Life was beginning to stir. The clouds were silvery, tipped with an extraordinary pale pink. Birds began to softly twitter, exchanging the day's greetings. Small dusky hills lost their misty, indefinite edges, each blade of grass trembling with its garment of pale dew. The young trees became alive and clean, turned a shimmering green-gold colour with their fresh young leaves, softly touched by the sun's first rays. The stars slowly faded and the sky gradually shifted from grey to purple to a glorious fiery orange, and finally, a soft, radiant blue.

It was 8:30 on a fine early summer morning in the Shire. The weather was gorgeous, and the sun was trying to send a few of its golden shafts through a crack in the curtains. Merry Brandybuck lay dozing, still in bed, enjoying the luxury of sleeping in as long as possible. He was in Bag End, staying the night with Frodo, and Sam, and Pippin. Listening carefully, he could hear Sam's gently snores, and the soft breathing that told him Frodo was awake but trying to convince himself he was still asleep. Merry couldn't hear anything from Pippin, which meant either his cousin was still sleeping or that the crazy young Took had already gotten up. Deciding against getting up from the warm comfort of the bed, he rolled lazily over and buried his face in the pillow.

"Wake up! It's a beautiful morning, and you three lazy people are missing out!" shouted Pippin, bursting into the room with a shuddering bang from the door.

He was dressed and full of mischief, his sparkling eyes dancing under his thick black lashes and wild, golden-brown curls. He threw open the shutters and, talking to the lump of covers and dark hair that was Frodo, said "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty! You're late again!"

A single blue eye peered out over the covers and squinted against the bright morning light coming from the window.

"Pippin, you awful cousin, get out and let the rest of us normal Hobbits get some sleep! You're acting horridly!"

The receiver paid absolutely no attention to this speech. Frodo didn't really mean it, and they both knew it. It was hard to stay angry with Pippin.

Flying over to the other side of the room, Pippin jumped onto Sam's bed and started again, each remark punctuated with a bounce.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up! If you don't get up in three seconds, Sam Gamgee, I will personally sit on you and…" Suddenly he paused, mid-bounce. His green eyes widened even more with delight at the thought of catching a certain older cousin still in bed; a certain older cousin who loved teasing him about sleeping late.

Whirling around, he bounded to the last bed and wildly threw himself on it. "MERRY!" he shouted joyously.

Merry threw back the quilt and, shaking the blonde hair out of his indigo-blue eyes, glared at the slender Hobbit (obviously full of energy, as young Hobbits are) on his bed. Still frustrated at his attempts to deflect Pippin's attention, and Pippin's refusal to be deflected, he brought a degree of sternness into his voice, like a reprimanding parent.

"Peregrin Took. Why are you on my bed? What is so important that you have to come crashing around in here and wake us up! I mean, is there any legitimate excuse for acting like this!"

Pippin stared back at him with huge puppy-dog eyes, putting on his innocent act. He looked shaken and penitent, but hidden underneath his long lashes his green eyes still had a glimmer of something not quite so innocent.

He glanced nervously at Merry, looked away, looked back again, swallowed, fiddled with the edge of the quilt, then smiled in his sweet little-boy way and said, "good morning, Sunshine."

Laughing devilishly, he backed away and waited for Merry's reaction, which was not long in coming. With a yell, he leaped out of bed and chased Pippin from the room.

"I'll get you for that! Just you wait until I…"

Frodo and Sam were helpless with laughter.

Later on, when Sam and gone to get breakfast started, Merry half dragged, half carried a struggling, indignant Pippin back into the room.

"Merry! Put me down! Now! Stop it! I said…"

Completely ignoring his captive's pleas, Merry shouted, "Frodo! Revenge! Let's teach him a lesson!"

"Of course!" said Frodo, and between the two older Hobbits, they managed to hold Pippin to the floor and start tickling him.

Shrieks of laughter from all three filled the cozy Hobbit hole and floated down the hall. Sam, in the kitchen, heard them and in an effort to save Pippin called, "You'd better come quick, or you won't get no breakfast, or second breakfast either!"

Still giggling, Frodo, Merry, and a once-defeated yet still defiant Pippin hurried down to breakfast and the new day.

-The End-