Jacqui and the Beanstalk

For years I’ve lived with the outrage that my brother should be gifted with credit for my actions. Now is the time to set the record straight!

Jack and the Beanstalk is a lie parents have unwittingly passed on to their children and their grandchildren. It makes for a nice little story about how things might work out for the best even when you made a seemingly foolish decision at the start.

I’ll back up just a bit and admit that the entire story is not false. Mother did send Jack out to sell the cow. Old Gertie had served us well for years, helping to plow the fields and giving us milk, but Father died and money was scarce. All Mother could think of was to sell the cow.

It is true that some shyster convinced Jack to accept magic beans as payment for Old Gertie. It is true that was a dimwitted move and that mother was angry with Jack and threw the beans out the window. It is even true that a beanstalk grew to reach the sky as we slept.

That is where the truth ends.

The next morning I looked up the beanstalk trying to decide the best course of action. I was busy writing a list of pros and cons for climbing the beanstalk when Jack came out of the house wondering what was for breakfast.

“It is noon. We don’t eat breakfast at noon. We eat lunch. You’ve been so lazy you missed breakfast by about three hours. You know you could get up in the morning like the rest of us and help out with the chores.”

“I took the cow to market and sold her,” he whined. “All I got for that was Mother yelling at me and throwing the beans out the…Whoa! What is that?”

“It’s a beanstalk. A fact you would know if you ever helped in the garden.”

“You need to cut it down before Mother has a fit,” Jack fretted.

“I’ll do no such thing! First of all, why should I cut it down when it is here because of you. Doesn’t that make it your responsibility? Besides, I’m thinking I may climb it to see how high up it goes and if it grows beans that are as huge as it would seem. We may have something here.”

“But Mother is doing the laundry. If you climb the beanstalk, who will make my breakfast…errr…lunch?” Jack stammered.

“I only see two resolutions. You can make your own lunch or you can be the one to climb the beanstalk,” I smirked.

Jack opted to see what was in the cupboard. He would never admit it but he was afraid of heights. He had been ever since the day the troll had called out to him as he led our billy goats across the bridge.

As he hurried into our cottage, I surveyed the beanstalk to see where the most secure handholds would be. I started up the stalk filled with determination and curiosity, with none of the folly that the tales attribute to Jack.

*Watch for the next installment to find out more of the real story!**

If you are enjoying this story so far, please leave some applause to help others see it!