Here are some drabbles about the hobbits (Frodo Sam Merry Pippin Rosie and maybe Bilbo) that I wrote when I was bored. I may use double drabbles here and there, maybe triples.
1. Friends
Their friendship group sort of started by chance. Merry and Pippin had been inseperable for about two years. Sam had been working for Frodo for eight months. Rosie had just moved to the hole next to Pippin’s. But then one day while Merry and Pippin were visiting Frodo and Sam was working outside, Rosie walked by, and the five realized they all had some connection to one another. They started hanging out.
And then they never stopped.
2. Crush
First she was his friend. Then she was his good friend. Then suddenly Rosie Cotton is the most gorgeous girl in the world and she is all Sam ever thinks about. Wherever he goes, she’s on his mind. Every time he sees her his heart pounds like crazy and he forgets how to breathe. Then one day, he works up the courage to ask her out. The boys who follow her around are furious. Nobody can quite believe it when she says yes. But she does.
3. Book
Bilbo started the book when he was sixty – ten years after his adventure. He took Frodo in when he was twelve – to young to care much about writing – but about five years later the boy took an interest in it, and so Bilbo got an editor while Frodo got an education. They loved it. Neither wanted to finish it. And so, one day, Frodo tells him that they will always have to have adventures so the book will never end.
4. Hugs
Elves don’t believe, or engage, in physical affection the way humans do. No hugging, no hand-holding, very little kissing. But Legolas still thinks it’s sweet how every morning, Pippin throws his little arms around each member of the fellowship in turn, whether they say they want it or not. Secretly though, none of them mind, because Pippin’s the sort of person no one can help but love.
5. Apples
Merry loves apples. Estella Bolger has the most bontiful tree in the Shire. Merry has a crush on Estella. She’s Rosie’s best friend, so Merry begs Rosie day in and day out to convince Estella to sell him a basket of apples. But Rosie laughs and walk away. Finally he hurtles the fence to the Bolger’s yard, shimmies up the branches, and picks one. He’s halfway through it, when he realizes those are crabapples, and at that, extremely sour crabapples. And he can hear Rosie and Estella laughing at him from the ground below.
6. Sleep
Aragorn, Gandalf, and Boromir sleep like normal people. Legolas wanders around with his eyes open, in Elvish dreams. Gimli almost always stays up at night, watching. But the hobbits are always together. Sometimes they grab all their blankets and make a little nest to sink down into. Sometimes they push their “beds” together. Sometimes Pippin sprawls all over the place, with his skinny arms around Merry’s neck, and sometimes Frodo falls asleep with his head in Sam’s lap. But they’re always close to each other. Boromir finds it ridiculous. Aragorn thinks it’s the cutest thing in the world, but of course he doesn’t say so.
7. Troll Tales
“…and that, Master Took, is how I killed a troll.” Bilbo sits back, puffing his pipe, while Pippin stares at him. He’s only fifteen, so the thought of a troll terrifies him. He admired Bilbo before, now he is in awe of him. This is incredible. He skips out the gate, runs to find Merry, to tell him every detail.
“You shouldn’t elaborate so, Uncle,” Frodo scolds, because he’s heard the real story – the one where Gandalf killed the trolls. Bilbo shrugs, amused, and turns back to his work.
8. Relatives
One night while they’re all bundled in their blankets, Pippin realizes Sam is not related to the rest of them. In his mind, this counts as a crisis, so he shakes them all awake. “Why isn’t Sam our cousin?” he asks Merry.
Merry rubs sleep from his eyes and says, “because, he’s not related to us.”
“Why not?”
“People can’t choose who they’re related to,” Sam says.
Pippin thinks for a minute. Then he asks Merry,
“If he were Frodo’s brother, he’d be our cousin, right?”
Sam doesn’t know what he should say. Merry smiles a little and says that yes, that would make them all relatives.
“Okay.” Pippin snuggles back down into his blanket. “From now on, you two are brothers.” His worries set at ease, he falls back asleep. Merry does likewise.
