A Ringbearer in the Rose Garden
A/N You don't suppose Peter Jackson would be interested in having some authentic hobbits pay him a visit, do you? They are sweet beyond belief, but I don't know how much longer I can keep up with their appetites! Help!
Thoughts are in ~ ~'s.
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Flying toward the front door, I completely forgot to consider the possible presence of small animals in my path. It was inevitable that our cat, imaginatively named Fluffy, would be in the way. I hooked my foot under her furry body and sent both of us flying. Luckily for her, I landed on my back and she landed on top of me! Unluckily for her, she got the ride of her life as we slalomed together down the front hallway, shuttling discarded backpacks and shoes and toys out of the way with my body. I can only imagine the tales she is telling the neighborhood felines about this incident! We came to a gentle stop just short of the screened in front door.
In the time it had taken the cat and I to single handedly invent a new Olympic sport, my eldest daughter Lily had managed to get herself under some amount of control and was standing outside the door peering in through the screen. She looked surprised to see her mother stretched out on the floor.
"Mom, are you OK?"
"Fine dear, fine, just taking the cat for a little ride," I said nonchalantly, trying to pass off my escapade as intentional. All I received in return was the look of disbelief any mother of a pre-teen daughter will recognize as meaning 'My mother is the weirdest person on earth, I'll just humor her.'
Our house is set back from the street at the end of a cul-de-sac. One of the things I've always loved about it is the rose garden in front. You see, I am one of the worst gardeners you'll ever find. I can kill any poor plant unwise enough to find its way into my house in a matter of days. However, there is one plant that I can grow, quite well as a matter of fact. Roses! Anyway, we have various colors of rose bushes planted near the front of our house. Over the years they have grown to be extremely large. Large enough for a small child to hide under, if he can figure out how to get past all the thorns.
Given my track record with gardening. I am also extremely protective of those plants. The idea that something was messing with them was very disturbing, to put it mildly.
"What kind of thing?" I asked as I detached Fluffy's claws from my shoulder, put her on the floor, and opened the door.
"Just a . . . thing, Mom. It's sort of dark brown and, um, furry, and, um, it's not really moving much or making any noise, just shivering, sort of," Lily explained as she led the way to my prized purple rose.
I couldn't help but notice several branches broken off the back of the bush as we walked toward it. ~Grrr! That's my favorite bush!~ The next thing I noticed was Brittany, my younger daughter, standing next to it with a wooden pole in her hand.
"Britt, what are you doing with that pole?" I asked as we approached.
"I didn't want it to bite me, so I thought I'd throw a stick for it to chase if it came out from under the bush," she explained as she stared fixedly at the object in question.
"Does it look that dangerous?" I knelt down next to the broken branches. "Why don't you two go stand next to the steps." I waited until they had reached the front stairs to lean over and peer under the bush.
The first thing I saw was a pile of dirty, brownish, reddish cloth. It looked like someone had put a dark, curly wig on top of it. ~Great, someone's been throwing their trash in my yard,~ was my first thought. Reaching out a not too gentle hand (I was seriously irritated at the thought of someone using our yard as a garbage dump), I grabbed the wig and gave it a good pull, expecting it to come right out of the bush. Instead, a loud shriek split the air and a small, very grubby hand frantically grabbed mine! I instantly dropped the 'wig' and fell back in astonishment!
"Mommy, are you alright?" Brittany asked, running up, waving her stick and coming perilously close to hitting me in the head. Lily chose the path of prudence and stayed by the stairs.
"No, no, it didn't bite me. Why don't you leave your stick here, though, just in case I need it." I sat in the dirt where I'd fallen, considering my next move. ~Obviously a small child . . .oh no, it couldn't be. Not two of them in one day!~
Leaning over slowly, I looked under the bush to find that the pile of rags was in just about the same position. ~Now what? I don't want to scare him any more than I already have. How do you unterrify a terrified hobbit?~ I watched the pile carefully as I considered different options, and noticed that, while it wasn't making any noise, the fabric was shivering convulsively.
Coming to a decision, I leaned forward and reached as far as I could under the bush, acquiring several nice scratches in the process. I gently wrapped my arms around the bundle. It started in surprise, and then lay quietly in my arms.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said as I felt his breathing slowly quiet. I sat on the ground cuddling the shivering bundle of cloths for a few more minutes before I felt him stir. Looking down, I saw the brown curls slowly moving and falling away from a weary and tear-stained little face dominated by cloudy blue eyes.
"Would you like to come inside?" I asked, slowly leaning back on my knees. "I think there is someone in the kitchen who would be delighted to see you."
