Once upon a time, there was a little boy of seven years, whose name was
Jack. He was a bright boy with straight A's in school, and grand plans for
college, no matter that it was eleven years away. Sadly, he came from a
poor family that had barely enough money to feed and clothe themselves.
One fateful Saturday, they were totally out of money, and they needed food, so Jack had to sell his dog named Joseph Guillotine. In the market, a weird old lady offered Jack three licorice bits for Guillotine. Jack, seeing the licorice, was overcome with a longing desire for the red, yummy looking pieces, so he agreed.
Just as he was about to go into his house, he realized how stupid he'd been to trade Guillotine for three licorice bits that wouldn't even begin to satisfy his family's hunger. So he threw them away. They landed in a small patch of grass a few yards from the house.
The next morning, when Jack left for school, he saw an enormous stick of licorice sticking out of the ground, on a patch of grass a few yards away from the house. Coincidence? I think not.
He ran back inside, yelling, "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! There's a huge stick of licorice out there! It's this, no, this big!" Of course his parents thought hunger was causing him to hallucinate, so they went out to see for themselves.
As soon as they stepped out of the door his parents gasped, "Great holy mother of God, the boy was tellin' the truth."
"I wonder how high it goes," Jack wondered aloud.
"Well, why don' you go climb it," suggested his father.
"No. No son of mine is gonna climb no beanstalk," his mother said firmly.
"Aaawww, mom, please," Jack begged.
"Come on, he's a boy, boys climb things," his father added.
"Oh," she hesitated, "Alright."
"Yaaaaay!" Jack cheered.
".But be careful."
"I will!" and with that Jack dropped his backpack and went over to climb the beanstalk.
Jack had been climbing for what seemed like hours, and he still hadn't reached the top, so he kept climbing. He climbed so high he reached the clouds.
Over one thick cloudbank, which looked almost solid, he saw a house. "Huh," he thought to himself, "That's strange." After thinking it over, he decided to test his weight on the cloudbank. Gingerly, he prodded the closest cloud with his right foot. It seemed solid enough, so first he set down his right foot, and then his left foot. It held his weight!
He slowly walked over to the house, testing every part of the cloud before putting his foot down. When he finally made it to the house, he knocked on the door. Almost immediately, a tall, skinny man answered the door. "You need to leave, right now, it isn't safe for you here," he said hurriedly.
"But, but," Jack stuttered, surprised.
"No buts. My ogress of a wife will be back soon," he said as if that was an answer.
"So what?" asked Jack.
"She loves to eat little boys like you."
"Can't I come in for a minute, I'm so hungry, and whatever you're cooking smells so good."
"Oh, alright. But just for a minute," he agreed.
Inside, Jack saw an instrument case, "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the case.
"That's a Strautavarius violin, it's worth a small fortune," the man answered.
"What's that?" Jack asked, pointing to a sword and scabbard.
"That's an ancient jeweled sword and scabbard. It's worth much more than the violin."
"What's that?" asked Jack, pointing to a small and battered bag.
"That's the medicine bag that belonged to Geronimo himself. That makes it worth more than the sword and violin together."
"Wow," Jack sighed in wonder.
After Jack had eaten, they heard footsteps. "Oh no!" the man cried in panic, "She's coming! Hurry! Get behind the couch!"
"Okay," answered Jack, as he hurried over to his hiding place. He made it there just in time, because no sooner had he hid, he heard the door slam.
"I smell a kid," said a deep, female voice. The voice paused, "A boy, about seven years old, scared, and hiding behind the couch."
"How did she know?" the boy asked himself. He could hear footsteps coming to his hiding place. He panicked. He grabbed the violin, the sword, the medicine bag, and ran. He caught a fleeting glimpse of an ogress before he was out the door. He ran as fast as he could toward the licorice stick, and slid down it without looking back.
Back down in his yard he shoved the items into his parents' hands, ran to the shed and grabbed an ax. He ran back to the licorice stick, where his parents were standing in awe, and started hacking at the licorice. Thankfully, the ogress was much more awkward then Jack and had barely started down the licorice stick when Jack started hacking at it. The licorice stick disappeared as soon as Jack had hacked through it, and all that was left was the original three licorice pieces Jack had been given. He keeps them in a small red box on his nightstand. When the licorice stick tumbled down, the ogress fell also, the impact killed her instantly, and she disappeared as well.
Of course Jack's parents were curious about where he had gotten the stuff, and what the things were that he had brought down. After he told them the entire story, they just stared at him, speechless.
The next day they sold the violin to a merchant, who wanted his daughter to learn, the sword to a scholar who was studying that era, and the medicine bag to a prince, who wanted to give his tutor an exotic gift. With the money they bought everything they needed and a little more.
