The Baldr Experiment: Chapter 5 – The Story – Part 2

Rachel Barton
Dec 9, 2025
2 min read

The First Step Outside the Shire

A clay-style animated scene featuring two fantasy characters and a small dog in front of a hobbit-style house. A short video introducing Chapter 5 of The Baldr Experiment: taking the first step outside the Shire.

Every great story begins with an unexpected visitor.

Not always at the door, sometimes during a dog walk.

Yesterday, my Gandalf arrived.

I’d done my Mission Possible planning, stages mapped, colour-coded, feeling organised, composed, maybe even a little smug.

Emotionally ready.

Spiritually aligned.

Pens all lined up like hobbits awaiting elevenses.

But here’s the truth:

I hadn’t actually stepped outside my front door.

Not really.

I was still very much in the Shire.

Then, mid-walk, while Suziedog was conducting a forensic investigation of a tuft of grass with the solemnity of someone inspecting pipe-weed at the Prancing Pony, he appeared.

Not literally, though honestly, I wouldn’t have questioned it.

But the feeling was unmistakable:

Gandalf…the Idea…arriving with quiet certainty rather than a bang…and with a sudden sense of a presence beside me whispering:

“You’re ready”

Because that’s the real Gandalf magic, not dragging you into an adventure, but believing in you enough that you take the first step yourself.

Of course, this revelation struck precisely when Suziedog settled into a sniff that could comfortably span the time between elevenses and luncheon.

So there I was, speed-walking home like someone who’s just spotted the Sackville-Bagginses approaching, while Suziedog trundled behind looking deeply betrayed by my change of pace.

We got home.

Lead off.

Notebook open.

I captured the idea before it could wander off like a Fool of a Took attempting to “borrow” Farmer Maggot’s carrots.

Just a line. Barely a sentence.

But I knew, instantly.

This was the spark.

My Gandalf moment.

The quiet, steady belief that says:

“It’s time.” And with that…Suziedog then flopped dramatically onto her bed with the exhaustion of a hobbit who insists they’ve walked all the way from Hobbiton to Bywater. The journey had begun.