Chapter 2: Beans

Luke was holding Han down to demonstrate the story as the children giggled.

"Poor Galen was completely out of his head." Luke said. "It was a pitiful sight to see Galen deteriorate after weeks without food. Poor Bones."

"Yeah, poor me." Han said after Luke let go.

"It was all they could do to restrain him." Han said. "Poor Galen had just about reached the end of his rope. They were definitely in a sorry predicament."

"Galen may have gone nuts, but he had the right idea." Han said. "Kill the cow."

"Oh no, Unca Han!" Rey shouted. "The cow was your best friend."

"Well a friend in need is a friend indeed." Han said.

"So what?" Luke asked.

"So, we needed some steak." Han said plainly.

"No!" Anakin whined. "If you kill the cow, I'm not gonna listen to the story."

"Relax son, I was just teasing." Han said.

"You always did have a morbid sense of humor." Luke said with a smile. "Anyway, they eventually decided to sell the cow."

()()()()()

Things began to look much brighter for the boys after Luke went to a village to sell the cow. The thought of prosperity after going so long without it brought a smile to Galen and even Han's faces.

"Hey look!" Han called out as he and Galen acted out all the food they would eat after Luke returned with the money.

Turkey, lobster, sweet potato pie!

Pancakes piled up 'til they reach the sky.

Galen 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!" Luke called out as he held up a dingy yellow box.

"What do you mean beans?" Han asked.

"I sold the cow for some magic beans." Jim said.

"Beans?!" Galen called out angrily. "We were better off than that a month ago!"

"But Galen, these aren't ordinary beans." Luke 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!" Galen 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, Luke rested in one of the cots in his, Galen, and Han's room. How could he have been so stupid?

Magic beans. Light of a full moon. Luke 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.

Luke then went to bed having given up his ration for his foolishness.

()()()()()

But it wasn't as foolish as Luke 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 Han's mouth as it went onward. It then went past Luke's bed, taking his blanket with him and leaving behind a leaf that caught on Luke's foot. It then went up to the top bunk where Galen 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. Luke ended up spending the rest of his sleep on a large leaf. Galen ended up protected by a large vine coil he ended up falling into. Han rested on a large vine face down.

And all through the night it continued to grow onward and upward.


Han: That beanstalk was a menace to aviation.

Rey: What's aviation?

Luke: Airplanes.

Rey: Oh.

Me: I love this story.