Hazel tossed and turned. She couldn't get to sleep. Maybe it was the fact that Peter and Rosemary were expecting another child. Their first one was only two years old. Now they were having another one! She tried to go back to sleep but she just couldn't. She got out of bed and went to her closet. Looking at her newest blue gown, she decided to try it on. She put it on over her long black nightgown, as she looked at herself in her body-length mirror. She then heard a sudden thud from outside.
She looked out her window and gasped. What she saw was Peter with a large brown bag. She hurried downstairs and quietly snuck out the back door and hid behind her nectarine tree. A blue tear cascaded down her cheek. He was going through her greens. Her parsley! Peppers! Cabbages! Celery! He was rooting through her rutabaga, and ripping up her rampions. Her Favorite!
He was stuffing everything in his bag. He finally came over to the nectarines. As he reached out for one, Hazel jumped out of the leaves. He fell to the ground, shock in his eyes.
"Well, well, look at who came back after all these years", Hazel chuckled.
Peter's bottom lip was quivering. He looked like he was about to cry.
"I would love to know what you collect. What's in the bag?" Hazel asked mockingly.
"Please show mercy", Peter finally spoke out. "My wife was very ill and I wanted some herbs to help her heal in time for when the baby comes."
Hazel thought about the scenario for a moment. She then replied, "In that case, I am willing to make a deal with you. If you give me the child when he or she is born, then I will let you take away as much rampion as you like. Think about it. Either way you'll lose the child. If your wife is sick during childbirth the baby will die."
He thought about it for a minute. Then he shook Hazel's hand and said, "We'll call it square."
Hazel was very pleased with herself. She smiled at the thought of being the "mother" of Peter's child. Turning her head, she saw him crawl back over the wall. He landed with another thud on the other side. Then all of the sudden dark clouds rolled in. Lightning crashed. The lightning spiraled from the clouds straight towards her.
She had heard stories about lightning victims. They didn't seem too pleasant. Then, the lightning struck, struck her right in the chest. But it didn't hurt her. Instead it seemed to wrap around her. Wind tore violently around her. Her hair whipped around her face. She held onto a branch of the tree. She looked down at her hand. It was shriveled with wrinkles, and her nails were long and grimy. She looked at the hair blowing around in her face. It was wiry and thin and grey! Grey hair!
A voice echoed in her mind.
You and all your descendants will be punished with the curse of ugliness if those beans were ever taken beyond the garden.
He couldn't have. She huddled over now with a slight hunch in her back. She looked at her Bean vine. The vine was there but the little orange beans were not. She would get back at him. If she got a curse, he would get a curse. She had a good one in mind. A really great, wicked, plan if she could only time it right. But she could. And she definitely would.