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When he came to himself, he was lying on the floor in the study of Bag End. A hobbit was standing in front of him, looking at him. "Frodo! You're alive!"he exclaimed. Frodo looked at Gandalf with a weird look on his face. "Of course I'm alive!"he said. "It must have been a dream then." said Gandalf "I had the weirdest dream last night!"

"What dream?" asked Frodo.

"That some ghosts took me to the Past, Present and Future. And the Future was just terrible! You were killed and everyone hated me because it was my fault. I'm so happy to see you alive!" said Gandalf

"I'm happy to know I'm alive right now!" said Frodo. Gandalf got up and just then recalled the date, it was Christmas. "Merry Christmas Frodo!"he said happily. "Merry Christmas!"answered Frodo. But he didn't sound that happy. Gandalf took some steps forward but then felt something under his foot. He looked down and saw pieces of broken plates and broken glass. He had broken plates and a glass in his 'dream' as well. "I know," said Frodo "there's glass and broken plates on the ground. I wonder how they came here!". Gandalf thought for a while 'If the plates and glass are here, in reality, that means that...' "I broke them!"he said aloud. Frodo looked at him curiously.

"How?"he asked.

"When the ghost of Christmas Present and of Christmas Future came." said Gandalf "And that was all real!"

"Well, I managed to convince Sam, Merry and Pippin to leave today." said Frodo sadly "We packed last night. They'll come soon so we can leave." he started going towards the door.

"No! Don't!"Gandalf stopped him "If what happened is real, if you leave today, you'll die!"

"But, if the mission fails..."

"Forget about the mission! It can wait! But you mustn't go!"

"But if we don't destroy the Ring..."

"Please, don't leave! I don't want you to die! It will make me very sad, and Bilbo as well!" Frodo stopped and stood still. He looked at Gandalf and Gandalf looked at him. Since the other night, more than ever, he had realized how much Bilbo meant to Frodo. He himself hadn't really had an experience like that before, but he could imagine what it would be like. Frodo turned around and looked at him. "I don't want anybody to be sad,"he said "but you told me yourself that the mission mustn't fail because the fate of the whole world depends on it. And you're right."

"I know I'm right, but the mission can wait a little longer." said Gandalf

"How much longer?" said Frodo "I've already waited over ten years!"

"Wait until you can find a date on which you can leave easily." said Gandalf "Forget about today! Today is Christmas, and you should spend it with your friends, just like you wanted to."

There was a long pause. Then Frodo ran to Gandalf and hugged him. Gandalf hugged him back but soon noticed he had tears in his eyes.

"What did I say?"he asked him. Frodo wiped them away and laughed.

"These are tears of joy!"he said. Just then there was a knock on the door and Frodo went to answer. Gandalf followed him. It was Merry and Pippin.

"Merry Christmas!"they sang and walked in. "We're all packed and ready to go," said Merry trying to sound cheerful "but first...". He and Pippin put down their packs and started dancing around singing "We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!". Frodo laughed and joined in the second time.

When they were finished Merry picked up his pack and went to say something but then looked at Frodo closely. "Have you been crying?"he asked him. "What happened?" asked Pippin. Frodo started laughing. "Ok, now he's confusing me!"Pippin said to Merry. But Frodo kept laughing and when he stopped he said "They were tears of joy. You don't know how happy I am at the moment! Gandalf said something about a dream and ghosts and that I might die and then he told me that we can celebrate!"

A huge smile appeared on Pippin's face. "You mean, we can stay here and celebrate and drink and eat and have fun?"he said. Frodo nodded. "Now let's go and find Sam!" Merry and Pippin bolted out of Bag End singing "We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!" as they went.

Frodo stayed behind for a bit. "Gandalf,"he said "thank you so much. Would you like to spend Christmas with me, Pippin and Merry?" A huge smile appeared on Gandalf's face. "Me? Spend Christmas with you and your friends?". He had never felt so happy in his life.

While the three hobbits and Gandalf were eating their Christmas dinner, Gandalf told them about what had happened the night before. "I was the ghost of Christmas Present?" said Pippin "I must have been the best of all three ghosts!"

"I have to say, you were the worst!" said Gandalf. The hobbits burst out laughing.

"So, who is this Aragorn you talked about," asked Frodo "The ghost of

Christmas Future?"

"An old friend of mine." said Gandalf "He lives all around the place. You might see him in Bree one night and the next night he will be in Rivendell."

"And," said Frodo "Bilbo was the ghost of Christmas Past."

"Yes," said Gandalf "he was. And his ghost took me to the best of all the three Christmases the ghosts took me too."

"Better than the Christmas my ghost sent you to?" said Pippin

"Much better!" said Gandalf. Pippin sighed. "Do you think that that means Bilbo is alive?" asked Frodo

"Maybe." said Gandalf "But do not give up your hope for that Frodo!"

"I never did!" said Frodo "All these years, I always said that I was sure he was alive. But, I was just thinking about it. If he is alive, he must be 128 years old. That's quite old!"

"I'm sure he's alive." said Gandalf "And I'm sure he has been thinking of you all these years."

"I've been thinking about him too. But, then I had to focus on the ring and that drew my interest."

"Well, last night I saw him! I can assure you for that!" There was a pause for some seconds. Then, Merry spoke. "Ok,"he said "I get the whole ghosts thing, but there's no way it was true!"

"It was!" said Gandalf "I found the plates and glass on the floor!"

"Maybe it was just a coincidence." said Frodo "Maybe you were sleepwalking during the night and broke the plates and glass then."

"Maybe." said Gandalf "That's probably what really happened."

"Now," said Frodo "it's my turn to tell you a story. A real one this time. And a very Christmas story." He turned to Gandalf and smiled at him. Gandalf smiled back at him, he could guess which story Frodo was going to tell. "The story of my first Christmas here, in Bag End, with Bilbo and Gandalf." said Frodo. He started the story "It was a rather cold night, and the 25th of December, Shire year 1389..."

As the hobbits and Gandalf listened to Frodo's story, over them and invisible to them, sat four ghosts (Thorin, Bilbo, Pippin and Aragorn) smiling and admiring their job.

THE END