Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The scene in the Shire was buzzing with merriment. Yes , it was party time in the shire and wine was flowing and mouths were munching. Guests were pouring into the field giving (and receiving) presents whilst the drums went bang and the fiddles squeaked. There was plenty of dancing and Bilbo had accumulated a massive ring of children to whom he was telling the tale of his long adventure and his close shave with three trolls!! Merry and Pippin were up to their usual antics as usual. They soon discovered Gandalf’s cart laden with fireworks of all shapes and sizes. Whilst nobody was looking they quickly grabbed the largest and most spectacular looking one and planted it in the ground … under a tent... Just after lighting the fuse they realised what mistake they had just made.
“Done!” Pippin cried.
“You're supposed to stick it in the ground!” Merry yelled above the fizzling fuse , pushing the firework towards Pippin.
“It is in the ground!” He replied angrily , pushing it back.
“Outside!” Merry yelled pushing it towards Pippin again.
“It was your idea!” Pippin shouted and was half way to pushing it towards Merry when all of a sudden the fizzing stopped and the tent soared high into the sky and exploded. A giant sparkling red dragon appeared out of the darkness and flew towards the Hobbits. Frodo ran to Bilbo.
“Bilbo? Bilbo, look out for the dragon!” He cried but Bilbo did not see it.
“A dragon? Nonsense! A dragon hasn’t been seen in these parts for hundreds of years!” And before he knew it a glittering pair of wings glided over his head and sent him and many others flying. Suddenly the dragon burst into a million sparkles of light and lighted the sky. And “ooh” and an “aah” soon followed accompanied by a flutter of claps as the Hobbits got up and brushed themselves off.
“That was good!” Merry said , who was covered in soot but satisfied with the reaction of the crowd.
“Yes , let’s get another one.” They both turned round and made their way to the cart but they were stopped by a tall looming figure who looked down on them and grabbed their ears.
“Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. I might've known.” Unfortunately for these two Gandalf never missed a thing. They had underestimated him for a useless blind old man but his sight was equal to that of an eagle’s. “Some dish washing for you two I think!” HE suggested as he led them into the kitchen , still keeping a tight hold on their ears.
“Speech, Bilbo! Speech!” The crowd cheered as Bilbo stepped up to the platform under the party tree.
“My dear Bagginses and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks, Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots.”
“Proudfeet!” Cried a large hobbit through a mouthful of cake.
“Today is my 111th birthday!” A ripple of cheers ricochet around the room.
“But alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits.” A ripple of cheers” I don't know half of you half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” With this they all looked around and whilst they were doing so Bilbo took something out of his pocket and put it behind his back. Frodo’s smile faded and he looked to Gandalf who suspected something. “I, uh, I have things to do. I’ve put this off for far too long. I regret to announce this is the end! I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. He gave a look to Frodo “Goodbye.” And with a flash he was gone. Frodo’s heart sank with a realisation. He wished that somehow , what the whole of the Shire had just witnessed had not happened. His eyes glazed over with a film of tears and he looked to Sam.
“It’s alright Mr Frodo. Come on , we’d better get tidying , there is a lot to do.”
Frodo looked for Gandalf but he had gone. He and his friends cleared up as much as they could and then made their way to the pub.

To be continued...