A troubled time (book 1)

Prolouge

A quiet road. A peaceful place. I can't wait to get back to it.

While making my way back from Bree, to fetch some gardening tools as many had been broken, I can't help the grimace on my face nor the limp I now travel with. Not many travelers take this path, which saves me a bit of embarrassment from time to time. But farther down the road, there is most definitely a strange-looking man, an old man by every means, making his way past me.

He carried a stick, one might think to use to walk, though it was a bit too elegant looking for that, and had a long grey beard, with the strangest hat I had ever seen, mind you I have seen that hat before. As we passed, he mumbled oh so quietly, and thank goodness I heard it, "see you this evening." I looked back at him and made a strange face. "I doubt it" I replied and he simply gave off, what sounded like, a forced laugh.

I continued on my way, and, managing to drop off the tools to those who needed them along the way, only having one small shovel left when I got back to the very small and cramped, Baggend.

Now don't get me wrong, this home is lovely, and has a great mass of legroom, but my head was always on the watch for the lights that hung, and in fact, Bilbo often makes me light them. I am simply the slightest bit too tall, and so the tip of the lights ends up level with my forehead.

This isn't an unusual problem, however. This peaceful place is filled with little people, and therefore little homes

I sigh and place the shovel right outside my friend's front door, before walking in.

"You are late again, Akiva," Bilbo shouted, though there was a laugh in his voice.

"Dinning room? Or living area?" I yelled back, as I had no clue where he was. "Honestly, your getting worse, I was in the library, but I don't suppose you would expect that." He chuckled. "Well I simply assumed you were in your normal place, and seeing as how I fell AGAIN on the way back, I was not in the mood to limp all over middle earth looking for you," I replied dryly. He had a great laugh before we decided it was time to have supper. We set off to the kitchen, to prepare the fish Bilbo had spent all day catching.
The last thought on my mind was of that wizard, 'Gandalf what in middle earth are you doing at the shire."

(Hope you like. Word could 338))