Peter Lochlan
Bland Hobbit
Peter Lochlan grew up in a small family. His father and
Mother owned a small farm which they made their living off of selling beans of
various types. Once of age, Peter worked with his parents on Lochlan's Legumes.
He was almost constantly working, and never had time to play with the other
kids. "Come on, Peter! Gandalf has arrived and will be giving out
presents!" The kids would say.
"I'm sorry," Peter replied, "but Mother says
I've got to finish my work before I can go play. If you could, please bring me
a present from Gandalf?" But the kids seemed to already have run off.
That night, after he finished his work and made his way
home, he found a Hobbit his age with red/orange hair sitting asleep outside his
front gate. Peter woke her up with a poke to the forehead and as she opened her
drowsy eye she held out a gift she had been holding. "This is your gift
from Gandalf." Lily said through a giant yawn.
Peter smiled, "Thank you, Lily." Lily acted as if
she had not heard a word Peter said. She stood up slowly from the ground,
stretched her arms out, and gave another giant. Through half closed eyes she
took off down the path towards her home, patting Peter on the head before
leaving.
The gift, when he had time to further inspect it, was a
special notebook. It was filled with blank pages that he could write or draw
on, and after muttering a word the ink would sink into the page and disappear.
He used this to his advantage, writing and drawing about small farming machines
that could help him do his job faster and allow him to play with the other
kids. That was, until his Mother found the book. His lunches would be longer,
or he would go to bed early, allowing him more time to write and draw.
Eventually, his mother caught him with the book, and when she discovered that
he had been wasting time with a blank book she threw it in the fireplace. The
only device he conceived that he had managed to build was a small thing he
called a slingshot.
The rest of Peter's life consisted of little interaction
outside the home and farm. With little outside socializing and his small
physique, his mother secretly decided that his chances of finding a wife were
low, and started to train him on how to be self sufficient. She taught him how
to cook, clean, sew, and other skills that a wife would have brought him.
Eventually, he had out grown his mother's home and got his
own house. He stilled worked on his mother's farm, but now had more freedom.
Occasionally, he had time to go out and meet with the other Hobbits, but they
never seemed to treat him like each other. Everyone treated him like an
outsider except Lily, who ever since a child he had a liking of. Eventually, he
stopped going out and ended up in a routine of waking up, going to work the
farm, making dinner, and going to bed. His free time he would now spend working
on recipes, mainly for himself.
One day, he heard that there was a birthday party being
thrown for Lily. Peter had become so fond of her that he decided that he would come
out of his home and partake in the event. He spent want little money he had on
a gift for her, a small silver cup. He went to work the morning of the party,
using the cup and baking in it a small cake in it, which he frosted and topped
with an exotic cherry. Later, he went to the party with the small perfect cake
in the silver cup and presented it to Lily when she was away from guests.
"Thank you Peter, how sweet of you." She said as
she took the cupcake. Her face lit up with the first bite and turned slightly
red. "This is delicious."
Peter was so proud of himself. The boost of confidence led
him to ask Lily over for dinner one night after the party. "If you like
the cake you'll love some of my other dishes!" he said excitedly.
But the excitement did not last long. The expression on
Lily's face changed to one of embarrassment and her eyes lowered to the ground.
"I'm sorry Peter, I can't go on a date with you. I don't feel that way
about you." she said holding the silver cup and half eaten cake out towards
him.
"But, why not? You said you liked the cake."
"Yes, the cake was very flavorful and sweet, but
you..." she paused, "You're very bland. I'm sorry."
Heartbroken, Peter recomposed himself, taking the cupcake
back and straightening his jacket. He smiled and wished Lily a happy birthday
before turning and leaving. He strode back to his home with a furious pace and
immediately began packing once inside. "Bland you say?! I'll show you
bland! I'll leave Shire and go on an adventure. I'll meet the Elves, Dwarves,
and Lake Men like Bilbo talks about and then who will be bland!"
That night he left with a backpack and a walking stick. He
tacked a small note on his door before leaving.
"Dear whoever may
be looking for me,
It has been brought to
my attention that I have been living a bland life here. To rectify this
problem, I have decided to go on an adventure. Hopefully this will spice up my
life a bit.
Regards,
Peter"
Love
Lilly
How Things Work
Hard Work
Mushrooms
Hate
A Poor Meal
Confrontation
Heights
Parties