He looked at me in puzzlement, but evidently decided that I was safe, if deranged. He slowly unfolded himself from his very cramped position. ~How in the world did he get in that position in the first place? I would have been on crutches for weeks if I'd tried to do that!~
When I backed up to give him some room to get up, I realized I had forgotten two very curious little girls who were watching the action with extreme interest. I have been a mother long enough to know that the whole neighborhood would know about Frodo in nothing flat if I let them get a look at him while we were outside. They have very loud voices. My husband says that they take after me in that regard. I, however, am not convinced.
"Girls, would you please go put the tea kettle on and get out the tea bags?" I said, as I moved in front of where Frodo was getting to his feet. "I'll be in shortly."
"Sure, Mom," Lily said, leading Brittany up the steps and in the door.
I turned around to see my newest guest looking in a bewildered manner at the house and the street.
"Frodo," I said, as I put an arm around his shoulders, "let's go in the house."
It was some measure of his state of mind that he didn't notice I had used his name before we were introduced. We moved slowly across the yard and up the steps, reaching the door in time to hear a muffled shriek and the sound of breaking glass!
"Oh no!" I yanked the door open and started to run toward the kitchen. I was about half way down the entryway when I realized that Frodo wasn't behind me. Whipping my body around, I saw him standing quietly just inside the door on the mat we had placed there. It was intended, somewhat unrealistically, as a shoe wiper. Its clean state attested to its lack of use. I ran back and grabbed his hand, towing him rapidly toward the kitchen, where I could hear an escalating argument.
We entered the kitchen to find total chaos! Brittany and Lily were standing on top of the counters looking down on the remains of the brownie batter bowl and shouting at their brother. JJ was hovering protectively over his new friend, who was sitting on the floor smiling cheerily at me with a chocolate smudged face. ~Wait, a chocolate smudged face? I don't remember giving him chocolate!~
"Quiet, all of you!" I said in my best drill sergeant voice. "What is going on here?"
"Mommy, the girls yelled at my friend, and we dropped the bowl and it smashed," JJ said, managing to get several words in ahead of the girls.
"Mom, we came in and he and his friend were licking the bowl. We didn't mean to scare them!" Brittany nodded as Lily gave their side of the story.
"JJ, what were you and Pippin doing eating the brownie batter? You know you're not supposed to lick the bowl until after the brownies are in the pan."
"Well, Pippin was still hungry, and I thought he might like some, so I just gave him a little taste, and then the next thing I knew we were sort of eating it all up," JJ explained carefully, making sure that he got all the details correct.
"Pippin!" Frodo exclaimed as he pushed past me into the kitchen, obviously delighted to see someone familiar.
"Wait!" I cried, grabbing him just before he put his foot down on a large piece of glass. "Don't move, you don't want to get glass in your feet. Frodo, you stand over there in the dining room and I'll bring Pippin over to you.
Frodo quickly reversed course and stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room, while I reached down and hefted Mr. Took from the floor. Hobbits are a lot heavier than they look! We managed to make it back over to the clear area without my dropping him, and I deposited him next to his cousin. Frodo promptly wrapped him in a warm hug.
While I moved JJ out of the way, I couldn't help but notice that, even though he was the same height as the hobbits, he weighed considerably less.
"Girls, stay where you are while I clean this mess up. JJ, would you please go wash your face and hands? Wait, take our two visitors with you too, so they can wash also."
"OK, Mommy. The bathroom is this way, guys." JJ headed off to the nearest bathroom to scrape about half a bowl of brownie batter off his person, followed closely by Pippin. Frodo glanced in my direction as JJ turned and left the room, and I nodded my head, trying to let him know that it was all right to go with JJ. He seemed to understand, trailing off after them without speaking a word. Hopefully they wouldn't be shy about asking JJ any questions they might have about the plumbing and how to use it. I had the feeling that at least one of the hobbits might have felt a bit inhibited about asking a grown woman that sort of question. I know this grown woman would have been the color of a red delicious apple if he'd tried!
I could hear the whispered conference going on above me as the girls watched me pick up the pieces of glass on the floor. I wasn't too surprised when Lily spoke up.
"Mom, are those really . . .hobbits?" There was a definite tone of disbelief in her voice, and I didn't blame her a bit. I'd been in a state of disbelief since JJ brought his friend home.
"It certainly seems like it dear. They're about the right height, have curly hair and big hairy feet," I replied as I checked to see that all the large pieces of glass were up.
"But I don't understand, aren't they supposed to be characters in a movie?" Brittany asked, obviously confused.
"Don't forget the books, Britt," Lilly reminded.
"I don't have any answers for you, girls. When they come back with JJ, we'll sit down and try to figure out what's going on. What I need you to do right now is keep this quiet. You can tell your friends we have visitors, but let's not let anyone know just exactly who these visitors are."
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A/N Great big, huge thanks to al for her excellent beta skills. . . . it's a good thing green is one of my favorite colors!