After his parents died, Jack built a castle on a hill away from his village. Where he lived in luxury and happiness, until a witch turned him into a beast.
One fateful Saturday, they were totally out of money, and they needed food, so Jack had to sell his dog named Joseph Guillotine. In the market, a weird old lady offered Jack three licorice bits for Guillotine. Jack, seeing the licorice, was overcome with a longing desire for the red, yummy looking pieces, so he agreed.
Just as he was about to go into his house, he realized how stupid he'd been to trade Guillotine for three licorice bits that wouldn't even begin to satisfy his family's hunger. So he threw them away. They landed in a small patch of grass a few yards from the house.
The next morning, when Jack left for school, he saw an enormous stick of licorice sticking out of the ground, on a patch of grass a few yards away from the house. Coincidence? I think not.
He ran back inside, yelling, "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy! There's a huge stick of licorice out there! It's this, no, this big!" Of course his parents thought hunger was causing him to hallucinate, so they went out to see for themselves.
As soon as they stepped out of the door his parents gasped, "Great holy mother of God, the boy was tellin' the truth."
"I wonder how high it goes," Jack wondered aloud.
"Well, why don' you go climb it," suggested his father.
"No. No son of mine is gonna climb no beanstalk," his mother said firmly.
"Aaawww, mom, please," Jack begged.
"Come on, he's a boy, boys climb things," his father added.
"Oh," she hesitated, "Alright."
"Yaaaaay!" Jack cheered.
".But be careful."
"I will!" and with that Jack dropped his backpack and went over to climb the beanstalk.
Jack had been climbing for what seemed like hours, and he still hadn't reached the top, so he kept climbing. He climbed so high he reached the clouds.
Over one thick cloudbank, which looked almost solid, he saw a house. "Huh," he thought to himself, "That's strange." After thinking it over, he decided to test his weight on the cloudbank. Gingerly, he prodded the closest cloud with his right foot. It seemed solid enough, so first he set down his right foot, and then his left foot. It held his weight!
He slowly walked over to the house, testing every part of the cloud before putting his foot down. When he finally made it to the house, he knocked on the door. Almost immediately, a tall, skinny man answered the door. "You need to leave, right now, it isn't safe for you here," he said hurriedly.
"But, but," Jack stuttered, surprised.
"No buts. My ogress of a wife will be back soon," he said as if that was an answer.
"So what?" asked Jack.
"She loves to eat little boys like you."
"Can't I come in for a minute, I'm so hungry, and whatever you're cooking smells so good."
"Oh, alright. But just for a minute," he agreed.
Inside, Jack saw an instrument case, "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the case.
"That's a Strautavarius violin, it's worth a small fortune," the man answered.
"What's that?" Jack asked, pointing to a sword and scabbard.
"That's an ancient jeweled sword and scabbard. It's worth much more than the violin."
"What's that?" asked Jack, pointing to a small and battered bag.
"That's the medicine bag that belonged to Geronimo himself. That makes it worth more than the sword and violin together."
"Wow," Jack sighed in wonder.
After Jack had eaten, they heard footsteps. "Oh no!" the man cried in panic, "She's coming! Hurry! Get behind the couch!"
"Okay," answered Jack, as he hurried over to his hiding place. He made it there just in time, because no sooner had he hid, he heard the door slam.
"I smell a kid," said a deep, female voice. The voice paused, "A boy, about seven years old, scared, and hiding behind the couch."
"How did she know?" the boy asked himself. He could hear footsteps coming to his hiding place. He panicked. He grabbed the violin, the sword, the medicine bag, and ran. He caught a fleeting glimpse of an ogress before he was out the door. He ran as fast as he could toward the licorice stick, and slid down it without looking back.
Back down in his yard he shoved the items into his parents' hands, ran to the shed and grabbed an ax. He ran back to the licorice stick, where his parents were standing in awe, and started hacking at the licorice. Thankfully, the ogress was much more awkward then Jack and had barely started down the licorice stick when Jack started hacking at it. The licorice stick disappeared as soon as Jack had hacked through it, and all that was left was the original three licorice pieces Jack had been given. He keeps them in a small red box on his nightstand. When the licorice stick tumbled down, the ogress fell also, the impact killed her instantly, and she disappeared as well.
Of course Jack's parents were curious about where he had gotten the stuff, and what the things were that he had brought down. After he told them the entire story, they just stared at him, speechless.
The next day they sold the violin to a merchant, who wanted his daughter to learn, the sword to a scholar who was studying that era, and the medicine bag to a prince, who wanted to give his tutor an exotic gift. With the money they bought everything they needed and a little more.
After his parents died, Jack built a castle on a hill away from his village. Where he lived in luxury and happiness, until a witch turned him into a beast.