What’s the second thing that happens to Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit?
He’s visited by twelve dwarves and one wizard. They come for tea (late afternoon) and stay for supper, eating the provisions in his pantry, taking up room in his tidy hobbit hole, and making noise. Bilbo is not happy.
What happened when Sarah Smiley’s husband was deployed overseas for one year?
Unlike Bilbo, she wanted company. She decided to fill his empty place at the table by asking people over for dinner once a week. In her recent book Dinner with the Smileys, she tells how a U. S. senator, a police chief, an Olympic gold medal rower, a children’s book illustrator, a former governor, and a zookeeper all visited her during her husband’s absence and ate dinner with her and her three boys.
Now it’s your turn: Write a story or poem in which someone comes to dinner. What will go wrong? Who are the other guests, if any? Will something delightfully unexpected happen?
Or write a paragraph explaining whom you would like to invite to your house for dinner. What do you expect will happen? What will you talk about? Why did you choose that guest?
Photo book cover, Barnes and Noble