Frodo reaches out in the darkness and tangles his fingers through Sam’s. “Just so you know, I am completely okay with that,” he says.
Sam gives his hand a squeeze. “Me, too.”
9. Flowers and Romance
Rosie loves flowers. That’s partly why she loves Sam, but also it’s because of his smile, his loyalty, his singing, the way that he can make everything seem alright just by looking at you. And his hopefulness. She twirls the last rose he gave her before he disappeared. They say he’s not coming back. She doesn’t believe it. She can’t. As long as she’s alive, she’ll have to believe he is too, because the thought of living without him is just too unbearable.
10. Snacks
Merry and Pippin are the worst trouble makers in the Shire. Rosie always has to check under the windowsill before she sets a pie or a tray of cookies there, because often two hungry little hobbits will be crouched beneath it, lying in wait for a free snack.
11. Green Dragon
They always gather at the inn on weekends, and sometimes on weekdays, too. Rosie works there. Bilbo sits by the fire reliving his adventures to anyone who cares to listen. Merry and Pippin run around snitching what they can while they wait for their food to arrive. Sam and Frodo watch their friends, chat a bit, and when the two rascals come back, the four of them reflect on how lucky they are to live a stone’s throw from their favorite place. They’ll hold on to these memories when they’re out in the wild, when laughter is rare and evil surrounds them. They’ll miss this, once they have heard of Mordor. Once Frodo has recieved the Ring.
12. Cry
Sam can’t stand to watch to watch Frodo hold in the tears. He’s been through so much. They both have. And there’s no one to hear him, so why not let it out? No one to hear except Sam. And he knows from experience that holding back sobs is one of the worst things you can do when you’re hurting. Finally one night Frodo lies down and turns away from him, burying his face in his hands to try to muffle the cries he can’t hold in anymore, and Sam finally does what he’s been wanting to do for days. He grabs Frodo, pulls him into his arms, and holds him tight. Frodo clings to him, weeping, and all the while Sam caresses his hair and cradles him close, whispering, “go ahead and cry.”
And somehow those words are the only thing Frodo needs to hear.
13. The Memories of the Fallen
Bilbo remembers Thorin, Fili, and Kili. Hardly a day passes without some memory of them floating into his mind. They died fighting for their home, for all that was rightfully theirs, but they also died for their friends. And that meant for him. Bilbo figured that remembering them was the best way to honor them. So he made himself write something about them, or read one of his past entries, whenever he could. And now he tells their stories to everyone who wants listen – and to some people who don’t. But he also lives, lives the life Thorin had to told him to enjoy, to fulfill. Even though they are no longer part of it.
14. First Kiss
The first time Rosie kissed Sam was at Bilbo’s party.
Right after Mr. Baggins disappeared, there was so much confusion that they were able to slip away unnoticed, into the woods bordering the party field. She had been waiting for weeks, wondering if he’d kiss her, before finally realizing he was way too shy for that sort of thing. She had resolved to take matters into her own hands. So once they were a good hundred yards into the woods, she pushed him up against a tree and kissed him. He only hesitated a second before kissing her back.
After that, he wasn’t so shy around her anymore.
15. Palantir
Pippin is daring, crazy, and even reckless. Combine that with the fact that he’s a Took, a curious “tween”, and mischief is bound to come. Merry’s seen him get scraped knees and bruises from his adventures, from meddling into things he shouldn’t have…
…but never in his life has he seen Pippin like this, lying on his back so pale and cold, the black-and-red stone lying where it fell beside his hand. Merry realizes he’s screaming, shaking Pippin and screaming for him to wake up. Gandalf places a hand on the hobbit’s brow and chants some words. Pippin comes to. He’ll be okay. But that night, Merry can’t help but cry, thinking about what could have happened, and knowing that tomorrow Pippin will be going to Minas Tirith. Beyond his reach.
