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Ever since Bilbo woke up he felt something was amiss. It was something he couldn’t really explain. Nonetheless, he continued on with his daily business, which contained tidying up his home, making breakfast, planning where on his map of the Shire to hike, reading, and second breakfast. And last but not least having a smoke.Bilbo got settled onto his spot on the bench and got somewhat comfy in it, the wind was blowing quite odd today. Still, he got out his pipeweed and blew a couple of smoke rings for a few minutes. He put away his pipeweed and stood up about to head inside when he thought he heard something strange. Something he hadn’t heard anywhere, or at least anywhere in the Shire. He saw nothing out of place nearby, his garden appeared to be in the same condition as it had been these last few weeks, the trees among the shire danced slightly in the wind like they usually do. He could tell, no, feel that something wasn’t right. Yet, he couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked up as drops of rain fell upon his face. It was raining? It was a beautiful sunny day just a few minutes ago! Then again, the weather has been changing quite quickly these past few days. Dark, ominous rain clouds were moving in quickly from the north.Bilbo shivered, wrapping his arms around himself to keep himself warm as the winds picked up. He turned on his heels and headed back inside, having no doubt that he did not want to get caught up in the path of whatever storm that was on its way. He brewed a cup of hot tea and made himself comfortable in front of the fire. He sipped his tea, thinking of all the strange things that had happened in the last few weeks as the downpour of rain became background noise.Firstly, most of his plants in his garden had wilted without explanation! Poor things.Then there were the strange sounds that could sometimes be heard at night, like a distorted howl, or sudden scratches at your door followed by unexplained tapping at your window.And a sickness that a few unlucky hobbits seemed to catch, (though it was mostly the older hobbits catching it) making them feel very light headed to the point where it could cause them bloody noses. It also makes it hard for them to hear, so you basically had to yell to get their attention. And it made them feel weak, sometimes leaving them bedridden for days.
Lastly, Bilbo seemed to notice that there was a constant chill in the air, even though it was late-spring, and the fact that it seemed that all the animals had suddenly up and left the Shire! Very strange indeed…Bilbo’s train of thoughts was derailed as a knock was issued on his door. He jumped to his feet and hurried towards the door, not wanting to cause the fellow at his door to catch a cold. He opened the door to find a very old man dressed in a gray cloak and a tall hat. He was leaning on a big stick as he stared at Bilbo with ancient eyes. Bilbo quickly stepped aside for the man to enter.“I’m terribly sorry. Let me grab you a towel to dry off!” Bilbo said as he closed the door.“No, no. That won’t be necessary, I’m sure I won’t be long.” The man dismissed.“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to catch-”“Yes! I’m quite sure. Now if I can get to the point of my visiting. Bilbo Baggins.”“I- Sorry. Do I know you?”“You may not know me. But you may know my name. It’s Gandalf! Gandalf the Grey!”“Gandalf- Not Gandalf the wizard who makes such wonderful fireworks!” Bilbo laughed, “They were always the talk of the town! Are you still in business?”“Yes, yes. But never mind that. I haven’t came to talk about my fireworks. I have more pressing matters to talk about.”Bilbo walked into his living room and sat on his sofa with Gandalf trailing behind. “And that is?” Bilbo asked, sinking into the seat.“I am talking about a quest-”“A quest!”“Yes! A quest. Now please wait until I finish before you start to speak.”Bilbo remained silent.“Now then. I am part of a company of twelve dwarves. I’ve been looking for a fourteenth member for this quest, and I have chosen you, Bilbo Baggins. Now know I can not go over the details just yet, for we have to wait for the others to arrive later tonight. But for a brief summary, we are going to go on a quest to help the leader of this company, Thorin Oakenshield, and the others reclaim their home, Erebor.” Gandalf said, who was now standing in front of Bilbo.“What makes you think I would like to go on a quest?”“When you were a young hobbit you would dream of running away to meet elves! Plus, I’m not really giving you a choice in the matter.”“That was a long time ago!”Bilbo huffed, as he grabbed his tea and slipped from it. “I can’t go running off into the blue! Plus it's not like the quest will leave a big impact on my life if I don’t go! At the very most I would probably regret not going, then move on with my life.”“You are right about Thorin’s quest not having a big impact on you, but there’s another quest I would like your help with after Thorin’s is complete. I know you have noticed all the oddities that have been happening here in the Shire, but it’s not just in the Shire, but everywhere across Middle-Earth. I intend to find out what is causing it and get rid of it if I can, but I need someone with sharp hearing and sight, and so Mr. Bilbo Baggins I have chosen you to help me in the matter. You say Thorin’s quest will not have an impact on your life, but I dare say this one will affect you greatly.”Bilbo thought about it and glanced out the window to his garden, with how much it was raining his garden would probably be done for. “Alright. Like you said, you're not giving me a choice in the matter.”Gandalf cleared his throat, “Now that that's out of the way, I have something I must attend to.” Gandalf walked to the door with Bilbo following him. “I suggest you run to the market, dwarves can eat you into bankruptcy.”And with that Gandalf left.Bilbo sighed and finished his tea before going off to grab his coat.