Chapter 2: Beans

Clark was holding Bruce down to demonstrate the story as the children giggled.
"Poor Bruce was completely out of his head." Clark said. "It was a pitiful sight to see Bruce deteriorate after weeks without food. Poor Bruce."
"Yeah, poor me." Bruce said after Clark let go.
"It was all they could do to restrain him." Clark said. "Poor Bruce had just about reached the end of his rope. They were definitely in a sorry predicament."
"Bruce may have gone nuts, but he had the right idea." Oliver said. "Kill the cow."
"Oh no, Unca Ollie!" Conner shouted. "The cow was your best friend."
"Well a friend in need is a friend indeed." Bruce said.
"So what?" Clark asked.
"So, they need some steak." Oliver said plainly.
"No!" Terry whined. "If you kill the cow, I'm not gonna listen to the story."
"Relax son, I was just teasing." Bruce said.
"You always did have a morbid sense of humor." Clark said with a smile. "Anyway, they eventually decided to sell the cow."

Things began to look much brighter for the boys after Clark went to a village to sell the cow. The thought of prosperity after going so long without it brought a smile to Oliver and Bruce's faces.
"Hey look!" Oliver called out as he and Bruce acted out all the food they would eat after Clark returned with the money.
Turkey, lobster, sweet potato pie!
Pancakes piled up 'til they reach the sky.
Bruce 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!" Clark called out as he held up a dingy yellow box.
"What do you mean beans?" Oliver asked.
"I sold the cow for some magic beans." Clark said.
"Beans?!" Bruce called out angrily. "We were better off than that a month ago!"
"But Bruce, these aren't ordinary beans." Clark 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!" Bruce 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, Clark rested in one of the cots in his, Bruce, and Oliver's room. How could he have been so stupid?
Magic beans. Light of a full moon. Clark 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.
Clark then went to bed having given up his ration for his foolishness.

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

Oliver: That beanstalk was a menace to aviation.
Conner: What's aviation?
Clark: Airplanes.
Conner: Oh.
Me: I love this story.