It was just as any other morning for Bella Baggins. She sat outside Bag Ends, smoking on some Old Toby, enjoy the morning before she goes to clean her home, which was when an old man with a staff walked within her eye sight. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long gray cloak, a sliver scarf over which his long beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots.
Bella:"Good Morning!"
She meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at her from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
Gandalf:"What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that this is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
The she-hobbit blinked at the flurry of words and quickly worked through them.
Bella:"All, uh, all of them at once, I suppose..."
Bella put down her pipe, got up from her seat to get her mail; she thumbed through the stack of parchment and went to sit down on her bench. She became uncomfortable under the stare of the old man, who did not move. She bid him a 'Good Morning' and by this she meant that the conversation was at an end. He scoffed and gave her a look of reproach.
Gandalf:"To think that I should lived to be good morninged by Belladonna Took's daughter, as if I was selling buttons at the door!"
She looked very startled at her mothers name.
Bella:"I beg your pardon, but do I know you?"
The man huffed at her question.
Gandalf:"Yes, yes, my dear lady. You do know my name, though you don't remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!"
The she-hobbit stared at the man in wonderment.
Bella:"Not Gandalf the wandering wizard who made such excellent fireworks? Old Took use to have them on Middsummer's Eve!"
He seemed to preen at the words and she was about to invite him in for tea, but she soon remembered the state of her house. She became Sullen, with a capital S.
Bella:"Why don't you come by tomorrow? The state of my house is just horrendous. Mother would beat me with a broom if you saw!"
He stroked his long sliver beard in thought.
Gandalf:"If you do not mind my dear, if I bring along my companions? They have traveled a long way and a home cooked meal would do them good."
She beamed.
Bella:"Not at all, Gandalf! How many am I cooking for?"
Gandalf smiled at her enthusiasm.
Gandalf:"13 my dear, plus the two of us. They will be here tomorrow evening."
The she-hobbit happily accepted and hurried into her house to start cleaning. But in her haste she did not notice the wizards' last words.
Gandalf:"This adventure will be very good for you, and most amusing for me."
He marked the door for the dwarves and then continued on his way, humming a tune under his breath.