Chapter 2: Beans
Scott was holding Kurt down to demonstrate the story as the children giggled.
"Poor Jimmy was completely out of his head." Scott said. "It was a pitiful sight to see Jimmy deteriorate after weeks without food. Poor Jimmy."
"Poor me." Kurt said after Scott let go.
"It was all they could do to restrain him." Scott said. "Poor Jimmy had just about reached the end of his rope. They were definitely in a sorry predicament."
"Jimmy may have gone nuts, but he had the right idea." Kurt said. "Kill the cow."
"Oh no, Unca Kurt!" Rachel shouted. "The cow was your best friend."
"Well a friend in need is a friend indeed." Kurt said.
"So what?" Scott asked.
"So, they need some steak." Kurt said plainly.
"No!" Arcane whined. "If you kill the cow, I'm not gonna listen to the story."
"Relax hon, I was just teasing." Kurt said.
"You always did have a morbid sense of humor." Scott said with a smile. "Anyway, they eventually decided to sell the cow."
()()()()()
Things began to look much brighter for the boys after Scott went to a village to sell the cow. The thought of prosperity after going so long without it brought a smile to Kurt and Jimmy's faces.
"Hey look!" Kurt called out as he and Kell acted out all the food they would eat after Scott returned with the money.
Turkey, lobster, sweet potato pie!
Pancakes piled up 'til they reach the sky.
Jimmy hummed along as his high spirits had helped get him back to normal.
Oh… I wanna eat and eat and eat and eat
And eat until I die.
Turkey, lobster, sweet potato pie!
Pancakes piled up 'til they reach the sky.
Lots of starches.
Lots of greens.
Fancy chocolate covered-
"Beans!" Scott called out as he held up a dingy yellow box.
"What do you mean beans?" Kurt asked.
"I sold the cow for some magic beans." Scott said.
"Beans?!" Jimmy called out angrily. "We were better off than that a month ago!"
"But Jimmy, these aren't ordinary beans." Scott insisted. "They're magic beans. If you plant these beans in the light of a full moon, do you know what'll happen?"
"Yes, we'll get more beans!" Jimmy said testily as he grabbed the box and threw it in a corner as the four beans fell into a hole there. "Magic beans! Humbug!"
()()()()()
Later that night, Scott rested in one of the cots in his, Jimmy, and Kurt's room. How could he have been so stupid?
Magic beans. Light of a full moon. Scott thought angrily. How could I have fallen for that? Maybe I'll wake up in the morning to find the whole disaster was a dream.
Scott then went to bed having given up his ration for his foolishness.
()()()()()
But it wasn't as foolish as Scott thought as the night's full moon shone on the very spot the beans had fallen in through a nearby window. A small green stalk popped out of the hole and began to twist around. It then grew through two small holes into the boys' room and went close to Kurt's mouth as it went onward. It then went past Scott's bed, taking his blanket with him and leaving behind a leaf that caught on Scott's foot. It then went up to the top bunk where Jimmy slept and tickled his bare feet with its vines.
The beanstalk then burst out of the doors and windows of the house until it lifted the whole thing up. As it continued to grow, the house crumbled, leaving only the three boys. Scott ended up spending the rest of his sleep on a large leaf. Jimmy ended up protected by a large vine coil he ended up falling into. Kurt rested on a large vine face down.
And all through the night it continued to grow onward and upward.
Kurt: That beanstalk was a menace to aviation.
Rachel: What's aviation?
Scott: Airplanes.
Rachel: Oh.
Me: I love this story.
