The Dictionary Game
Chapter Two: Insert
Genre: Humor
Summary: A young Pippin tries to insert a square peg into a round hole, Merry gets upset.
Insert: 1. (verb) To put something inside something else.
2. (noun) Something that is put inside something else
For the purposes of this story, I will be using the first definition.
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When he felt a tugging on the edge of his tunic, Merry heaved a long-suffering sigh and slammed the book he had been reading shut. His eyes rolled to the sky as he said in a monotone,
"What."
"Come play with me, Merry!" squeaked the annoying, high-pitched voice of his young cousin Pippin. Merry scowled, pushing Pippin's hand away from his tunic.
"I'm busy, Pip. Go play by yourself."
Merry felt a slight tinge of guilt when a look of immense disappointment spread across Pippin's face, but the guilt was quickly washed away when he reopened the book and immersed himself in the story. It was a book he had been gifted at his cousin Bilbo's last birthday celebration, and far from being a useless mathom, it was something he could use and enjoy. Being a romance book designed for older hobbits, Merry's parents did not approve of his reading it. To their knowledge, he had given it away, but whenever they were out of the house he pulled it out from the mess beneath his bed and drank in the words.
Currently, Merry was supposed to be watching Pippin, but his attention was devoted entirely to the book. Pippin had an assortment of toys spread about the hobbit-hole, so Merry figured he could keep himself busy until it was time for afternoon tea. Merry hated babysitting. It wasn't that he disliked Pippin, he just didn't find his company greatly enjoyable. He would rather be with friends his own age, playing on the shores of the Brandywine or fishing or, well, anything but babysitting his little cousin.
Five minutes later, just when the story was really getting interesting, Merry felt another tug on his tunic. With a huff and a grumble, he shut the book and looked down into Pippin's face.
"What is it now, Pip?"
"Wanna go outside. Play tag with me! You're it!" Pippin giggled, poking Merry's shoulder before running away. Looking over his shoulder a moment later, Pippin found that Merry had reburied his nose in the book once more and was making no move towards playing with him. Pippin pouted, dragging his feet back to the chair Merry occupied.
"Merry!" Pippin whined. "You're supposed to play with me!"
"I don't believe that was in the rules. Perhaps you should ask your father to write it into the laws," Merry replied dryly, his eyes never leaving the page. Pippin's father was the Thain of the Shire, but when there was peace in the lands he was hardly called upon to fulfill any duties. Pippin, of course, was too young to understand the details of his father's job, and though he would never admit it, Merry didn't quite understand either.
"Maybe I will! And then he'll put you in jail for breaking the law!" Pippin declared defiantly. Merry glanced at him, raising his eyebrows with a bored expression on his face. Pippin was standing before him, his small face turned up at Merry with a rebellious expression and his hands on his hips. Merry snorted with laughter before returning to the story.
With a sigh of defeat, Pippin went to play with the toys he had brought to Merry's house. He kicked aside a music box and threw his small, cotton-stuffed bear at the wall to show Merry just how angry he was. When that produced no reaction, Pippin picked up a heavier storybook and threw it at the wall. This time Merry did look up, and he looked angry. Pippin immediately regretted his actions.
"Pippin! You know better than that!" Merry scolded in imitation of his mother. "Go pick up that book and put it away if you don't want to read it. Then you can just sit down on that chair in the corner until you want to behave like a good little hobbit."
There. Being a mother wasn't so hard; he didn't know why his mother was always complaining. With a smirk, Merry turned his attention back to the beloved book. A second later he glanced up to check Pippin's progress. The young hobbit was sitting on the floor amidst the toys, the storybook still a few yards away.
"Pippin! What did I just tell you to do?" Merry demanded.
Pippin stuck out his tongue and turned his back on Merry. His eyes narrow, Merry rose from the chair, leaving his book behind on the seat. He grabbed Pippin's arm and pulled him to his feet, dragging him towards the book.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, stop it Merry, I'm sorry! I pick it up! Leave me alone! Let go of me!" Pippin screamed as if he was being led to his death. Scoffing, Merry let go and watched Pippin walk docilely to the book, pick it up, and place it on the small table that sat in front of the sofa. He looked at Merry, expecting praise. He got a little pat on the head as Merry returned to his chair.
Crestfallen, Pippin went to sit on the floor again. He pulled over one of his favorite toys. His father had made it for him just recently. It consisted of a wooden block with different shapes cut in it and wooden pegs and corresponded with the holes. The object of the game, as Pippin's father had explained, was to match the correct peg with the correct hole. Pippin loved to play this game.
He picked up the first shape. It was a square. With intense concentration, he studied the holes cut into the block. His tongue was held between his lips and his free hand scratched his head in confusion. First, he tried the diamond-shaped hole. That didn't work. Then he tried the round hole. It looked big enough to hold the square peg.
Upon the first attempt, the peg would not go into the hole. Pippin banged the peg on the block, trying to squeeze it in, but it wasn't working. His anger grew as the stubborn peg continued to refuse to go into its hole.
Merry looked up when he heard Pippin banging around. He chuckled when he saw the child's dilemma. Pippin looked so irritated that Merry took pity on him and decided to show him how the game worked.
"Hey Pip, I think I can help you here. Can I see the peg?" Merry asked, kneeling beside Pippin and holding out his hand. Pippin handed over the peg with an annoyed sigh.
"It doesn't work. Papa didn't do it right," Pippin huffed, conveniently forgetting the fact that the game had worked perfectly when his father had shown him how to do it.
"Look, Pippin, you're doing it wrong. Tell me, what kind of shape is this?" Merry asked, holding up the square.
"It's, uh, it's a…" Pippin paused, thinking hard to remember the name his father had told him. "A square!"
"Right," Merry nodded. "And what kind of shape is this?" He pointed to the round hole.
"That's a… um… a circle!" Pippin exclaimed.
"Very good. You see, Pippin, a square is not a circle, so it can't go into the circle hole. You have to put the peg into the hole that is the same shape. Let's look at the other holes. Right here we have a triangle, and this is a diamond. This one here is a… well, I forget what that one is called, but it is not a square. But look at this one! This one is a square, just like the peg!" Merry lined the square peg up with the square hole and the peg slid in easily.
"So you see, Pip, the square peg only fits in the square hole. It can't go in the circle hole because that's not how it's shaped. The circle can't go in the square hole because it's not a square. Do you understand now?" Merry asked, inserting the circle peg into its proper place.
"Uh-huh," replied the disinterested younger hobbit. During Merry's lesson he had busied himself by playing with a toy dog with wooden wheels that could be dragged via a rope "leash" tied around its neck.
"Now you try. Where would this triangle-shaped peg go?" Merry asked, holding out the triangle to Pippin. Pippin grasped the peg and looked down at the block, his tongue between his lips and his brow furrowed in deep concentration. He tried the triangle hole, but he didn't line it up correctly so it didn't work. Then he tried the diamond hole, hitting the peg against the hole repeatedly when it would not fit.
Merry rolled his eyes, then laughed as he fell back onto his rear end. He pulled Pippin onto his lap, taking the triangle from his hold. "Whaddya say we go play outside for a little bit, huh?"
"Yeah!" Pippin said excitedly, running for the door. Merry got up and followed him to the door. The two young hobbits walked outside hand-in-hand, leaving the stubborn wooden pegs laying on the floor.