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“Ahhh, so it comes to this now does it?” Bilbo puffed on his pipe while giving his adversary a knowing look. In all of the Shire everyone knew that the Baggins held the record for spitting watermelon seeds. The contest had been fierce, Paddie Proudfoot had spewed out a seed to over twenty feet in distance to come into the lead. Yet both Bilbo and Frodo spit slightly farther and the Proudfoot kicked the dirt complaining of Baggin’s luck and having to spit into an unfavorable wind.
Now it came down to just the two Baggins. Frodo versus Bilbo. The older hobbit looked at his young nephew and gave him a hawkish glance. “Do you want to make this a bit more worth your while my boy? You know when Gandalf took me away from here all those many years ago I got lost in the goblin catacombs below the mountains and there I found a ring.”
Frodo had heard this tale many times before. “Yes, I remember and you tricked the horrible creature Gollum to get it.”
A bit put off by his nephew’s rude behavior at finishing what was promising to be a good tale Bilbo frowned and continued. “Yes, I got the ring and though I dread to part with it I would be willing to bet that I could out-spit you for this… precious… piece of gold. What say you?”
“Uncle Bilbo I could never take your ring,” Frodo said looking worried.
“Oh I don’t think you will be my boy. I have no worries that the ring shall be with me for a long time to come.” Bilbo took a swig of ale and popped a watermelon seed into his mouth. “Let’s begin shall we? Best three out of five.”
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