A/N You don't suppose Peter Jackson would be interested in having some authentic hobbits pay him a visit, do you? They are sweet beyond belief, but I don't know how much longer I can keep up with their appetites! Help!
Thoughts are in ~ ~'s.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flying toward the front door, I completely forgot to consider the possible presence of small animals in my path. It was inevitable that our cat, imaginatively named Fluffy, would be in the way. I hooked my foot under her furry body and sent both of us flying. Luckily for her, I landed on my back and she landed on top of me! Unluckily for her, she got the ride of her life as we slalomed together down the front hallway, shuttling discarded backpacks and shoes and toys out of the way with my body. I can only imagine the tales she is telling the neighborhood felines about this incident! We came to a gentle stop just short of the screened in front door.
In the time it had taken the cat and I to single handedly invent a new Olympic sport, my eldest daughter Lily had managed to get herself under some amount of control and was standing outside the door peering in through the screen. She looked surprised to see her mother stretched out on the floor.
"Mom, are you OK?"
"Fine dear, fine, just taking the cat for a little ride," I said nonchalantly, trying to pass off my escapade as intentional. All I received in return was the look of disbelief any mother of a pre-teen daughter will recognize as meaning 'My mother is the weirdest person on earth, I'll just humor her.'
Our house is set back from the street at the end of a cul-de-sac. One of the things I've always loved about it is the rose garden in front. You see, I am one of the worst gardeners you'll ever find. I can kill any poor plant unwise enough to find its way into my house in a matter of days. However, there is one plant that I can grow, quite well as a matter of fact. Roses! Anyway, we have various colors of rose bushes planted near the front of our house. Over the years they have grown to be extremely large. Large enough for a small child to hide under, if he can figure out how to get past all the thorns.
Given my track record with gardening. I am also extremely protective of those plants. The idea that something was messing with them was very disturbing, to put it mildly.
"What kind of thing?" I asked as I detached Fluffy's claws from my shoulder, put her on the floor, and opened the door.
"Just a . . . thing, Mom. It's sort of dark brown and, um, furry, and, um, it's not really moving much or making any noise, just shivering, sort of," Lily explained as she led the way to my prized purple rose.
I couldn't help but notice several branches broken off the back of the bush as we walked toward it. ~Grrr! That's my favorite bush!~ The next thing I noticed was Brittany, my younger daughter, standing next to it with a wooden pole in her hand.
"Britt, what are you doing with that pole?" I asked as we approached.
"I didn't want it to bite me, so I thought I'd throw a stick for it to chase if it came out from under the bush," she explained as she stared fixedly at the object in question.
"Does it look that dangerous?" I knelt down next to the broken branches. "Why don't you two go stand next to the steps." I waited until they had reached the front stairs to lean over and peer under the bush.
The first thing I saw was a pile of dirty, brownish, reddish cloth. It looked like someone had put a dark, curly wig on top of it. ~Great, someone's been throwing their trash in my yard,~ was my first thought. Reaching out a not too gentle hand (I was seriously irritated at the thought of someone using our yard as a garbage dump), I grabbed the wig and gave it a good pull, expecting it to come right out of the bush. Instead, a loud shriek split the air and a small, very grubby hand frantically grabbed mine! I instantly dropped the 'wig' and fell back in astonishment!
"Mommy, are you alright?" Brittany asked, running up, waving her stick and coming perilously close to hitting me in the head. Lily chose the path of prudence and stayed by the stairs.
"No, no, it didn't bite me. Why don't you leave your stick here, though, just in case I need it." I sat in the dirt where I'd fallen, considering my next move. ~Obviously a small child . . .oh no, it couldn't be. Not two of them in one day!~
Leaning over slowly, I looked under the bush to find that the pile of rags was in just about the same position. ~Now what? I don't want to scare him any more than I already have. How do you unterrify a terrified hobbit?~ I watched the pile carefully as I considered different options, and noticed that, while it wasn't making any noise, the fabric was shivering convulsively.
Coming to a decision, I leaned forward and reached as far as I could under the bush, acquiring several nice scratches in the process. I gently wrapped my arms around the bundle. It started in surprise, and then lay quietly in my arms.
"I'm not going to hurt you," I said as I felt his breathing slowly quiet. I sat on the ground cuddling the shivering bundle of cloths for a few more minutes before I felt him stir. Looking down, I saw the brown curls slowly moving and falling away from a weary and tear-stained little face dominated by cloudy blue eyes.
"Would you like to come inside?" I asked, slowly leaning back on my knees. "I think there is someone in the kitchen who would be delighted to see you."
