Inside the Green Dragon...

[samwise]

I sit with my elbows on the old worn table. The same table my old Gaffer rested his elbows on when he...well when he wasn't an old Gaffer. I half listen to the gossip bein spun. No I quarter listen to it. The other quarter listens to Peregrin and Merriadoc engaging in one of their spirited song and dance numbers. The rest of me is struck deaf and dumb by the lovely vision across the room.

I don't think it's possibly for anyone else to look that pretty while drying dishes. I ponder this while puffing my pipe. She catches my stare and smiles at me. My stomach does flip flops, then I choke on my smoke.

I feel quite ill now, whether it be the swallowing of my own pipe smoke or the fact Rosie, Ms. Rosie Cotton the lovliest hobbit in the shire smiled at me...well that doesn't matter. It's time to leave.

[lithoniel]

So there I was, walking towards the famous Green Dragon, my favourite place to go to. I was wearing a cute hobbit dress. So, I walk into the Green Dragon. The smell of beer and smoke welcomed me as I walked in the inn. I looked around with my hazel green eyes and see other hobbits, talking, laughing, and bascily, having a good time. A sigh came from my mouth. I walked over to one of the tables, and sat down, alone.

Then, I noticed a hobbit about to leave the Green Dragon. He was kind of chubby, but had an expression, a sweet one, mind you. He looked sort of like a gardener. Didn't I see him before?

[samwise]

I try to recover. It's ok Sam, it's just Rosie Cotton the same hobbit lass you teased when you were kids. No it's not, it's full grown rosy with golden locks and a bright smile and...wait a minute who is that? A younger hobbit, nearly full grown comes waltzing in. If I didn't no better I'd say she could be related to my rosie with her ringlets and keen fashion sense. Yet this lovely young hobbit is all alone, at nigt in a pub. Well maybe she's meeting someone....no there she sits by herself. How queer.
Could this be the female hobbit I overheard my gaffer discussing? They said there was a pretty young girl hobbit who just didn't seem all hobbit or something. Perhaps someone a bit of elvish in her. Huh, maybe she's an elf-friend. She fit their descriptions alright. What a strange young sprite sitting alone in a smokey old pub.

[lithoniel]

I notice all the other hobbits in the pub, looking at me queerly. " What is wrong? Is it just because I'm different and thrive for adventure? ", I thought. I hated hobbits looking at me strangly. " What? What it is? ", I say to them. And you know what they do? They just stop and continue with their own deiscussions, probably talking about me. How utterly rude!

I shook my head and just looked down at the table. Yeah, that's what they're doing. Talking about how strange I am. So what if my parents are friends with the elves? So what if I thrive for the sense of adventure? I still do, well kind of act like a hobbit! Then, I noticed that other hobbit straing at me.

I wonder if I should say hi to him or not. Well, should I? Did I? Yes, I did all right! I got out of my seat and went over to the older hobbit. " Hi ", I said to him. " I'm Lithoniel, or Loni for short. What's your name? ". I think I've seen him before.

Yeah, I did! I think I saw him working in a garden.

[samwise]

"Hello Loni, my name is Samwise Gamgee, but you may call me Sam if you'd like, what brings you to theGreen Dragon this time of night by yourself? If you don't minde me asking."

With that said I stop and look back at Loni. She is definitely different for a hobbit, but in a way I find quite pleasant. Her eyes are bright and alive, I can tell she's definitely the curious type. Always looking for answers and adventure. Yes, she's definitely a funny one, but what is she doing here?

[lithoniel]

" Well, I just thought I would go out for the night. What were you doing here? ". This male hobbit seems nice, yeah. Samwise, good name for a kind hobbit. " Wow, the first hobbit who desn't make fun of me. What a miracle! ". My heart now jumps with happiness. Probably he will become my friend. Yeah, the first true friend I have.

Though I do wonder what he was doing here. Probably just out for the night, like me. It looks like that he was here for a different reason though, but what could it be? My mind fills with curiousity, like it always does.

[samwise]

" I'm here with my friends enjoying a drink. Half listeinin to all the idle gossip and such, watching young Peregrin Took and and Meriadoc dancing over there on the table. Just general socializing. That's what I meant by my question, why are you alone, where are your friends? They coming later?"

I know I'm being awful nosey, but the possibilty that this young hobbit lass may have no friends is hard to believe. She's polite for one. And seems to have a nice way with words, why isn't someone keeping her company? Just not right, I caught myself before I shook my head. Just not right though.

