Guest story by Meli
Elanor Gamgee was having a bad day.
First, her stupid baby brother Frodo had torn off the arm of her favorite rag doll. Elly had tried to hit him, but Daddy had picked her up and held her against his chest, and Uncle Frodo had done the same with little Frodo. Mummy had picked up the doll and her arm, and smiled at Elly. "I can fix it, my dear," Mummy said, then took little Fro from Uncle Frodo and went into the kitchen. Uncle Frodo had offered to play 'Spying by Eye' with her, and Daddy had gone back out to work in the garden. Elly had thought that the
day would get better.
She couldn't be more wrong.
After lunch, Elly asked Mummy if they could make some cookies. Mummy agreed, and they mixed up the batter and started baking the dough in batches of twelve. Fro had kept trying to put his grubby hands into the batter, or spit in it, and Elly had been happy when he'd finally wandered back out of the kitchen and left her and Mummy alone. But then Mummy had noticed he was gone, and called Uncle Frodo to come help with the baking while she looked for Fro. Elly had been most unhappy. As much as she loved Uncle Frodo, he wasn't Mummy, and he didn't know just when to pull out the cookies so they looked perfect. Stupid Fro had gotten in the way again.
Elly and Uncle Frodo had finished baking the cookies and let them cool a little while they tried to make a frosting. When the frosting was finished, Elly carefully decorated the cookies, feeling better finally as she looked at how pretty they were. Mummy came back in with Fro, who immediately tried to eat some of the cookies. Elly looked away for half a moment, and when she turned around, Fro had upset the entire tray, and all of the cookie were ruined.
Nobody had even gotten to try them yet.
Even though she knew it was silly, Elly started crying, and ran out of the kitchen. She kept running, out of the door, and out of the yard, then she ran until she reached her special place. Elly flung herself down beside the tall Party Tree and cried until she couldn't cry anymore.
"I hate him!" she yelled to the sky, scaring some of the birds into flight. "He ruins everything! I wish he'd never been born!" Elly broke out into fresh sobs, and cried until her eyes burned and her nose felt like it was the size of a tomato. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and hiccuped, her breath still hitching as she tried to calm down.
A twig snapped, and Uncle Frodo sat down beside her, tugging her into his arms and wiping off her tears with the damp cloth he'd brought with him. Elly sniffled and buried her face in his shoulder when he finished, holding tight around his neck. Uncle Frodo sat rocking her until Elly almost felt like she was asleep, and her tummy grumbled loudly, then he lifted her chin and smiled at her. "Do you want some dinner, Elly-flower?" he asked, and Elly nodded, feeling a little bit better at hearing her nickname. Little Frodo was only Fro, or Frodo-lad, but she was Elly-flower. Uncle Frodo stood and set her down, taking her hand as they walked back up to Bag End.
Mummy had been busy while Elly had cried. Dinner was steaming on the table, and Elly's tummy growled again. There were mushrooms and potatoes, and other lovely things to eat, and Elly could smell cookies, too. Fro
was sitting in his chair, messily eating his potatoes, and he waved at her, getting potato all over himself and Daddy. Elly crinkled her nose and looked away.
When her tummy was so full she was sure she'd never be hungry again, and she'd had seven cookies, Mummy tucked her in and kissed her forehead. Daddy brought in Fro to say goodnight, but Elly was missing the comfortable feel of her doll in her arms and turned away. Uncle Frodo came in and told her a story, then kissed her cheek and turned to leave. Then he stopped, and sat again by her bed. "Elly-flower, I know you're angry at Fro. But he's little, and he doesn't know any better. And Elly, he loves you, and he's trying to tell you that in the only ways he can think of."
"But he ruined my doll! And my cookies!"
Uncle Frodo gave her another hug, and stood, moving towards the door. "He won't always, Elly-flower, and he isn't the only one who ruined things." He blew out the candle gently, and shut the door. Elly lay in the dark, missing her doll, and thought about what Uncle Frodo had said. She fell asleep with her head still thinking.
She smelled pancakes when she woke up, and bounced out of bed, hurrying to the table. At her place, her doll lay fixed, with an extra set of clothes beside her. There was also a drawing that Elly recognised as one of Fro's. It showed two figures, one with yellow hair, standing together in front of a tree. There was a red spot between them that Elly realised was a heart. Elly touched the drawing carefully, and felt her eyes fill with tears again. Fro was sitting in his chair, happily gurgling, and she reached over and hugged him. Maybe he did kind of mess everything up, but he was her brother, and Elly did love him.
Fro clapped his hands and spit in her hair. Elly opened her mouth to shriek, then bit her lip. He was little. He would learn. Mummy washed her hair that morning, and started to teach her how to sew doll clothes for herself. Elly decided today would be a good day, and didn't even complain when she poked herself with the needle eight times.
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