Off to Bag End...

Early that morning, I decided to head over to Bag End, where preparation for Bilbo and Frodo's eleventy-whatever-eth birthday party had been underway since the middle of the previous week. It had been years since anyone had bothered to remember what age they were at, and no one really cared, anyway. It was an excuse for a party and dancing and lots and lots of food...who cares about technicalities? And besides, we would always want to keep alive the memory of those two wonderful hobbits.

As I entered the gate of Bag End, I ran into Sam Gamgee's daughter Elanor. She was just a few years younger than me and had always been one of my good friends. Her arms were full of tablecloths.

"Hello, Estelwen!" she greeted me. "Would you mind helping me put these on the table back in the field?"

"Not at all," I said, relieving her of a few of the cloths. "Oh, I can't wait for tonight!"

"Neither can I!" exclaimed Elanor. "I've cooking all day, every day for the past week, and all the food looks delicious! And I'm looking forward to the dancing."

"Oh, so am I! That's always one of the very best parts. And Gandalf's fireworks!"

"You certainly can't forget those!" said Elanor, pausing to push open the gate.

As we crossed the field, we ran into my cousins Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took. They were several years older than me, but we'd always been great friends and I loved when they told me stories of their adventures during the War of the Rings.

"Hello!" I hailed them. "Now, mind not to set off any fireworks in tents tonight!"

Merry rolled his eyes, and Pippin laughed. I had only been 12 years old at the time, but I remembered well the night of Bilbo's party, when Merry and Pippin had set off Gandalf's biggest, best dragon firework in one of the tents. Gandalf had not been happy, to say the least!

"Now, Estelwen, surely your opinion of us has improved by this time!" exclaimed Merry. "We are no longer in our 'tweens," he added, pulling himself up to his full height, which made us all, him included, burst out laughing.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure I trust you, even now!" I laughed.

"Ahh, she's hopeless," said Pippin. "She'll never appreciate us!"

"Of course not," I smiled, and we parted, calling out jibes as we walked away.

Estelwen has traveled 9 miles since 1/5/10, and is in the Shire.