[piosenniel]

Novnarwen's post - Hedgar & Fippi

The sweat was still running down his forehead. He had never been this productive before. This thought had been inspiring and made him feel even more eager to continue. He had been carving for the last hours, in order to make the little ones happy when they started their new life.

Fippi came running towards Hedgar. The man waved at his son, as he finished the last wooden figure, dropping it into a bag. The old Hobbit tried to follow his son, but had great difficulties running, especially now, when holding the heavy bag in his hand. Luckily, they weren’t that far away from the gates. His son eyes were lit up with excitement. “Ready?” he asked, blinking. Hedgar nodded eagerly as they started their way back down to the gates. The wagons were ready to roll out the Gate as Hedgar and Fippi approached, the father breathing heavily. He shrugged as Rosie came over, complaining about how late he was. She grinned though, as soon as he opened the bag, apparently satisfied by the job Hedgar had done.

Fippi went over to one of the children he had played with at the Inn. The child was no more than 4-5 years. His hair ran down to his ears, which stuck out from his rather round head. The boy’s eyes were lit with a fire, many of the children had shown the last day. Was it hope? Hope of something new and better. Hope of starting a new life… He made a sigh of relief as he discovered Fippi.

Hedgar looked at them for a moment, before coming over as well, lifting the child up. “You’re heavy,” he said and laughed. The child grinned, and looked into Hedgar’s bag, which Fippi now was holding. The boy laid his hands over his mouth, being surprised. He looked at Hedgar before turning again to Fippi. With laughter, he picked something up from the bag, eyes wide open. He laughed again as he held the Horse of wood and called for some other children, standing nearby. "That's yours," Fippi said, "My dad has made it. I've helped him though," he continued. Hedgar smiled at his son. "Yup, we make a great team, sonny," he said, looking at the boy who was admiring the Horse. The Hobbit urged the boy to go and find his other friends. "They should get a horse too," Hedgar told the boy and waved him off.

Moments after the rumour of the Hobbits' horses was spread and Hedgar and Fippi were overwhelmed. In the middle of the crowd of children, the two Hobbits were handing out horses of wood. As soon as they had emptied the bag, the children were off to play with them, first, thanking the two Hobbits. Hedgar was left behind with the empty bag, being stunned. He had never in his wildest dreams imagined that his horses of wood would be that popular. With this thought in mind, he tromped triumphantly over to Rosie, who looked pleased as well.

When their departure was announced, the children hurried climbing up and into the wagons. A handful of the children were holding a Horse each. This especially made Hedgar wave. First gently, then more eagerly, soon almost waving his hands off. “Relax!” Rosie said, taking her husband’s arm. Hedgar looked at her with innocent eyes, not sure what to do. “If you start waving now, you’ll make the rest of us look bad,” she said, laughing. By this, Hedgar understood. He would wait a few minutes before continuing his intense waving. Suddenly he realised, that his eagerness of waving was driven by his feelings. He could finally realise that Big Folk weren’t that bad at all, not even outlaws . . .

For a moment he stood silently watching the children and the others. What on earth had been taking him so long to understand this . . .?