Miracles and Lessons
By: stardust
Mum always told me and my brothers and sisters how the story of old Bilbo Baggins was a favorite when she was a child. I had heard the story, and it truly was a great one. But for my siblings and I, it was the story of the new heroes who had just come home. Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, and last but in my mind the favorite, Frodo Baggins, had returned recently from their struggle in the representation of Hobbits in the war against Mordor. What a great tale that was. My mum would tell us it, and it usually took three to four nights to tell it in whole and detail. Every night after dinner and just before bed, we would listen next to the warm fire. Once, even good old Frodo himself came to tell us the tale! How I loved it so! And when my mum would shoo us off to bed, we would whine and beg for more. My one brother though, never stayed to hear the rest of the story. For my great brother is Peregrin Took, so he knew his own story well! I always thought him a half-wit, and now I do even more so. I love him though, and I don't think I could get through everyday without his must-be- plastered-on smile cheering me up. I don't know how I made it for a year or so without him! But wait! I apologize! I have not properly introduced myself! But now the teller of this story will be mentioned. My name is Blossom Took, and I am seven years old. Well okay, so I am six and a half! I like to round up. My hair is curly and light brown, and I have blue eyes. Your average typical hobbit, no? I guess I am an ordinary kind of hobbit lass, but I will tell you a few lessons I learned in the past few days, and what it turned into to this day. It all started at the conclusion of our favorite tale. That night my brothers and sisters easily got into bed, as we had no more of the tale to wait for until the next night. We all covered ourselves up in our warm blankets, and Pippin went on into his own room (lucky him!). We all expected great dreams of monster slaying and wars and happy endings with coronations and weddings. But I had a strange dream that night. I was in a large field with grass up to my knees. I was sitting next to a great big stump in the ground. I stood to see what it was, and it was a huge patch of soil! The round brown circle was smack dab in the middle of a field of green! I could see that an amazing tree must have stood there once. Then lo! I saw Sam Gamgee walking down a hill to my left. I ran to go say hullo, but he seemed not to notice me. I tried to get him to see me or talk to me, but all he did was walk to the patch and bring out a brown box from his satchel. Then, I fell backwards into the grassy landscape, and I felt a hand shaking my shoulder. "Blossom Took get your sorry butt out of bed!" I heard my brother Paladin scream into my ear as I fell out of my bed. "Alright Paladin! I am up! Now hurry or you will miss your poetry session with dear Frodo Baggins!" I screamed right back at him and hurriedly pulled on my favorite dress and my small sandals. I didn't have anything to do that day, so I decided to take my sketchpad and go around the shire drawing pictures. I first walked Paladin to his lesson, and said a hearty hullo and goodbye to Mr. Frodo. Then I walked down the long dirt road past Hobbit on towards the old Party Field where Old Bilbo Baggins had held his one hundred eleventh birthday so long ago. Anyone who had seen me would have clearly seen how wide my eyes opened as I looked down the dirt road and down the hill, seeing nothing but green grass in the field. What scared me though, in a way, was the huge round spot that lay almost in the middle of the field. Now, a few months back, there happened something that we Hobbits knew as the scouring of the Shire. Many ruffians and men of Bree came into the Shire, and with the help of some traitor Hobbits, were able to nearly destroy the beauty entirely and replace it with 'machinery'. During that time, my family had gone into hiding far down in the South farthing, but all knew what had happened to the great Party Tree that was the centerpiece of Bilbo' s party. It was torn down. So that was when I knew where I was in my unusual dream. What of Sam though? And what in Middle-Earth was he carrying in his satchel? I picked up my sketchbook and walked down the lovely green hill. I tripped at some point and was sent rolling down the hill. It was such great fun! I got really itchy though, but anyway, I then picked up my sketchbook and sat near the mound of soil in the center of the field. I had decided to draw a picture of the Shire before the scouring. The lovely fields and forests, the brooks and streams, the long acres of corn and other plants could still be found in my memories from before those days. Then I heard the rustle of the grass behind me and I looked over my shoulder. Sam Gamgee! He walked over with a satchel on his back and a smile on his face. "Oh dear! Little Blossom, you're so small I almost couldn't even see yeh above the wee grass!" Sam exclaimed with his funny dialect. "Yes, I was drawing a picture of the Shire long ago," Blossom spoke, trying hard to keep the sadness from her voice. "You know darling, it's a leap of faith when we believe that someone's out there, or that someone cares. But sometimes, if someone should let go or forget to count their blessin's, they take for granted what a beautiful thing they have. And though some say, it doesn't matter, well.it does. And sometimes, all it takes is a mistake to make you feel horrid about yerself. Though the voice in yer head tells yeh not to go, you gotta follow yer heart child. I didn't know nothing bout the wide, wide world until I followed my dear friend to save and redeem the sleeping race of Hobbits. But if you look and it's gone, or it's too late to make a U- turn, you have to face the facts and try to make yerself better later. If I had a chance to go back to that day a while back, I don't think I would have changed my decision, or.Gandalf's decision for that matter. Child, I learned so much about how though some people are evil, there are so many that could even surpass the nicest Hobbit. Do you