AN AMAZING PLAN by Erulisse (one L)
Mar. 9th, 2019 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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b2memB2MeM Prompt, Card and Number:B7: fox (30-red), devotion (35-blue), mazes and labyrinths (103-horror), sword and shield (183-story elements)
Format: Ficlet
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: General hobbits
Creator’s Notes (optional):Not all mazes and labyrinths are things of horror. Here’s a light-hearted story set long after the adventures of our favorite hobbits.
Summary:Farmer Smallbottle is designing for the future, as a farmer always must.
AN AMAZING PLAN
Every winter season, while the fields were fallow, Farmer Smallbottle sat at his kitchen table while life continued around him. His wife, Lily, cooked, baked, and helped keep the children from bothering their father too much. (Although, to be fair, he really didn't mind having the children on his lap, telling them tales of the famous hobbits who had lived in the Shire long before).
Around him were scattered papers, pencils and straight-edged wood pieces to assist his drawings; and in a treasured book on a back shelf behind him, often pulled down to be checked and double-checked, were the plans from prior years. "Plans?" you might ask, when looking in on this homely scene in a hobbit's kitchen. Yes, plans indeed. You see, Farmer Smallbottle was famous for his crop mazes - labyrinths that came to full life in the fall just before harvest season. Hobbits would travel from near and far to spend a day at and wandering through the Smallbottle Autumn Maze.
For him, it was an act of devotion. He was raised on the stories and tales of Frodo and Samwise and, of course, Bilbo, and had wanted to be just like them when he grew up. As he matured, however, he recognized that Great Adventures were never to be his. He also realized that his dreams were shared by other young hobbits throughout the Shire. He had his land, his crops, and his family, and loved them all very much, but his dreams of Adventure wouldn't leave him. Finally, he decided to make something that would celebrate Hobbit history as well as entertain - a maze.
His labyrinthine mazes were now famous. They were designed to take the hobbits, both large and small, through parts of the Great Adventure. In years past he had featured segments of the hobbit’s journey including the segment from the Shire to Bree and to Weathertop, ending with the shelter of the long-lost Elven home in the very center. Other times he had startled both children and adults with the journey through Moria, ending at the Golden Wood. His mazes featured both false trails and sweet rewards. This year he planned to feature some of Bilbo’s journey to the Lonely Mountain and put a dragon in the center.
What had started out small years before was now a large event that had become well-known throughout the Shire. When families and other visitors arrived in the fall they would find gourds to carve, wooden swords and shields to play with (and purchase if they wanted), pies, cakes and puddings to bring home, and apples by the bushel from a nearby grove. The children would grab their wooden weaponry and enter the maze, ready to "Fight for the Shire" while their parents would either join them in their wander through the passages, or sit with the other adults catching up on the gossip, and drinking glasses of potent cider. He kept the maze open for twenty days and it was one of the most popular events of the harvest season.
Today, Farmer Smallbottle rolled up his papers, put on his coat and scarf, and walked out with his oldest son at his side. They headed toward the fields, watched by bright eyed birds and a curious fox. "I think I’ll put the entrance there," he said, pointing to a spot near the southwestern corner.
Kneeling, he unrolled the plans. "What do you think of this design, Tommy-lad?" The two hobbits put their heads together and Tommy suggested a few small changes, most of which were excellent ideas which Farmer Smallbottle noted in the margins. He would make the official changes to the plans later that night after the evening meal.
As they stood to return to their cozy hole, his son said, "It's going to be the best maze ever, Da."
He reached over and ruffled Tommy’s hair affectionately. "You know? I think you may be right, my boy. Well, let's head back home and see what your Mother's been up to, shall we?"
Format: Ficlet
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Characters: General hobbits
Creator’s Notes (optional):Not all mazes and labyrinths are things of horror. Here’s a light-hearted story set long after the adventures of our favorite hobbits.
Summary:Farmer Smallbottle is designing for the future, as a farmer always must.
AN AMAZING PLAN
Every winter season, while the fields were fallow, Farmer Smallbottle sat at his kitchen table while life continued around him. His wife, Lily, cooked, baked, and helped keep the children from bothering their father too much. (Although, to be fair, he really didn't mind having the children on his lap, telling them tales of the famous hobbits who had lived in the Shire long before).
Around him were scattered papers, pencils and straight-edged wood pieces to assist his drawings; and in a treasured book on a back shelf behind him, often pulled down to be checked and double-checked, were the plans from prior years. "Plans?" you might ask, when looking in on this homely scene in a hobbit's kitchen. Yes, plans indeed. You see, Farmer Smallbottle was famous for his crop mazes - labyrinths that came to full life in the fall just before harvest season. Hobbits would travel from near and far to spend a day at and wandering through the Smallbottle Autumn Maze.
For him, it was an act of devotion. He was raised on the stories and tales of Frodo and Samwise and, of course, Bilbo, and had wanted to be just like them when he grew up. As he matured, however, he recognized that Great Adventures were never to be his. He also realized that his dreams were shared by other young hobbits throughout the Shire. He had his land, his crops, and his family, and loved them all very much, but his dreams of Adventure wouldn't leave him. Finally, he decided to make something that would celebrate Hobbit history as well as entertain - a maze.
His labyrinthine mazes were now famous. They were designed to take the hobbits, both large and small, through parts of the Great Adventure. In years past he had featured segments of the hobbit’s journey including the segment from the Shire to Bree and to Weathertop, ending with the shelter of the long-lost Elven home in the very center. Other times he had startled both children and adults with the journey through Moria, ending at the Golden Wood. His mazes featured both false trails and sweet rewards. This year he planned to feature some of Bilbo’s journey to the Lonely Mountain and put a dragon in the center.
What had started out small years before was now a large event that had become well-known throughout the Shire. When families and other visitors arrived in the fall they would find gourds to carve, wooden swords and shields to play with (and purchase if they wanted), pies, cakes and puddings to bring home, and apples by the bushel from a nearby grove. The children would grab their wooden weaponry and enter the maze, ready to "Fight for the Shire" while their parents would either join them in their wander through the passages, or sit with the other adults catching up on the gossip, and drinking glasses of potent cider. He kept the maze open for twenty days and it was one of the most popular events of the harvest season.
Today, Farmer Smallbottle rolled up his papers, put on his coat and scarf, and walked out with his oldest son at his side. They headed toward the fields, watched by bright eyed birds and a curious fox. "I think I’ll put the entrance there," he said, pointing to a spot near the southwestern corner.
Kneeling, he unrolled the plans. "What do you think of this design, Tommy-lad?" The two hobbits put their heads together and Tommy suggested a few small changes, most of which were excellent ideas which Farmer Smallbottle noted in the margins. He would make the official changes to the plans later that night after the evening meal.
As they stood to return to their cozy hole, his son said, "It's going to be the best maze ever, Da."
He reached over and ruffled Tommy’s hair affectionately. "You know? I think you may be right, my boy. Well, let's head back home and see what your Mother's been up to, shall we?"
no subject
Date: 2019-03-11 03:06 pm (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)