16. Frodo’s Cooking
Merry and Pippin sleep over at Bag End a lot, which is nice, because they love spending time with their cousin. Usually Sam comes too, but tonight he’s out on a date with Rosie, so he won’t arrive until after supper. This is bad because neither Frodo, Merry, or Pippin know how to cook. Finally Frodo marches into the kitchen and attempts to whip something up, hoping he’ll be able to cook and clean up before Sam gets here.
Two hours later Sam walks in to find that Frodo has succesfully given both of his cousins food poisoning, nearly singed his hands off, and worst of all, they’re all still hungry.
He makes supper for them, but he can’t stop laughing at the miserable looks on their faces and the charred disaster that was Frodo’s cooking.
16. Elvish Lessons
Bilbo starts teaching Frodo Quenya and Sindarian when the lad is only twenty. He picks it up instantly.
“You’re a smart boy, Frodo,” Bilbo tells him as he watches his nephew churn out sentences in his smooth, flowing hand. Frodo smiles, his face lighting up like a star, the way it always does when Bilbo praises him.
17. Eyes
Merry’s eyes are grey, constantly watching over Pippin, keeping him safe and making sure he’s not getting into trouble.
Pippin’s are grey too, but lighter than Merry’s, always on the lookout for mischief and food.
Sam’s eyes are hazel, and so deep you can’t help but wonder if by looking too long, you could drown yourself in that warm gaze.
Frodo is one of the only hobbits with blue eyes. But not just any blue eyes – the most enormous, piercing, beautiful blue eyes in not only the Shire, but possibly the whole world. His stare can freeze you or make you melt. But when he laughs, those eyes sparkle, and everyone stops to watch.
18. Cirith Ungol
In the top of the tower, the lower stories of which are filled with dead orcs, Sam finds Frodo lying curled up on the floor. He’s bruised, bleeding, stripped to the waist, and clearly very dehydrated. He also looks like he’s about to pass out any second. Sam rushes to his side and turns him over gently. Frodo looks up at him. “Sam?” he whispers through parched, bleeding lips. “Am I still dreaming?” Sam’s eyes fill with tears.
“No Mr. Frodo, it’s real. It’s me. I’m here.”He kisses him on the forehead. “I’m here.”
The two pull each other into an embrace of blood and joy and pain and friendship and tears and tenderness. And then Frodo lies back in Sam’s arms and falls asleep, while Sam holds him feeling an overwhelming sense of relief at finding him. Though they’re in Mordor, this is the happiest he has felt on the whole journey.
And Frodo is at peace, because he knows he’ll be safe in Sam’s arms.
19. Watching Death
Boromir was wounded right before Merry and Pippin’s eyes. They charged at his attacker, but were carried off by the Uruk Hai – right before the warrior was killed. While the orcs are holding them captive, Merry covers Pippin’s eyes every time the beasts kill one of their own. During the attack on Isengard, the orcs were all washed away bloodlessly.
While he’s in Gondor, Pippin witnesses a battle. Gandalf is there, but so are orcs, hundreds of orcs. And one of them is getting dangerously close to the wizard. Pippin draws his sword and stabs it in the gut. And the he realizes that the first time he saw death up close, he was the one to bring it about.
And there’s no Merry to cover his eyes.
20. Council
“Why should we allow you to accompany the Ringbearer?” Elrond asks. “Have you skill in battle?”
Merry, Pippin, and Sam glance at each other and shake their heads. “No.”
“Knowledge of survival in the wild, then?”
“No.”
“Wisdom in battle strategy?”
“No.”
“Then why should we send you?”
Sam answers for all of them. “Because we’re his friends, and we love him, and hobbits stick together.”
Elrond lets them go.
21. Girlfriends
Pearl and Marigold are Pippin and Sam’s sisters. They hang out with Rosie a lot. Frodo has pretended to have a crush on all three of those girls at some point or another. He doesn’t really love any of them, but everyone else has a girlfriend, so he feels like he should, too. But then Sam starts going out with Rosie, and Pearl starts going out with Fredegar Bolger. So there’s only Marigold left. And then Frodo realizes if he married Marigold, he’d be Sam’s brother for real. But Marigold has resolved to stay single and raise cats.
