The Unusual Adventures of the Hobbits

Chapter 6: Shopping

     The hobbits tumbled out of the car, gazing around at the large building and all the big people. "Right this way." Danielle said, leading them to the front door. As they walked up, the door slid open on its own, surprising the hobbits. "Its a motion sensor. Whenever someone walks up, it opens for them." Danielle explained with a smile. "Oh, alright then. Makes perfect sense." Sam said, staring at the doors with obvious suspicion.
    
     "I don't think they'll hurt you, Sam." Pippin whispered to his friend. "Yes, but you can never be too careful when encountering magic doors. Do you remember the last time we went through a magic door? Mr. Frodo nearly got eaten!" Sam argued. Pippin's eyes went wide and he nodded silently. "Good point." He said. "Guys, these aren't magic. Its just more technology." Danielle said, looking back at them. The hobbits followed her to an isle filled with brightly colored clothes. "We'll have to go to the children's isle, these clothes will be too big for you." Danielle said, leading them to another isle with smaller clothes.
    
     The hobbits looked around at all the different selections. "Wow! Look at all this red and purple! Everyone here must be royalty!" Sam exclaimed, holding up a dark purple shirt with a girly design on the front. "Oh, that's a girl's shirt. I don't think you'll want to wear that." Danielle noticed, taking the shirt from Sam and folding it, laying it down on its proper place. "Here," she said, walking over to the boy's clothes and picking up a green shirt. "How about this one?" She asked. The hobbits looked at the shirt. It had a picture of four turtle warriors wearing different colored masks and holding weapons. They were standing on two legs, like people, and the words "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were signed across the top in bold orange.
    
     "What in the name of Gandalf is that?!" Asked Merry, staring at the shirt. "Oops, sorry, I forgot you don't know what ninja turtles are." Danielle said, putting the shirt back on the wrack. "Ninja turtles?" Frodo asked, perplexed. "I'll tell you later, for now, let's find you guys something to wear." Danielle said, turning to look at more clothes. The hobbits followed her example and examined the clothes. The shirts had images of what Danielle told them were Batman, Superman, minions, the Avengers, dinosaurs, sharks, wrestlers, and more. "I want this one!" Pippin said, holding up a shirt with the Batman symbol on the front. "It reminds me of Gondor." He added.
    
     Sam found a white shirt with a picture of two potatoes holding hands. He laughed and held it up. "I want this one, if you don't mind." He said. Frodo looked at him and they shared a knowing glance. Merry found a shirt with a night on a white horse. "Look, its like Rohan! It reminds me of Théoden on Snowmane, riding to war on the Pélennor Fields! I want this one!" He exclaimed. Frodo looked around and soon found a grey shirt with a red dragon on it. "Look, its Smaug! Just like in uncle Bilbo's old tales! I'll have this one." He said, showing it to Danielle. "Ok. I like the shirts you guys picked out." Danielle said with a smile. 
    
     "Now what?" Asked Pippin, looking around at everyone walking by. "Now you guys need some new pants." Danielle said, leading them to a section stocked with all kinds of pants. "Here," she said, "how about a pair of shorts and jeans for each of you." She said, buisily removing articles of clothing from the shelf. "May we have one more choice of shirts please?" Merry asked. "Come to think of it, you should. You each go find one more shirt you like." Danielle replied, watching them tenderly.
    
     "Haha! Yes! There are so many other shirts I wanted to get!" Pippin exclaimed. "She said one more, each." Sam said, eyeing Pippin. "I know." Pippin replied innocently. He instantly picked a shirt with little yellow minions on the front. "Look at them, they're so funny looking." Pippin said, shoving the shirt in Merry's face. "Well look at my new shirt." Merry said, pushing Pippin's shirt away and showing him a blue tank top with a shark on the front. Frodo picked a tank top with a picture of the ocean on the front and Sam chose a plain green t-shirt.
    
     "Now, what about some shoes. You can't go around bare foot." Danielle said. The hobbits each looked at each other, then looked down at their feet. "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but hobbits don't wear shoes. The bottoms of our feet have their own leather soles, if you catch my meaning." Sam said. "You never wear any shoes?" Danielle asked. "Never." Pippin answered. "Well, there are some of us that wear shoes, but hobbits rarely wear anything on their feet." Frodo added. Danielle nodded and checked their choices.
    
     "Now you have to make sure they fit you right." Danielle said. "The changing rooms are right this way." She added. The hobbits followed her to an extra crowded part of the store. "I've never seen a store this big." Sam said, leaning back to stare up at the unreachable ceiling. They had to stand in line for several minutes to use the dressing rooms so Danielle used that time to explain to them how to use a zipper and how dressing rooms worked.
     
     "Ok, these children with you?" A grumpy looking lady behind a counter said. Her eyes were dull and her voice was gravelly. "Yes." Danielle answered. Pippin began to speak up to tell the grumpy woman they weren't children but Danielle silenced him with a stern glance. The woman behind the counter grumbled and took out a key, unlocking four doors for them. "I hope you're not trying on anything too, ma'am?" The woman asked, placing her hands on her hips. "No, just my children." Danielle replied.
    
     The hobbits each walked into the room and tried on their clothes. Merry's shorts were too big so they had to get a smaller size. They returned to the dressing room with the new shorts in hand. The woman at the counter was still grumpy. She unlocked another door for them and returned to her seat with a loud grumble. "I need a smoke break." They heard her say. "They fit!" They heard Merry say triumphantly from inside the dressing room. They heard the rustling of clothes and soon Merry emerged in his original outfit. He held the wadded up shorts under his arm.
    
     "Alright then, all set?" Danielle asked. "Yes." Said Merry. They walked to the front of the store where many people were paying for their items. Frodo silently surveyed the different people with great interest. They waited in line for nearly twenty minutes before they were able to check out. "Welcome to life in the big city." Danielle said with a chuckle. "I don't like all this waiting." Pippin said, crossing his arms. "Of course you would say that." Merry said, tapping his foot. "We're up." Danielle said, turning to them suddenly.
    
     Danielle took their clothes and put it on the conveyer belt thing. She took a long rectangular thing and placed it behind their purchases. "What's that for?" Frodo asked, pointing at the rectangle thing. "That's so that the next people's stuff won't get mixed with ours." Danielle explained. "Oh, ok." Frodo said quietly. Danielle turned to the young man at the counter and slid a card through a black square thing. The young man moved the conveyer belt up with the push of a button and bagged their clothes. "Will that be all today, ma'am?" The young man asked. "Yes." Said Danielle.
     
     "Alrighty, here you go and thank you for shopping at Kmart. Have a nice day!" He said with a smile as he handed them their bags. "Thank you. Have a nice day!" Danielle said, taking the bags and leading the hobbits out the door. "Why did you say we were your children?" Asked Pippin as soon as they got into the car. "Because," Danielle said, "I didn't want that woman at the counter asking any questions. For as long as you're here, you will have to pretend to be my children." "Ok, you can count on us, Danielle." Merry said. With that, they drove out of the parking lot and back to the apartment.