Solstice Gift!
All children like presents and the Gamgees were no exception. It might even be argued that hobbit children like surprises and gifts best of all the folk of Middle Earth. More than elves and the Big People. Even more than dwarves, and dwarves are known to be very fond of gifts - the shinier the better.
So it was with great excitement that the children of Samwise and his Rose followed their parents out of Bag End and down Bagshot Row toward an unknown destination. Almost like the start of a great adventure! Rose and Goldilocks and Daisy and Primrose and Ruby and Frodo and Merry and Pippin and Hamfast and Bilbo and Robin all skipped and bounced and ran circles around their parents (Rosie was carrying young Tolman) and asked a babble of questions about their surprise. The only response to be hand was a little smile from their Mama and a "soon enough" from their Da.
They didn't have to walk very far before they came to a small grassy field and there, in the center, was a very large covering. It was several feet high and many many feet long and made up of all sorts of colors jumbled together, like a great big patchwork quilt. Perhaps that's exactly what it was.
"Is that the surprise, Mama?" asked Goldilocks, hopping up and down.
"Is it the quilt?" asked Ham.
"No, silly!" cried Primrose, clapping her hands. "It's what's underneath, isn't it, Da? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Right as the rain in Spring," laughed Sam.
"What's under it?" chorused Merry and Pippin, bending low in hopes of catching a glimpse.
"It's a gift, sweetlings," said Rosie.
"A fair and marvelous gift, from the Maia Aille, to celebrate Solstice Something you can be enjoying for a long time to come, and all of your friends with you."
"It's so big! Big enough to be an oliphuant!" exclaimed Daisy.
"Not quite, love." Sam laughed at their expectant faces and said, "Well? What are you standing about here for? Go unwrap it!"
With shrieks and squeals of delight, the hobbit children streaked across the field toward their gift. The next several minutes were a mayhem of tugging at the hem of the covering and pulling it this way and that before realizing they should all be on one side instead of all around! It amused Sam that not a single one thought to duck under the covering itself to peek.
"Here now! Altogether!" cried Frodo as they gathered on one side and grabbed a piece of the hem. "One! Two! Three!!!!!"
With a great whoosh! and rustle, the covering slid off and revealed a most amazing sight.
"What is it?" gasped Robin.
"It's a fort!"
"It's an elvish tree house!"
"It's a path through Moria! See? There's the bridge!"
"No it isn't, you ninnyhammer! It's the way through old Spider Shelob's lair!"
"You're all wrong!" laughed Goldilocks as she began clambering up one of the ladders. "It's for playing at adventures!"
"That's it! That's it!" her brothers and sisters agreed, and in the next instant they were swarming over the jungle gym, exploring every nook and cranny.
"It's a most generous gift Aille's given us," said Rose to Sam as they stood back and watched.
"It is at that. Every lad and maid child in the Shire will be here by tomorrow, climbing about and under." He chuckled. "Maybe we should be doing a bit of exploring ourselves before the word gets out." Sam took her hand in his and, laughing, they ran to join their children at play.
So it was with great excitement that the children of Samwise and his Rose followed their parents out of Bag End and down Bagshot Row toward an unknown destination. Almost like the start of a great adventure! Rose and Goldilocks and Daisy and Primrose and Ruby and Frodo and Merry and Pippin and Hamfast and Bilbo and Robin all skipped and bounced and ran circles around their parents (Rosie was carrying young Tolman) and asked a babble of questions about their surprise. The only response to be hand was a little smile from their Mama and a "soon enough" from their Da.
They didn't have to walk very far before they came to a small grassy field and there, in the center, was a very large covering. It was several feet high and many many feet long and made up of all sorts of colors jumbled together, like a great big patchwork quilt. Perhaps that's exactly what it was.
"Is that the surprise, Mama?" asked Goldilocks, hopping up and down.
"Is it the quilt?" asked Ham.
"No, silly!" cried Primrose, clapping her hands. "It's what's underneath, isn't it, Da? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Right as the rain in Spring," laughed Sam.
"What's under it?" chorused Merry and Pippin, bending low in hopes of catching a glimpse.
"It's a gift, sweetlings," said Rosie.
"A fair and marvelous gift, from the Maia Aille, to celebrate Solstice Something you can be enjoying for a long time to come, and all of your friends with you."
"It's so big! Big enough to be an oliphuant!" exclaimed Daisy.
"Not quite, love." Sam laughed at their expectant faces and said, "Well? What are you standing about here for? Go unwrap it!"
With shrieks and squeals of delight, the hobbit children streaked across the field toward their gift. The next several minutes were a mayhem of tugging at the hem of the covering and pulling it this way and that before realizing they should all be on one side instead of all around! It amused Sam that not a single one thought to duck under the covering itself to peek.
"Here now! Altogether!" cried Frodo as they gathered on one side and grabbed a piece of the hem. "One! Two! Three!!!!!"
With a great whoosh! and rustle, the covering slid off and revealed a most amazing sight.
"What is it?" gasped Robin.
"It's a fort!"
"It's an elvish tree house!"
"It's a path through Moria! See? There's the bridge!"
"No it isn't, you ninnyhammer! It's the way through old Spider Shelob's lair!"
"You're all wrong!" laughed Goldilocks as she began clambering up one of the ladders. "It's for playing at adventures!"
"That's it! That's it!" her brothers and sisters agreed, and in the next instant they were swarming over the jungle gym, exploring every nook and cranny.
"It's a most generous gift Aille's given us," said Rose to Sam as they stood back and watched.
"It is at that. Every lad and maid child in the Shire will be here by tomorrow, climbing about and under." He chuckled. "Maybe we should be doing a bit of exploring ourselves before the word gets out." Sam took her hand in his and, laughing, they ran to join their children at play.