15. Better to Give than to Receive
"Pippin looks sad today," Aragorn remarked.
"It is his birthday and it distresses him that he has no gifts to share," Frodo replied.
Boromir looked puzzled. "But one receives gifts on one's birthday, not gives them away!"
"You still have a lot to learn concerning Hobbits." Aragorn laughed. "Maybe we can lift his spirits? Since we can go no further until nightfall, I will tell Pippin to rest now."
When the youngest Hobbit awoke he found a pile of gifts at his side, a whistle carved by Aragorn, a few mushrooms gathered by Frodo and Sam, an ivory button from Boromir, a polished stone from Gimli and a handful of berries from Merry and Legolas. Gandalf blew smoke rings from his pipe, which spelled out a birthday message. "Many happy returns, Pippin!" the others cried.
Pippin smiled at his friends and distributed the gifts amongst them. Hobbit honour was satisfied.
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
