Title: A Muddy Situation
Author: StarfireMoonlight
For Marigold's Challenge #28. Random elements are: a squirrel and a book of poetry.
Disclaimer: All characters, items, places, and themes, belong to Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. I don't own a thing, although I get to think about them whenever I please.

Primula was hanging up wet clothes on the line to dry, taking advantage of the heat of summer. Rain had fallen just the other day and plenty of it so another rain probably wouldn't come for a few weeks or so. That's what a large rain in the summer usually meant; one day would be nothing but rain and the rest of the month would be dry. The previous summer was like that. Primula hung up one of Drogo's shirts, his favorite one as he called it. It was a simple plain cream color with a few of her mending stitches here and there.

Next came one of her son's little nightshirts. Primula sighed to herself as she hung it up. Her little one was growing up so fast, not to mention getting into everything he could find. From the smallest cranny to biggest mess possible, he'd done it. 'Speaking of which, she thought sub-consciously, where has that rascal gone off to? '

Just as she thought that, she saw a dark looking figure run from behind the smial.
"Frodo Baggins!"

The eight-year-old stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around towards her. "Yes, Mum," he said slowly and quietly.

"Just where in the Shire did you get so filthy?" Primula asked. Frodo was covered head to toe in mud. His dark curls, which had been clean that morning, now had dry mud sticking to them and what looked like a small twig tangled in them. His clothes were darkened and dirty, not to mention soaked and every limb was covered in brown mud.

"I was playing at the pond," Frodo said in the same quiet tone, pointing towards the direction he'd just come from. He didn't meet his mother's eyes, thinking she was angry with him for getting his clothes muddy. The pond looked fun and since he couldn't go to the River without an adult, he thought it would be a good place to play.

Primula looked over her son again before shaking her head. "What am I going to do with you?" she said in an amused tone. Frodo looked up and saw her smile.

"You're not mad at me?" he asked.

Primula frowned. "Mad? Of course I'm not angry with you, why would I be?"

"Because I got my clothes dirty,"

Primula kneeled down to her son's level. "Well, you see, that's the beauty about clothes: they can be washed." She said smiling. Frodo returned the smile. "But first, let's get you cleaned. After all, we don't want people thinking you're a goblin or an orc."

Frodo giggled at the idea of looking like a goblin. "I'm not that dirty, am I?"

"Well, maybe not that filthy, but a quick glance could mistake you for one." Primula said.

Primula took the boy's hand and led him into the smial.

"Run to the bathroom, quick!" she said before Frodo took off towards the back of the smial, leaving little muddy footprints on the hard floor. Primula followed after him, meeting Drogo with a puzzled look on his face.

"Was that an orc or Frodo who just dashed into the bathroom?" he asked.

Primula laughed. "That was your son." She said. "He had a little fun at the pond."

Drogo chuckled along with her. He could only imagine what sort of fun his son had. "I'll leave you tend to him, then. I have to go over to Hall to talk with Rorimac. I'll be back sometime after nightfall."

"All right, I'll keep a bowl of stew warm for you." Primula said. Drogo gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before heading towards the door, leaving Primula to go tend to her little one.

"All right now," Primula said as she filled the tub with water. More water was boiling, but this would be enough for now. "Tell me what led you to the pond."

After testing the water to make sure it wasn't too hot, she stripped her son to nothing before he climbed into the tub. A pile of wet, muddy clothes lay to the side as Primula began bathing her son. She began with the twig entangled in his dark curls.

"I was following the footsteps of this big monster," Frodo began.

"A monster! How big was it?" Primula asked, finally getting the twig loose. She put it to the side before grabbing hold of the soap and began the task of washing the mud away.

"Really, really big! Bigger than Da!" Frodo said, stretching his arms up over his head to show. "I think it was a dragon or maybe one of the Big People."

"You followed this really big creature to the pond, right?"

Frodo nodded then went back to telling his tale. "I followed it to the pond before it disappeared. I looked and looked but didn't see it anywhere, but I knew it was around there someplace. I went closer when this thing grabbed me and threw me into the water!"

Primula had to bite back a laugh at her son's active imagination. She replaced it with a mocking gasp. "What did you do then?"

"I fought the thing, but it threw mud at me and that's how I got so muddy."

"But how did you escape the creature?"

"I threw a rock and hit it square in the nose!" Frodo said triumphantly and gave a splash. Primula laughed as she wiped the mud away from Frodo's face with a washcloth. Sparkling blue eyes shown out of the dirty face as she cleaned.

"Square in the nose, eh?" Primula said. "Make sure you tell your Da that when he gets home."

Frodo's frowned slightly. "Where did he go?"

"He went to the Hall to speak with your Uncle Rorimac."

"Oh, when will be back?"

Primula sighed. "Oh I don't know, later on tonight. Why?"

"Because I have to tell him about the monster,"

After Frodo was clean of mud, he helped Primula finish hanging up clothes. He was glad his mum wasn't angry with him for getting muddy and couldn't wait until Da got home to tell his story. His Da would be so proud once he learned that Frodo single-handedly took down a monster.

Once the laundry was finished, Frodo sat down next to his mother on the grass to watch the Sun set. The sky was painted with a mixture of orange and red and yellow as the Sun sank lower behind the hills. Frodo looked at the hills beyond, and wondered what else could be out there. Maybe he would be like Uncle Bilbo and journey off and away from home. He began to wonder what sort of things he could see. Maybe even Elves or Dwarves! Oh, exciting it would be. He would even travel to the place Uncle Bilbo went to.

"Mummy, where did Uncle Bilbo go again?" Frodo asked, looking up towards him mother.

"Your Uncle Bilbo went to many places, lad," she replied. "Which one?"

"The place where all the Elves were, where Elrod was,"

"Elrond, not Elrod," Primula corrected gently, "You mean Rivendell?"

Frodo nodded. "That's where Uncle Bilbo says he got all those poetry books from." He said then added almost to himself, "I'm going to go there one day."

"But then what will I do?" Primula asked, sounding sad. "Will you just leave your Mum all by herself?"

"Da will be here with you," Frodo said.

"But it wouldn't be the same without you," Primula said with a sigh.

Frodo thought this over. He didn't want his mother to be sad if he left but then he still had that desire to leave.

"What if I wait until I'm older? Then can I go adventuring?" he asked.

"I suppose so, only just don't stay away too long." Primula said with a smile. "I'll miss you too much."

"I'll miss you too, but maybe I could write to you, every day!"

"I doubt you could write every day," she said with a chuckle. Primula pulled her son into her lap and kissed the top of his dark—now clean –- curls before adding, "Just don't grow up too fast."

Overhead in a tall oak tree, a brown bushy tailed squirrel oversaw them. He'd been at the pond when the little one chased after him before going into the water. He had watched when the child came back to the mother, muddy as muddy could be and now watched as they sat staring as the Sun went to find her sleep and let the Moon take over the skies. It never ceased to amaze him of the confusing ways of these small creatures.