Before Our Trip to the Mysterious Light

Bilbo arrived panting on precisely the stroke of eleven. The Company was together again before 11 o'clock and waited a few minutes for Bilbo to come. Balin, Bilbo, and I mounted our ponies and we all rode towards the road out of Bywater.  Not long after we came out of Bywater, Bilbo was constantly searching for things like a handkerchief, a hat to shield his face from the sun, and other little things like that. 

While we were riding, Gandalf returned to the group with the things that Bilbo had searched and searched for. His attitude changed very positively and so did everyone else's. The dwarves were always talking to someone even if they had to move from their spot. We stopped here and there to eat meals. From the look on Bilbo's face, I guessed that he wished we could eat more often, like most hobbits would. We traveled for nearly a month before anything exciting happened.

One day, we stopped in the middle of the night to sleep till dawn. Things got really bad when it started raining. Balin was our look-out guy and he woke us up when he spotted a light in the distance. It looked like fire or lanterns or something. As usual, everyone (except Bilbo and I) started to argue if someone should go and check it out. Oin and Gloin started to get into it and everyone started to pick sides. It rained even harder than before. When I thought would be the perfect time for Gandalf to tell them off, I realized he wasn't there! Bilbo hid his face in his knees. He couldn't stand all the arguing and loud voices. It was getting a little out of hand. So I had to get involved. I stood up and got in the middle of everyone.

"EXCUSE ME!" I yelled. Everyone stopped talking immediately and listened to me.

"Thank you," I continued. "Haven't you realized that Gandalf isn't here? If he were here, I think he would tell you..." 

Someone very rudely interrupted by saying,

"Where's Gandalf when we need him? He would know what to do."

"I was saying?" I said loudly. They stopped talking again and listened more respectively.

"If Gandalf were here, do you not think about what he would say to you? First, I think he would tell you to stop talking so loudly. Second, he would most likely say to consider ALL of the options NOT just the best sounding ones. Thank you." I stepped away from them and let the magic begin. They huddled and nodded to one another. 

Then Balin said to Bilbo and I (everyone else was in the huddle),

"We have come to a decision. And it is that you two will go together to find out what the source of the light is. We will go with you but when we get close enough not to be seen by whoever made the light, you will be on your own." 

Then I got nervous... I didn't say: "Send me! I'll do it!". Typical dwarves. So they put Bilbo and I in the front so they would just stop and we wouldn't even notice that they left us. Then, we walked together towards the mysterious light.