Jack and the Beans . . . Talk

Jack started climbing early in the morning. He reached the top in the middle of the night. Jack was really tired. He fell off the beanstalk and landed on a hard stone walkway. Then he was asleep.

When Jack woke up, it was morning. He was awfully hungry, as he spent the last day climbing. So he started heading home. At least, he was about to when he noticed some very odd things. First of all, he thought why am I beside a castle? And why is it so big? How did I survive a fall off the beanstalk anyway? And why are there clouds all over the place? Then Jack realized that he had only fallen a couple of feet before hitting the ground: he had discovered a giant island in the sky! Now Jack was really curious.

So he decided to see what was inside the castle. He walked up to it and cautiously knocked on the door. Jack couldn't believe who answered it. It was a woman . . . a giant woman. Jack was slightly tall for his age, and he came up to the top of her shins. She jumped when she saw him. They stared at each other for a while. Jack stared because he had never seen anyone so big.

The woman stared because she had never seen anyone so little. Finally, she spoke. "Well," she said raising an eyebrow "Aren't you going to come in?"

So Jack stepped inside, still staring. Suddenly he started sniffing. "Ma'am," he said. "What's that good smell? It smells like something baking."

"Well," she spoke again, smiling "I was going to have it be part of my husband's breakfast, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you have a slice." Jack's stomach roared just as the oven pinged. A single slice would do, all right. A single slice was half Jack's size. Jack began wolfing it down quick as lightning.

After he was finished he heard a loud voice say. . . "Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of a sneaky little bum! Be he 'live or be he dead, I'll make a Jack-o'-lantern outta his head!"

"Oh, no!" hissed the woman "It's my husband. And he likes to eat little kids for breakfast! Hurry! Hide in the oven!" Hearing that first part made Jack queasy about hiding in the oven, but the woman shoved him in.

That was when the door swung open. A giant man, slightly taller than the woman, lumbered in. When she finally got him to stop saying those really annoying rhymes (at least for the time being), he demanded, "Where's my breakfast?".

His wife quickly put the loaf of bread, some buttered pancakes, and a glass of orange juice on the table in front of him. He sat down. "WHERE'S MY GOLD?" he yelled. The woman ran to a corner that had a little chest in it. She whipped open the chest and brought out two burlap sacks, about Jack's size. She then placed these beside the man's breakfast. He began to count. The giant only counted a few minutes, but it seemed like a few hours to Jack.

Finally, the giant fell asleep, his face slapping into the melted butter from his pancakes. Jack climbed out of the oven and began to run, but the giant woman stopped him. "Wait!" she exclaimed. She tossed a bag of gold at him, knocking him over. "Take this! He spends too much time counting it, anyway. You can buy yourself some real clothes and some food with this." She said, noticing Jack's rags. Jack opened his mouth, but she told him not to argue and just to go before her husband woke up. Jack didn't waste the opportunity.

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