catch my meaning, dear Blossom?" Sam spoke with memories thick in his gardener-accent voice. "Yes, I think I understand. What you are saying is that though sometimes we Hobbits took for granted how lucky or how safe we were, we paid for it in the end with the Scouring. Yet still we turned back and made the Shire even better!" I exclaimed with my educated-by-Frodo intelligence working in my brain. "Yes, I suppose that sums it up. A friend I met on my journeys, his name was Haldir, and he was an elf. He said to Merry, 'The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places. But sill there is much that is fair; and though now in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater,' those words about sum it up almost as well as you did." Sam spoke joyfully, and the memory of Lothlorien was a good one, it seemed. Then Sam took something out of his satchel. It was the wooden box from my dream! "Mr. Sam, what is in the box?" I asked, eager to know what I dreamed of. "It is a gift given to me in Lothlorien, but the great and beautiful Galadriel, of the Galadhrim. It is a box of soil, with one nut in it of a great Mallorn tree. The Mallorn trees were beautiful they were."Sam stared, "Yes Mr. Sam! I know the stories! Their leaves turned gold and when they fell they filled the ground with a lovely shine and richness!" I exclaimed, and apologized for interrupting. "Yes, yer right. I am planting the nut here, where the Party tree stood, the beginning of all things for Frodo and I. In memory of Bilbo as well, I think. Would you like to help me plant it?" Sam asked, compassion in his gaze. "Of course! I would be greatly honored!" I said excitedly, and I watched and fidgeted as he took almost forever to take out the nut in the box of soil. He handed it to me, and I took it with care in my fragile hands. Sam dug a small hole into the patch of soil, and I placed it into the hole, and covered it with generous dirt on top. Sam took a small glass of water and poured a perfect amount onto the small place. We stood up and walked out of the Party Field, and I gave Sam my picture I drew before he came. That was six months ago. Now I am officially seven as of June fifth in the Shire calendar. Every day for the past few months I walked to the party field and watched the progress of the seed. Sometimes I came in time to see Sam, and we would talk for a while. It is hard to believe that it went from a dream in a little Hobbits mind, and now to a HUGE reality as I sit under 'the Tree'. I guess the moral of my story is this: that although something may cause great destruction in its own disappearance, it may cause a great beauty that shall never be forgotten in this lifetime, and many to come. And though sometime in the future Hobbits may forget their luck in safety and bliss, accidents and miracles can result from this. Now that you have heard my lesson, get off your butt and go find one of your own! Maybe I shall see you back in my home by my fireplace one day, and you may be telling my siblings and I of your dreams, and those of them that have come true to bring miracles!
Mum always told me and my brothers and sisters how the story of old Bilbo Baggins was a favorite when she was a child. I had heard the story, and it truly was a great one. But for my siblings and I, it was the story of the new heroes who had just come home. Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, and last but in my mind the favorite, Frodo Baggins, had returned recently from their struggle in the representation of Hobbits in the war against Mordor. What a great tale that was. My mum would tell us it, and it usually took three to four nights to tell it in whole and detail. Every night after dinner and just before bed, we would listen next to the warm fire. Once, even good old Frodo himself came to tell us the tale! How I loved it so! And when my mum would shoo us off to bed, we would whine and beg for more. My one brother though, never stayed to hear the rest of the story. For my great brother is Peregrin Took, so he knew his own story well! I always thought him a half-wit, and now I do even more so. I love him though, and I don't think I could get through everyday without his must-be- plastered-on smile cheering me up. I don't know how I made it for a year or so without him! But wait! I apologize! I have not properly introduced myself! But now the teller of this story will be mentioned. My name is Blossom Took, and I am seven years old. Well okay, so I am six and a half! I like to round up. My hair is curly and light brown, and I have blue eyes. Your average typical hobbit, no? I guess I am an ordinary kind of hobbit lass, but I will tell you a few lessons I learned in the past few days, and what it turned into to this day. It all started at the conclusion of our favorite tale. That night my brothers and sisters easily got into bed, as we had no more of the tale to wait for until the next night. We all covered ourselves up in our warm blankets, and Pippin went on into his own room (lucky him!). We all expected great dreams of monster slaying and wars and happy endings with coronations and weddings. But I had a strange dream that night. I was in a large field with grass up to my knees. I was sitting next to a great big stump in the ground. I stood to see what it was, and it was a huge patch of soil! The round brown circle was smack dab in the middle of a field of green! I could see that an amazing tree must have stood there once. Then lo! I saw Sam Gamgee walking down a hill to my left. I ran to go say hullo, but he seemed not to notice me. I tried to get him to see me or talk to me, but all he did was walk to the patch and bring out a brown box from his satchel. Then, I fell backwards into the grassy landscape, and I felt a hand shaking my shoulder. "Blossom Took get your sorry butt out of bed!" I heard my brother Paladin scream into my ear as I fell out of my bed. "Alright Paladin! I am up! Now hurry or you will miss your poetry session with dear Frodo Baggins!" I screamed right back at him and hurriedly pulled on my favorite dress and my small sandals. I didn't have anything to do that day, so I decided to