Merry and I raced each other down the hill. I tripped him, laughing. It backfired though, because he grabbed my legs as he went down, bringing me with him.

We tumbled down the grass until we reached the bottom. We stood up and brushed our selves off. Laughing, we headed towards the party preparations.

Today was Bilbo Baggins' 111th birthday, and the entire Shire was working hard to make it special. As Merry and I walked by, a few hobbits lifted a sign high:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILBO

BAGGINS

Merry pulled an apple out of a basket a hobbit was carrying and took a bite. Our feet swept the green grass as we walked to Bag End to visit Bilbo.

The gate read:

NO ADMITTANCE

exception party business

When we knocked on the door, Bilbo yelled from inside:

" No thank you! We don't want any visitors, well-wishers, or distant relations!"

"Mmm...ok," I replied through the door and Merry and I turned to leave.

The Shire really was working hard to get the party together.

Tonight was going to be a night to remember.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Gandalf chuckled as he ran off with 3 more fireworks.

Merry slapped me from outside the tent. I rushed out and, with a boost from Merry, crawled into Gandalf's cart which held all his fireworks.

Merry glanced over his shoulder to find Gandalf lighting a firework that sent yellow butterflies everywhere for the hobbit children.

I held one up.

"No, no, the big one. Big one!" Merry instructed.

I lifted up a red dragon head. Merry gasped in excitement. I leaped down and ran into the tent as Merry took another bite of another apple.

In the tent I lit the fuse. "Done!" I pushed it to Merry.

"You're supposed to stick it in the ground!" He pushed it back to me.

"It is in the ground!" I returned it to him, the fuse getting shorter and shorter.

"Outside!" Merry pushed.

"It was your idea!" I cried and tried to give it back to him, but the firework shot into the air, taking the tent with it, and blackening our faces and knocking us to the ground.

The firework became a spectacular dragon, and it swooped down over everyone's heads and exploded over a lake.

"That was good." Merry stood up, impressed.

I nodded, standing as well. "Let's get another one."

When someone walked up behind us and pulled our ears.

It was Gandalf. "Meriadoc Brandybuck," he turned his head to me, "and Peregrin Took. I might've known."

And for the rest of the night Merry and I were punished by washing all the dishes for the rest of the night.

Oh well.

"Speech! Bilbo, speech!" Many hobbits cheered as Bilbo stepped up onto a barrel.

"My dear Bagginses and Boffins!" He began. "Tooks and Brandybucks! Grubbs!" More cheers. "Chubbs!" Cheers. "Hornblowers!" Cheers. "Bolgers!" Cheers. "Bracegirdles!" Cheers. "And Proudfoots!"

"Proudfeet!" Someone called back indignantly. Bilbo waved them dismissively.

"Today is my one hundredth and eleventh birthday!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone coursed.

"But alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits." Bilbo continued. "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Everyone looked around confusedly.

"I ha-have things to do," bilbo took something from his pocket. "I regret to announce that this is the end. I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye."

Bilbo vanished. Everyone gasped and immediately went into a panic. Gandalf leaped up and ran off. Merry and I looked at each other and ran off.

We stopped to catch our breath by the wine barrels.

"What's happened?" I asked Merry.

"I don't know, Pip," Merry said. "But something's going on. And I want to know what it is."

---------------------------------------------

Hello! This is my first LotR book on Wattpad. I may or may not write a book with my own characters in Tolkien's story, but I guess time will tell.