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Excerpt by Mike Hess
Humorous Ending: First Place
The company of the Ring, tired and more than a little cranky, reached the Brandywine Bridge just as the last
traces of dusk were disappearing from the western sky. Unexpectedly, they found a sturdy iron gate barring
their way. At the far end of the Bridge could be seen another gate apparently closed and locked as well. New
and unfamiliar structures loomed on the other side of the Brandywine.
Frodo, having developed a tendency to go red in the left eye in times of stress, rapped violently on the gate with
the hilt of Sting. "Open this gate! What has the world come to when friendly Hobbits are left standing out in the
rain at the Shire's front gate?"
His voice boomed across the bridge and down the road beyond, and along the river in both directions. No
Hobbit of the Shire had ever before heard such a voice issuing from the mouth of another Hobbit. But now that
they had, it would not be the last time.
Nobody in the company dared to mention that it wasn't raining.
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