Sam hugs Frodo and tells him they’re brothers whether or not they were born that way, and he doesn’t need to go out with Marigold to make that official. And Frodo decides to give up on the whole girlfriend thing.
22. Nightmares
Nights in Gondor are tough. The Ring’s been destroyed, true, but Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam are suffering, and it will be a while till they can go home. Each of them has woken up screaming from nightmares, because each of them have seen things nobody should.
They were each given their own bed. But the beds are human sized – and enormous, even for a human. Certainly big enough for four weary, frigthened, broken hobbits. So they all just sleep in Frodo’s bed, and throughout the night when they wake up screaming, they hold each other and remember that there is still goodness in the world, that there is still friendship, that there is still each other. And that’s how they stay sane in those agonizing, sleepless nights.
23. River
Merry likes to swim, and he’s teaching Pippin. Sam’s terrified by the thought. Rosie loves it. Frodo stays on land, not because he has anything against swimming, but because he has so much against water.
His parents died by drowning, after all.
24. Poetry
Bilbo recites songs he has composed – all the time. Frodo likes to listen to the songs, but even better than that, he liked to lean against the door and listen to Sam singing them while he works. Because when Sam sings, you sort of forget that the world exists.
25. Grey Havens
Bilbo is already on board the ship. Rosie is waiting at home for Sam.
Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are standing on the dock staring at each other.
These are cousins, best friends, people who have been to the end of the world and back together, and who are now about to say goodbye. Frodo has been hurt beyond repair. He can’t stay. To stay is to suffer for eternity, and really, thirteen months of Ring-bearing was enough for him.
He hugs Merry first. Merry, who is so bright, so loving, who sees the good in the world, who Frodo will miss. Merry’s tears fall freely. He doesn’t want his cousin to leave. Softly, Frodo murmus, “I love you, Merry.” And then he lets him go and turns to Pippin.
Pippin’s sobbing. He squeezes Frodo so tight that neither of them can breathe. Frodo smiles sadly as he hugs Pippin, Pippin, who is so young, so curious. Who Frdoo got to watch grow up on the journey. Who he will never get to finish watching grow up. “I love you, Pippin,” Frodo whispers. Pippin chokes with tears as they release each other.
Then Frodo turns towards Sam. They can’t say anything. They run to each other and embrace like the world is about to fall. Sam’s tears spill onto Frodo’s already soaked shoulder. And all Frodo can think about is how unfair this is, that he destroyed the Ring, but at the same time it destroyed him, and now he’s losing Sam. But Sam was a Ringbearer, too, if only for a little while. Some day he can follow. And that hope is the only thing that can make Frodo let go. But it’s not enough. He takes Sam’s face into his hands, stands on his toes, and kisses his forehead. Sam shuts his eyes tight, knowing that soon this is only going to be a memory, and trying to freeze this moment, the touch of Frodo’s hands on his face, the feeling of this final kiss, the knowledge that it will be many years before they meet again. Slowly, Frodo lets Sam go. He steps back a few feet. “I love you, Sam,” he says softly, and he turns and boards the ship.
Just before it sails, Frodo turns and faces his friends. They are all crying. Merry’s arm is around Pippin’s shoulder. Sam holds the Red Book, which Frodo entrusted to him. Frodo can already feel the pain in his heart slipping away. He smiles at the people he loves more than anyone in the world he is about to leave. And they manage to smile back. The ship departs, and finally, Frodo is at peace.
Sam turns around before leaving the harbor. His eyes lock onto Frodo’s, sparkling across the sea. Just before the ship passes into the west, through the curtain of Silver Glass, a thought passes between them.
“You and I will meet again.”
And then Frodo fades rom view, and Sam turns, takes a dep breath, and begins the journey home.
Middle Hyrule 