He looked at me in puzzlement, but evidently decided that I was safe, if deranged. He slowly unfolded himself from his very cramped position. ~How in the world did he get in that position in the first place? I would have been on crutches for weeks if I'd tried to do that!~
When I backed up to give him some room to get up, I realized I had forgotten two very curious little girls who were watching the action with extreme interest. I have been a mother long enough to know that the whole neighborhood would know about Frodo in nothing flat if I let them get a look at him while we were outside. They have very loud voices. My husband says that they take after me in that regard. I, however, am not convinced.
"Girls, would you please go put the tea kettle on and get out the tea bags?" I said, as I moved in front of where Frodo was getting to his feet. "I'll be in shortly."
"Sure, Mom," Lily said, leading Brittany up the steps and in the door.
I turned around to see my newest guest looking in a bewildered manner at the house and the street.
"Frodo," I said, as I put an arm around his shoulders, "let's go in the house."
It was some measure of his state of mind that he didn't notice I had used his name before we were introduced. We moved slowly across the yard and up the steps, reaching the door in time to hear a muffled shriek and the sound of breaking glass!
"Oh no!" I yanked the door open and started to run toward the kitchen. I was about half way down the entryway when I realized that Frodo wasn't behind me. Whipping my body around, I saw him standing quietly just inside the door on the mat we had placed there. It was intended, somewhat unrealistically, as a shoe wiper. Its clean state attested to its lack of use. I ran back and grabbed his hand, towing him rapidly toward the kitchen, where I could hear an escalating argument.
We entered the kitchen to find total chaos! Brittany and Lily were standing on top of the counters looking down on the remains of the brownie batter bowl and shouting at their brother. JJ was hovering protectively over his new friend, who was sitting on the floor smiling cheerily at me with a chocolate smudged face. ~Wait, a chocolate smudged face? I don't remember giving him chocolate!~
"Quiet, all of you!" I said in my best drill sergeant voice. "What is going on here?"
"Mommy, the girls yelled at my friend, and we dropped the bowl and it smashed," JJ said, managing to get several words in ahead of the girls.
"Mom, we came in and he and his friend were licking the bowl. We didn't mean to scare them!" Brittany nodded as Lily gave their side of the story.
"JJ, what were you and Pippin doing eating the brownie batter? You know you're not supposed to lick the bowl until after the brownies are in the pan."
"Well, Pippin was still hungry, and I thought he might like some, so I just gave him a little taste, and then the next thing I knew we were sort of eating it all up," JJ explained carefully, making sure that he got all the details correct.
"Pippin!" Frodo exclaimed as he pushed past me into the kitchen, obviously delighted to see someone familiar.
"Wait!" I cried, grabbing him just before he put his foot down on a large piece of glass. "Don't move, you don't want to get glass in your feet. Frodo, you stand over there in the dining room and I'll bring Pippin over to you.
Frodo quickly reversed course and stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room, while I reached down and hefted Mr. Took from the floor. Hobbits are a lot heavier than they look! We managed to make it back over to the clear area without my dropping him, and I deposited him next to his cousin. Frodo promptly wrapped him in a warm hug.
While I moved JJ out of the way, I couldn't help but notice that, even though he was the same height as the hobbits, he weighed considerably less.
"Girls, stay where you are while I clean this mess up. JJ, would you please go wash your face and hands? Wait, take our two visitors with you too, so they can wash also."
"OK, Mommy. The bathroom is this way, guys." JJ headed off to the nearest bathroom to scrape about half a bowl of brownie batter off his person, followed closely by Pippin. Frodo glanced in my direction as JJ turned and left the room, and I nodded my head, trying to let him know that it was all right to go with JJ. He seemed to understand, trailing off after them without speaking a word. Hopefully they wouldn't be shy about asking JJ any questions they might have about the plumbing and how to use it. I had the feeling that at least one of the hobbits might have felt a bit inhibited about asking a grown woman that sort of question. I know this grown woman would have been the color of a red delicious apple if he'd tried!
I could hear the whispered conference going on above me as the girls watched me pick up the pieces of glass on the floor. I wasn't too surprised when Lily spoke up.
"Mom, are those really . . .hobbits?" There was a definite tone of disbelief in her voice, and I didn't blame her a bit. I'd been in a state of disbelief since JJ brought his friend home.
"It certainly seems like it dear. They're about the right height, have curly hair and big hairy feet," I replied as I checked to see that all the large pieces of glass were up.
"But I don't understand, aren't they supposed to be characters in a movie?" Brittany asked, obviously confused.
"Don't forget the books, Britt," Lilly reminded.
"I don't have any answers for you, girls. When they come back with JJ, we'll sit down and try to figure out what's going on. What I need you to do right now is keep this quiet. You can tell your friends we have visitors, but let's not let anyone know just exactly who these visitors are."
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A/N Great big, huge thanks to al for her excellent beta skills. . . . it's a good thing green is one of my favorite colors!
