‘Have you heard the news?” said Bilbo Baggins, standing in the garden of his beloved Bag End. “What news?” asked his young cousin, Frodo. “Is Sauron once more gathering together the dark forces of Mordor?”
“It’s worse,” replied the old hobbit.
“Have the deadly Black Riders found a way to outwit Elrond, master of Rivendell?,” asked Sam Gamgee, his gardener.
“Worse even than that,” said Baggins. “According to the newspapers, the short story format is popular once again. Nobody has time for long novels like The Lord of the Rings any more.”
“We’re done for,” cried Frodo. “Lord of the Rings is nearly 1,200 pages long. It takes ages to get to the end. In a short story how are we to carry out our quest to get the One Ring across the realms of Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom?”
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“We could send it by registered post?” suggested Sam.
“Sorted,” said Baggins.