take my sketchpad and go around the shire drawing pictures. I first walked Paladin to his lesson, and said a hearty hullo and goodbye to Mr. Frodo. Then I walked down the long dirt road past Hobbit on towards the old Party Field where Old Bilbo Baggins had held his one hundred eleventh birthday so long ago. Anyone who had seen me would have clearly seen how wide my eyes opened as I looked down the dirt road and down the hill, seeing nothing but green grass in the field. What scared me though, in a way, was the huge round spot that lay almost in the middle of the field. Now, a few months back, there happened something that we Hobbits knew as the scouring of the Shire. Many ruffians and men of Bree came into the Shire, and with the help of some traitor Hobbits, were able to nearly destroy the beauty entirely and replace it with 'machinery'. During that time, my family had gone into hiding far down in the South farthing, but all knew what had happened to the great Party Tree that was the centerpiece of Bilbo' s party. It was torn down. So that was when I knew where I was in my unusual dream. What of Sam though? And what in Middle-Earth was he carrying in his satchel? I picked up my sketchbook and walked down the lovely green hill. I tripped at some point and was sent rolling down the hill. It was such great fun! I got really itchy though, but anyway, I then picked up my sketchbook and sat near the mound of soil in the center of the field. I had decided to draw a picture of the Shire before the scouring. The lovely fields and forests, the brooks and streams, the long acres of corn and other plants could still be found in my memories from before those days. Then I heard the rustle of the grass behind me and I looked over my shoulder. Sam Gamgee! He walked over with a satchel on his back and a smile on his face. "Oh dear! Little Blossom, you're so small I almost couldn't even see yeh above the wee grass!" Sam exclaimed with his funny dialect. "Yes, I was drawing a picture of the Shire long ago," Blossom spoke, trying hard to keep the sadness from her voice. "You know darling, it's a leap of faith when we believe that someone's out there, or that someone cares. But sometimes, if someone should let go or forget to count their blessin's, they take for granted what a beautiful thing they have. And though some say, it doesn't matter, well.it does. And sometimes, all it takes is a mistake to make you feel horrid about yerself. Though the voice in yer head tells yeh not to go, you gotta follow yer heart child. I didn't know nothing bout the wide, wide world until I followed my dear friend to save and redeem the sleeping race of Hobbits. But if you look and it's gone, or it's too late to make a U- turn, you have to face the facts and try to make yerself better later. If I had a chance to go back to that day a while back, I don't think I would have changed my decision, or.Gandalf's decision for that matter. Child, I learned so much about how though some people are evil, there are so many that could even surpass the nicest Hobbit. Do you catch my meaning, dear Blossom?" Sam spoke with memories thick in his gardener-accent voice. "Yes, I think I understand. What you are saying is that though sometimes we Hobbits took for granted how lucky or how safe we were, we paid for it in the end with the Scouring. Yet still we turned back and made the Shire even better!" I exclaimed with my educated-by-Frodo intelligence working in my brain. "Yes, I suppose that sums it up. A friend I met on my journeys, his name was Haldir, and he was an elf. He said to Merry, 'The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places. But sill there is much that is fair; and though now in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater,' those words about sum it up almost as well as you did." Sam spoke joyfully, and the memory of Lothlorien was a good one, it seemed. Then Sam took something out of his satchel. It was the wooden box from my dream! "Mr. Sam, what is in the box?" I asked, eager to know what I dreamed of. "It is a gift given to me in Lothlorien, but the great and beautiful Galadriel, of the Galadhrim. It is a box of soil, with one nut in it of a great Mallorn tree. The Mallorn trees were beautiful they were."Sam stared, "Yes Mr. Sam! I know the stories! Their leaves turned gold and when they fell they filled the ground with a lovely shine and richness!" I exclaimed, and apologized for interrupting. "Yes, yer right. I am planting the nut here, where the Party tree stood, the beginning of all things for Frodo and I. In memory of Bilbo as well, I think. Would you like to help me plant it?" Sam asked, compassion in his gaze. "Of course! I would be greatly honored!" I said excitedly, and I watched and fidgeted as he took almost forever to take out the nut in the box of soil. He handed it to me, and I took it with care in my fragile hands. Sam dug a small hole into the patch of soil, and I placed it into the hole, and covered it with generous dirt on top. Sam took a small glass of water and poured a perfect amount onto the small place. We stood up and walked out of the Party Field, and I gave Sam my picture I drew before he came. That was six months ago. Now I am officially seven as of June fifth in the Shire calendar. Every day for the past few months I walked to the party field and watched the progress of the seed. Sometimes I came in time to see Sam, and we would talk for a while. It is hard to believe that it went from a dream in a little Hobbits mind, and now to a HUGE reality as I sit under 'the Tree'. I guess the moral of my story is this: that although something may cause great destruction in its own disappearance, it may cause a great beauty that shall never be forgotten in this lifetime, and many to come. And though sometime in the future Hobbits may forget their luck in safety and bliss, accidents and miracles can result from this. Now that you have heard my lesson, get off your butt and go find one of your own! Maybe I shall see you back in my home by my fireplace one day, and you may be telling my siblings and I of your dreams, and those of them that have come true to bring miracles!