[lithoniel]

I don't know how to reply to his question. Can you believe it?! Well, the truth was that, well I had no friends but I didn't want to say that to Sam! I mean, then he'll ask why and then he'll laugh at me because I'm interested in going on adventures and because well, I am friends with the elves. So, I simply lied, and said, " Ummm yes. My friends are arriving later. They're a little late ". Wow, that must be a bad lie. The hobbits around me are probably just whispering stuff about me and how I lied.

Wow, a big deal! So what if I lied? It's just a little white lie, right? It can't hurt. I mean, some hobbits do sometimes lie to others right? Though he will probably not believe the little white lie I made.

[samwise]

What an awful liar! Somehow that only makes her seem sweeter to me, a sweet hobbit like Loni shouldn't lie and shouldn't have a need to. It's plain i've upset her and there I go again, Samwise Gamgee and his big mouth. My curiousity got the best of me again. Still it's plain she has no company and this group is likely to only make her feel uncomfortable, well settled then....

"Alright, well would you mind some company while you wait for your friends? I won't impose once they get here, I'll go then, but in the meantime ya shouldn't be all alone."

[lithoniel]

" No, I don't mind at all ". I'll have to tell the truth sometime. Probably after a while of getting to know Samwise......yeah. " So....let's sit ". I sat at a nearby table. The hobbits around were now going to their normal coversations. At least they stopped talking about me.....or did they?

" Who cares if they talk about me or not? At least I havecompany now ". I looked at Sam and asked, " So what do you do? ".

[Frodo]

Frodo wandered cheerfully into The Green Dragon. Clutching a pipe in one hand and a few coins in the other, he ordered a drink from the bar and looked aroundthe pub. Spying his gardener Sam sitting at a table with a young girl hobbit, he hurriedly rushed over to introduce himself.

"Good evening, Sam! Mind if I join you?" he smiled. "And hello, miss," he added, tkaing a seat. "The name's Frodo." Taking a long draught from his tankard, he looked curiously at this new hobbit. There was something about her that he couldn't quite place, almost as if she wasn't altogether hobbit... Shaking off this feeling, he grinned broadly at her, breathing in the fresh night air and relaxing into his seat.

[lithoniel]

I nodded to the hobbit that joined me and Sam. " Hello Frodo. I am Lithoniel, Loni for short ". He had black curly hair and blue eyes. I think he looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Hey, isn't he a nephew of the famous Bilbo Baggins?

[Frodo]

Frodo smiled more broadly still at the pretty young hobbit. "Hi Loni... Can I get you another drink?" he asked politely. Running a hand throuhg his dark hair, Frodo wondered who this hobbit was. "May I ask, whereabouts are you from? I don't mean to be rude, but you don't look like the hobbits of this part of the Shire! I'm afraid I've never been much further than Bree."

[lithoniel]

"No, it's ok. " I didn't need another drink, as I might get drunk, and that's not good for a young hobbit lass such as myself. Then, I heard his question.

I replied to the hobbit, "I used to live at The Barrow Downs for a while, but I moved to Hobbition. Why I moved to Hobbition, you ask? Why, partly to get away from my sister. She is so... bossy."

Plus, I wanted my own place. Hey, a hobbit has to have his/her own place.

[samwise]

I interupt by choking rather dramatically on my pipe smoke. I take a long time to "recover" so I can get over the shock.

"Excuse me Miss but you didn't say you LIVED at Barrow Downs did you? I was of the impression it was entirely uninhabitable, surely you meant to say you live somewhere on the outskirts of Barrow Downs."

Honestly I don't know what to think, anywhere that's anyplace near the barrow is no place for a hobbit is my opinion. The more this young hobbit talks the more curious she appears. I don't like to believe a lass this sweet would lie but who lives in what is essentially a graveyard?

[lithoniel]

" You heard right, Sam. I lived there ". And what a place that was. Man, the barrow wrights? I've heard stories from them about other hobbits. They said that they killed you or something, but I never saw it happen. Barrow wrights.....what frightening creatures they sounded like. That's another reason why I moved from the Barrow-Downs to Hobbiton.

That place used to give me some nightmares.....but then my mother and father would calm me down and tell me stories about the elves. Now, elves are a wonderful race. They are gifted with immortality.