It was probably what attracted her to him...still Frodo had left Bag end almost 4 years ago, why he was still upset over his Masters leaving was beyond her.
"Sam, please don't cry. Frodo is not coming back.. You must see that now.. You have to move on."
"I try Rosie. But the garden has so many memories..."
"Why do you come here then... if it only makes you sad ..?" she asked.
"I must tend the roses."
"?" Rosie looked at him.
"I must tend the roses..... for as long as they are alive in the garden.....then part of Frodo is still here too!!"
Rosie nodded not completely understanding, but not wanting Sam to stop either.
"I can remember when I was a young lad , and my old Gaffer use ta tend Mr. Bilbo's garden. I would come up with him and listen to Bilbo's stories.
Sam sat back a distance look came to his eyes as he went back to the day.
"Then one day, I met Frodo. He had just lost his folks, and had been carted round and round from The Brandybucks to the Tooks though all sorts of Uncles and Aunts and cousins, the lot, before ending up here with old Bilbo..." Sam stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts.
"I....I remember when I first saw him. He was sitting in the garden, surrounded by roses.. I...thought I had met an angel.." Sam blushed a little glancing at Rosie before he continued.
"He had such gentle features about him, more elf like than hobbit really. Pale skin framed in a halo of ebony curls .and those eyes..his eyes......forgive my saying so but he was...... beautiful"
"What did you do..?" Rosie asked , after a moment when Sam did not continue.
"I introduced myself, in a way what was proper like, and he did the same. His voice was so quiet.....almost shy. But it was his eyes that got to me the most., so beautiful and blue......so sad.
I remember thinking how he looked so lost among the roses ..and maybe he wanted to loose himself....yet at the same time..it seemed he was right where he should be.. There hidden amongst the beautiful things....
Rosie took a seat by the gate, staring across into the gracefully dancing sea of rose blossoms, as they shone in the fading light of the sun. Sam sat next to her wrapping an arm about her waist.
"Yes, Frodo loved the roses. It was in the garden where I would often find him in the later years when I took over my Gaffer's position, sitting there amongst them, and staring off into space, or perhaps reading on of Bilbo's many adventure books.
I remember once he told me how the roses seemed to be both a comfort and a curse to him. They brought the comfort of old times , happy memories with his family and his folk no doubt ...but also the painful knowing that those days would never be again......
Sam gave a sad chuckle. "Rather like the rose itself...eh Mr. Frodo..." he whispered.
" so fragile , so beautiful.... but even a thing of beauty ..............has thorns. Thorns...which ultimately cause one to bleed.."
Turning back to Rosie, Sam smiled as he continued. "I remember in the winter, he would always keep one safe and warm in his home inside. How he would ideally sit and dream by it for hours.
"Oh Sam...I never knew...Frodo was so sad here."
"Sad..? True enough life was unfair to him but.....no....I... ..I don't think he was sad. Not really. More like he was ...waiting....
Yes , he was waiting for something to happen. Waiting for answers he couldn't find....waiting for dreams to come true.....or perhaps ...........just waiting.
The sat in silence once more , staring up at the sky. The faint stars of evening were coming out , casting a soft blue light down upon the garden of Bag end. Sam stood up, walking over to the garden. A soft melody rising into the air as he went.
"Oh Frodo lover the roses
I'd grow them in the yard
But winter always came around
And made the growing much to hard."
Sam's eyes began to water as he took his shears, and carefully began to cut several of the roses from the garden.
"Oh Frodo loved the roses
He would often come watch me
Then decorate his living room
For him and I to see."
Sam's ears perked up as he caught, the sound of a wagon coming up the road. He and Rosie got up to see whom it was.
"Why it's Master Merry. And Master Pippin..." Rosie smiled.
"Yes..I know.." Sam nodded.
"Samwise!" Pippin cried, jumping from his place on the couch. He embraced the stout hobbit in a warm embrace. "It's good to see you again.." he whispered.
"Aye Pipp." He said, releasing the small hobbit, and turning his gaze upwards. "Mr. Merry.."
"Sam,...Mrs. Gamgee...." Merry mumbled, giving each of them a curt nod by way of greeting.
He jumped down off the wagon, and stood looking up the hill to the dark windows of Bag end. His chin quivered ever so slightly. "You kept the garden looking wonderful Sam, Frodo would have been proud." He went rigid as he felt a hand descend upon his shoulder. He turned, hard eyes to the ones that bore back at him.
"Aye Merry....let it out lad..." Sam soothed.
"I....what....." Merry averted his eyes. "I don't know what you mean..."
"I know you miss Frodo as much as the rest of us. So stop...acting.."
"Acting..?................Acting like what..?" Merry huffed.
"Well as Frodo would say, like you got a stick up yer ass...."
Merry's jaw dropped, before a grin broke his face as he began to laugh. Soon he was joined by Sam and the rest of the small group.
"Oh Sam..!!" He sobbed suddenly, his humor having died down "God how I miss him..." He placed his head on the gardeners shoulder. There was no Master now, no servant....just two friends, each sharing the others pain.
"I remember being a wee lad sitting on his lap as he would rock me to sleep"
Merry cried, letting his tears fall on the soft fabric of Sam's shirt.
//I can hear his laughter ringing in the distance.
