[Child of the 7th Age]

That afternoon, the Green Dragon Inn at Bywater was unusually busy. The Innkeeper was madly dashing around, trying to keep all her customers happy. Two of the folk in the Inn were Frodo Baggins and his cousin Daisy Boffin. Daisy was the daughter of Dudo, who'd been the elder brother of Drogo, Frodo's father who had sadly died in a boating accident. Even though Daisy was technically a cousin, she was a full eighteen years older than Frodo so that he usually called her "Auntie".

Frodo sat across from Auntie, making pleasant conversation and smiling. Yet, all the time, at the back of his mind, he kept wondering why Bilbo had ever set up this engagement for him. Daisy had the remarkable ability to speak for hour upon hour, yet never really say anything. Frodo fidgeted nervously as he listened to the twenty-third recitation of how Bell Goodchild's big dog had escaped from the yard and gone over to dig up Mistress Boffin's flowerbeds. Still, Frodo was known for being an unusually polite hobbit lad, so he would never say anything to hurt Daisy, since she was at heart a kindly lady.

There was something else that puzzled Frodo. His aunt had always been a modest eater, never stuffing herself or being too greedy as hobbits occasionally will. But this afternoon, Daisy's appetite seemed to know no bounds. She'd just finished her third dessert and was looking around the Inn to see if she could find someone to bring her another.

"Excuse me," Frodo leaned over to attract the attention of the server. "Mistress Boffin would like a piece of that seed cake over there." He pointed in the direction of the bar where there sat a luscious looking seed cake that had just been taken out from the ovens. Its sweet aroma was wafting over the entire room.

Auntie Daisy leaned over and whispered something in Frodo's ear. Frodo blushed a bit, but spoke again to the server.

"Actually, she's so hungry that she'd like two large pieces of the cake!"

The Innkeeper arched her eyebrows, but said nothing as she firmly believed in the principle that whatever a guest wanted was alright with her.

Frodo sighed, wondering if he was ever going to get away from the Inn. Bilbo had given him a very long list of chores, and had been quite insistent that he go to the market and do every one, not omitting a single thing on the list. But Frodo was certainly not about to be rude to Daisy. So he leaned back in his chair and ordered another flagon of ale, as his Aunt slowly began working her way through her fourth dessert.

[ January 11, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]