The Feast

There were many elvish-looking people there and they were all dressed in different greens and browns. They were sitting in a big circle and a fire was in the very middle. They were eating, drinking, and laughing very merrily. The smell of all the food was so tempting but I still stayed where I was. Soon I found myself, by myself, watching the dwarves and Bilbo walk to where the people were.

"Wait!" I whispered to them and the torches and fire pit went out magically. They were lost and walked with their hands in front of them. They crashed into each other and into several trees. 

"Good thing I didn't move," I thought to myself while I watched chaos happen before my eyes. I stood up calmly and told them to freeze. 

"Just sit down where you are and we'll figure this out later," I shouted. I didn't know how far everyone was from each other. Little did I know that they were all in the circle huddled together... hey, it was pretty dark that night. We had not been lying down for very long and I was barely getting sleepy.

Then Dori whispered loudly,

"The lights are back and there are more than the last time." The dwarves jumped up from their spots and looked around. Bilbo stood up but I felt like giving up the search of this banquet. I wanted to go find the road instead and go to sleep. They convinced me to go with them and we crept towards the twinkling lights. We went in a single file line and I was leading. Bilbo went behind me and all the others mushed in behind him. Bilbo and I went as quietly as we possibly could with the others stomping behind us. 

When we got closer Thorin explained,

"This time, do not rush forward! No one move from hiding until I say so! I'm going to send Mr. Baggins first so he can talk to them. They wouldn't be scared of him if he appeared in front of them."

"What if I'm scared of them?" he whispered as he leaned up to me. I looked back at him and smiled. 

"I hope they won't do anything horrible to him in the end," Thorin continued. When we came to the edge of the circle of lights, the dwarves pushed Bilbo out into the open. I hit my hand against my head in shame of the dwarves. They pushed him before he had time to slip on the ring or it would have worked. As soon as he stumbled into the circle, the lights went out again. It was probably difficult the last time but it was far more this time. Everytime we would count each other, it would only come out to fourteen. We couldn't find Bilbo anywhere. They kept on calling for him and there was no answer; it was very frustrating. Finally, when we were just about to give up, Dori fell over him thinking that Bilbo was a log. Bilbo was fast asleep and they shook him for a few minutes to wake him up. 

"I was having the best dream... I was eating the most delicious dinner that I could ever imagine," he sighed.

"Ugh! Great, he's gone having dream-dinners like Bombur," some said. 

"Don't tell us about them if they are dreams. Imaginary dinners aren't any good to the rest of us because you can't share them," the rest added.

"Well in these circumstances, it's the best and closest thing to dinner I can get at this point," he mumbled to himself. He laid down next to the dwarves trying to dream about his dinner again. But that was not the last time we saw those lights. We all laid down to try to go to sleep but I couldn't even close my eyes. I wasn't tired; I was thinking about what would be happening soon. I kept on getting shivers down my spine. I was getting colder by the minute. I was completely shivering all the time, from head to toes. Kili, who was the watchman, came and woke everyone up. 

"The lights came back on and they are not very far away. There are hundreds of torches and fires. And listen to that wonderful singing and harp playing!" he said. I sat up and looked around. Everyone was lying down and listening to the music and songs. I was hoping they would settle for listening to them, but my hopes were crushed. They couldn't resist the temptation; they said they had to go try again. I was at the back of the line, trudging behind everyone. My hunger had gone away and I felt like I was being drained of what energy I had left. 

The feast was bigger and better than the last time we had seen it. A king sat at the end of the feasting table and he wore the same crown Bombur had described. There were more elves than the last times. Their hair gleamed in the fire's light and was decorated with flowers. Green and white gems sparkled on their collars and belts. They were passing bowls of food to each other. Many were singing and some were playing harps. Their voices were loud and clear and full of joy. They were laughing and talking very merrily. Thorin was in front of the line and walked to the middle of the circle. There was silence and the torches went out again for the third time that night. The fires were put out and they turned into black smoke. We were left in the dark again. I looked around and everyone was gone. I was calling their names over and over again but no one answered me.