There and Back Again by Dreamflower

[dreamflower]

Author: Dreamflower
Title: There and Back Again
Rating: G
Theme: Pairs (drabbles)
Elements: beginning, end
Summary: Bilbo ponders Adventure.
Word Count: 100

There and Back Again


In the beginning, Adventure didn’t seem so bad. Riding his sturdy little pony behind the Dwarves and Gandalf, he enjoyed the unfamiliar hillsides and farms, sunshine, birdsong, the freshening breeze of early spring, and a merry old inn.

Then came the trolls.

He put that behind him in Rivendell, but goblins, Gollum, wolves, spiders --most of all, the Dragon and the battle afterward made him eager to see home once more.

Then he returned to the Shire. Telling of his time away, he found painted a brighter picture with his words. Adventure didn’t seem so bad at journey’s end.

Comments

[shirebound]

I love that last line.

[dreamflower]

Thank you! *grin*

[blslarner.livejournal.com]

Things often seem better--or sometimes worse--in hindsight than they appeared at the time. Perfect use of the prompts!

[dreamflower]

Thank you! Yes, and looking back on difficulties, they often take on an air of reminiscence and nostalgia.

[clodia-metelli.livejournal.com]

That's perfect -- I sympathise so with Bilbo, that transition from excitement to weariness to the painlessness of memory -- isn't that how it always happens? With so many things, not just Adventures...

[dreamflower]

*nods* Yes-- the old saying "You'll laugh at it years from now" came about for a reason. And it may not always make you laugh to remember it, but it will often make you nostalgic!

[bfb.livejournal.com]

Haha, I was just talking about this with a friend. How even when you have a miserable experience, later on you remember it in a softer light. Very nice!

[dreamflower]

Egg-zactly! That is just so true!

[gamgeefest.livejournal.com]

How soon one forgets!

[dreamflower]

*nods* Or, well, not exactly forget as remember it in a nostalgic way. After all, once something is over and you've come through it, it doesn't seem that bad after all.

[labourslamp.livejournal.com]

This is so true! I love how Bilbo's attitude switches from one extreme to another and back again--not that he hasn't matured, but that he's matured enough to appreciate an adventure in its own right.

[dreamflower]

Yes, and a memory mellows in hindsight. He did, after all, get home again. And so now he can treasure the parts of his Adventure that were good: the friendship, the wonder, the beauty of the Wide World, while glancing over the parts that weren't so good at the time.

[periantari.livejournal.com]

Telling of his time away, he found painted a brighter picture with his words.
Love that line! I really like this drabble of changed perspective from Bilbo. :)

[dreamflower]

Yes, and perspective was what he needed. Looking back, he was able to remember things more fondly.

[thunderatiger.livejournal.com]

I like the way you used the title as Bilbo went there and then went back again with his words. The return visit, when one is not physically present, is often quite a bit different. And having lived through the experience and having time gloss away some of the nastier details would indeed make for a much more pleasant adventure. A very perceptive little drabble!

[dreamflower]

Yes, time does gloss over the nasty parts-- not making them go away, of course, but lending the glow of distance and the perspective of recalling the good parts even within the nastiness.

And I've often thought that Bilbo must have told his stories the way he did to make them suitable for the children, and in doing so, was able to remember his own wonder and awe.

[wormwood-7.livejournal.com]

As other's have said, that last line is brilliant. Adventure filtered and shaped by the stories we tell afterwards.

[dreamflower]

Thank you! That's exactly what I hoped to convey!

[mercuries.livejournal.com]

Aha, this is so lovely and Bilbo-ish and so true to how people behave. Beautiful!

[dreamflower]

I'm glad you think it's like Bilbo. I really think of all the hobbits we get to know well, Bilbo somehow remains the most optimistic and innocent (in a good way)!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

A lovely glimpse of Bilbo.

[dreamflower]

Thank you!

[paranoidangel]

I like how Bilbo goes from loving the adventure, to the scary bits, and then making the adventure exciting and less scary in the re-telling. That's usually how it works.

[dreamflower]

*nods* You know, there is a certain kind of gleefulness in telling stories of hardships endured, especially if they were under unusual or exotic circumstances. I am sure there were times when Bilbo remembered the darker parts of his journey-- but most of the time, I think he invested even the danger with a sense of awe and wonder.

[antane.livejournal.com]

True, adventures don't seem so much fun at times until they are over and the memories begin.

Namarie, God bless, Antane :)

[dreamflower]

Exactly right! Thank you, dear!

[pearltook1]

Indeed, it can all look so much better when you've survived it and are in your comfortable home again!

Lovely, Dreamflower!

[dreamflower]

And especially when you can tell it all as a story as if it happened to someone else! Thank you!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

This sums up the whole 'adventure' business rather well. Great when you start out, dark and quite unpleasant in places later, but a great tale to share with an admiring audience. Just - maybe not something you'd care to repeat.

[dreamflower]

Indeed. And it seems to present itself like that with Bilbo more than any other character.

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

I can only add my agreement to what everyone has already said. Perspective really is everything.

[dreamflower]

Perspective; exactly the right word!

[someplacetobe.livejournal.com]

I chuckled when reading; the last line seemed to sum up Bilbo so very well!

[dreamflower]

Thank you! I've always imagined Bilbo repeating his stories to generations of young hobbits. After all, he had sixty years to tell them before he finally left!

[someplacetobe.livejournal.com]

I've always imagined Bilbo repeating his stories to generations of young hobbits.
As have I which was why I was so very delighted to read this story!

[foxrafer.livejournal.com]

I love how the first and last lines are like bookends of each other. Lovely drabble.