Jackie and the Beanstalk | Teen Ink

Jackie and the Beanstalk

October 19, 2011
By Corderv13 BRONZE, Logan, Ohio
Corderv13 BRONZE, Logan, Ohio
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Once upon a time there was a girl named Jackie Lapin. She was a French farm girl who was a three time winner in the County Fair. She always won for her famous goose, Eloise. This goose was the most beautiful specimen in the fair. She loved this goose like a sister. Her family was running out of money and food so she had to win the 500 euro prize.
She was on her way to the fair when she came across a fairly old woman. “Why hello there sweet little girl.” said the mysterious old woman. “Hello.” said Jackie cautiously. “Would you be interested in some rare African Groei Bone.” said the old woman with a slender crease upon her face which resembled somewhat of a smile. The Groei Bone was a bean of some sort.
Jackie thought about the offer, after all her family did need the food. These beans could be eaten and grown in her family’s garden. Which I might mention was suffering as it is. So she said “How much does it cost?” asked Jackie knowing she didn’t have much. The old woman replied to this question with that crease I mentioned before. “I will make you a deal. I will trade you that old goose for an entire bag of these beans” Hissed the old woman. Jackie’s face lit up with shock, fear, and turmoil all at once. The old woman could see the distress in Jackie’s eyes.
So the old woman told Jackie that she could come back and buy back the goose for 50 euros. She also told Jackie that she lived on the top of Clever Mountain and that she could come and visit whenever she wished. Jackie agreed to this proposition.

She quickly ran home. When she got there she ran to the back of the house to the garden. She dug her fingers into the earth scooping out a handful of dirt. Then she planted the beans in the ground and watered them. She went inside to wash her hands before preparing the beans to be eaten. Her mother had been out of town this week so Jackie would be eating alone for the fifth time this week.
She pulled out a pot and filled it with water. Next she prepared the ingredients which included, 1lb of ground beef, 1 can of sauce, the bag of beans, and two teaspoons of chili powder. Then she added the spices, ground cumin and garlic powder. Finally she turned on the stove until the water was at a simmer for seven minutes stirring occasionally.
After waiting seven minutes she took the pot off the stove and poured some chili into a small bowl. She sat at the table and began to eat. The beans were absolutely delicious. The sweet juices filled her mouth with a pleasure unlike any other.
After this long day she was very tired so she headed outside to do one of her favorite things which was to sleep under the stars. So she laid her pillow on the ground and lay down covered in her favorite blanket.
The very next day she awoke with a terrible headache. When she opened her eyes she found that she was twenty five meters tall. She stood up almost allowing a bird to crash inside her ear. She stumbled to her house to look for an explanation. The only thing she found was that she was too big for her clothes. It was a lucky thing she lived in the middle of nowhere.
She saw the garden and the bean plants were huge too. She thought quick to grab the huge leaves to clothe her. She wove a beautiful dress that she styled quite beautifully. The dress bloomed pink blossoms which made her eyes shine and be noticed much more that a ragged old dress actually made from old dish rags.
She decided that the beans she ate did this to her and she intended on getting her goose back. She thought of it as a refund for her defective beans. She headed toward the great mountain which to her height wasn’t much of a challenge to climb.
When she got to the top she was greeted by the old witch. “Hello dear I see you have enjoyed those groei beans.” the witch screeched. “You do know what groei means in African don’t you?” “No replied Jackie not finding this funny at all. “Well it just so happens to mean growth.” The witch cackled. Jackie gasped finally realizing what has happened to her.
“Well you forgot one thing.” Said Jackie in a rather firm voice. “And what would that be dear?” Replied the witch. “I’m bigger than you!” Screamed Jackie. She swatted at the witch as if she was a bug. The witch fell off the mountain screaming,” You will regret this!”
Jackie rushed into the witch’s house and found Eloise. They rushed off to the fair and entered just in time! The judges walked by and claimed Eloise the winner of not only 500 euros but 1000 euros! Jackie’s mom came home just in time to see her win the euros. They became rich every year with their award winning goose and they lived happily ever after.

The author's comments:
I was inspired to write this when I was growing beans in my garden. Groie Bone means Growing Beans in African.

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