Work Text:
The large village known as Hobbiton, the old fashioned farming community known as the Shire:
Samwise Gamgee was getting everything ready for the summer market tomorrow. Summertime was a busy time for everyone, and the tourists brought in some much welcomed money. After all, the Shire was a part of the modern world and needed to survive, even if their own lifestyle was like about 200 years ago in the past.
“Alright, mister Frodo. Hopefully we will get some of the flowers and root vegetables sold tomorrow.”
His good friend Frodo, who belonged from the more wealthy Baggins family and lived in the house called Bag End where Sam was employed as a gardener to help the elderly Bilbo Baggins with his garden, had came out with a book in his hand.
“I am sure of that, Sam. Bilbo himself think that we will get a lot of visitors and buyers tomorrow, since it is promising to be fine weather.”
Sam smiled at he pulled up a nice thick carrot to add into the huge basket of carrots to sell at the market. The harvest this year was really promising, everyone in Hobbiton said so.
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Frodo had promised Bilbo to wait on his old friend Gandalf Grey, here on top of the hill under the oak tree for shade against the summer sun. Here in the Shire, cars were forbidden, with hospital ambulances as the only exception, and people either walked, used a horse-drawn carriage or simple bikes to get around if they would get somewhere. Bilbo himself had some trouble to leave Bag End without a little support those days, given that he was well into his 80s and also had a harder time hearing nowadays, too.
Sure enough, soon he heard a familiar voice come closer and the sound of a horse-drawn carriage too.
“You are late,” Frodo commented, his arms crossed, as Gandalf stopped his horse.
“We elders are never late, nor is we early, we arrives precisely when we means to,” Gandalf responded. It took a few moments, before Frodo could not hold back his laughter anymore. Gandalf laughed as well.
“It is wonderful to see you, Gandalf. Bilbo hopes that you would arrive today.”
Taking a seat beside Gandalf in the carriage, they spoke of what happened outside the Shire as they kept travelling.
“I heard about the new exhibition in the museum of Formenos on the radio. Is it true that a copy in real-life size of the real bear will be displayed?”
“A copy in real size? Of course, Morgoth was turned into bear soup and meat stews by the locals of Formenos when he was shot by Oromë 50 years ago! Why waste the nice meat? And Oromë still have the whole skin as a now very well-used skin rug in front of his fireplace,” Gandalf joked, making Frodo chuckle.
“Sounds like you and Bilbo will be busy talking about the past again.”
Well, no wonder, both men were old and sometimes it was only more natural that they came in on the past.