Oh I remember Crying when he use to sing.//
Sam held him close, as he continued his weeping. "You must not let your sadness consume you Merry. Frodo would want you to be happy.
"Oh Frodo, loved the roses
But most of all he cared
About each and everyone of us
And the laughter that we shared."
"Oh Sam that was beautiful " Pippin smiled.
"Yes" Merry agreed. "You're right Sam," he nodded picking himself up, and straightening his jacket.
"Are we ready to go then..?" Pippin asked the question at last.
"Go..?" Rosie asked "go where..?"
"To visit Frodo of course,"Pippin said "Are we ready to go..."
"Yes Pip. Yes we are." Merry stated, jumping back up top the wagon. Pippin climbed up beside him, giving a hand to Rosie and Sam as they got in.
With a flip of the reins Merry started them on there way. Sam looked straight ahead, as the wagon made it's way down the long roads, deeper into the forest.
He jumped slightly feeling a squeeze upon his shoulder. He turned to Rosie. Who smiled at him "I'm sure he'll love them Sam," she said cradling the bouquet of Roses carefully.
Sam nodded, giving a last look back to Bag end, and the rose garden as they drew out of sight.
Sam," Rosie said in a hushed tone as they continued into the dark . "You never told where you and your Master went that night years ago."
Sam felt his heart tighten. " we had to leave the shire Rosie, had to take something somewhere..." he replied.
"I never knew...just where you went. One day you where here, the next...you were gone."
"Gone..." Sam whispered.
"Sam..?"
"Hmmm?"
"I still don't know...just what happened, to all of you."
"No....but believe me when I say it's better that way. There are some things in this world that are better left unknown." he hung his head quietly lost in his own world of memory.
Rosie nodded knowing when not to bother pushing , whatever had happened on their journey, years ago, it had changed them all.
Mr. Merry, Mr Pippin, her Samwise....but especially Mr. Frodo. The sweet, somewhat shy hobbit, had become ...possessed with an unhealthy need for solitude. Spending more of his time alone in his study. The few times Rosie happened to chanced by him, he had looked terrible, thin and pale. More so than he'd ever been before. And his eyes......they spoke more of what he'd suffered than he ever could. Perhaps it was best not to know what had happened in there absence.
She shifted a little in the cart, carefully laying the roses down by her side. She remembered a day not long last autumn when Sam had come barreling in though their door. He had been so upset,
"Mr. Frodo's gone and left us he has..!" he had cried.
Rosie nodded she knew in a way he would one way or another., he had been seeking to be by his own more and more, finally he sought out a place with more solitude.
Oh how she had comforted Sam, that night, how he had reverently vowed to care for Bag end and the gardens as though they were his very own.
// And now he finally gets to see you Mr Baggins. I must admit, I will be happy to see you agian too. //
The full moon was high in the night sky, when they finally came to the pathway. Merry jumped down from his seat, lending a hand to Pippin, and Rosie as they did the same.
"We're here..." he whispered.
Pippin, began to cry softly ,as they walked into the forest.
"Come know Pippin," Merry said, wrapping an arm around his cousins waist, his own voice cracking.
"Sam?.." Rosie asked in a hushed tone, walking close to her husband. "Where are we going..? ..............surely Mr. Frodo does not live all the way out here...?"
"........No Rosie..." Sam replied.
"I.....but I thought you said , we were going to visit your Master Frodo..."
"We are.."
Rosie, cocked her head she was a little confused by this conversation. But pushed it aside. Maybe they were going to a camp out.....a meeting place for all them.
// Yes that had to be it.//
Oh won't it be nice to see him again Samwise, it's been to long since we have said hello"
"I'm afraid, we can only say goodbye from now on Rosie."
"Only say goodbye,...?"
She looked to her husbands sad face, the stain of tears that glistened on his cheeks. She turned to see the misery etched in Merry's intense eyes, and the utter grief-stricken look Pippin sent her way.
Oh.......oh no.." She gasped as the realization hit her.
Walking into a small clearing , bathed in moon light, she was amazed to see dozens of wild roses growing about a small carved stone. Cautiously she walked over to the stone, and read the inscription on the face.
HERE LIES FRODO BAGGINS
A FINE HOBBIT
AND A TRUE FRIEND
AND A HERO
HE DIDN'T HAVE TO BE
Next to the stone several roses blossomed from the ground. Rosie watched as Merry, Pippin and Sam sat their roses from the gardens of Bag end and Buckland down next to the stone.
Now he was home, truly.
Merry held his young cousin in comfort, as Sam retreated back to Rosie's side giving the cousins their privacy.
She looked deep into his brown eyes, and he nodded to her the unasked question.
"I came every year, since that day, and planted the roses. He would have wanted it this way, to be lost among the flowers and the beautiful things , as he always belonged. Now and forever more. You know I kept his journal, with a rose he'd saved inside. It's pressed between the pages, like him, it found a place to hide...."
The small, group slowly turned and began to walk away from the small clearing. Not knowing years from now, Frodo's roses would spread, as his love had across middle earth, and that the spirit of an awkward young hobbit would be every where, beautiful things grew.
Oh Frodo loved the roses
In such a special way
We bring them on his birthday
And place them on his grave.
............................Oh Frodo love the roses.
Inspired by listening to Elvis Presley's
Mamma like the Roses
END