Category: Fairy Tales and Other Stories Remix

“Mom, I’m home,” Jack said.

“So what did you find up there?” Jack’s mom asked.

“In Giantland?”

“It can’t really be called that.” Jack’s mom folded her arms.

Jack smiled. “Who cares?   It’s what I’m calling it. The giant lives in a huge house.”

“Of course he does. What’s inside?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t going to go inside to check. A giant lives there!” Jack laughed.

The door behind him opened a little wider. Jack’s mom looked down and screamed. She ran forward with a frying pan in hand. Jack snatched the thing up in his arms. “Stop, mom! It’s a ladybug. She can play catch and shake hands and fly. I’m pretty sure she’ll eat dog food. Can we keep her?”

Jack’s mom set the frying pan on the table beside her with a sigh.   “Jack, we couldn’t afford to keep a cow, and that was useful.”

“Why don’t you sell your famous applesauce? Or some apple butter or apple pies?” Jack asked, patting the giant ladybug on the head.

She sighed. “Jack, you always were a silly child. We don’t have any apples.”

“I brought some apples back with me,” Jack said. “The squirrels helped me bring them down.”

Jack’s mom sat down and put her head in her hands. “Giant squirrels, I suppose?”

“That’s right. They can communicate with hand signals for now, but I should probably teach them to talk too. I told them they could make a nest in the barn now that Bessie’s gone.” Jack smiled. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind helping around the house or fetching more apples.”

“Why do they want to move here? We have nothing here,” Jack’s mom said.

“The giant really likes squirrel soup.” Jack set the ladybug down. It flew around him in a loop and then out the door. “Would you like to see the apples?”

“Jack, won’t the giant notice the apples are gone and find the beanstalk and come after us?”

Jack patted her shoulder and held out a hand. When she took it he pulled her up out of her chair. “The squirrels say he sleeps in late.   As long as he doesn’t see us, we should be fine. He doesn’t count his apples, and he has lots.   Maybe we could get some of the wildflowers to sell at market too. They were amazing.”

He pushed the door completely open and she followed him out. The apples were each as big as their little barn.   Jack’s mom started feeling hopeful.   With the flowers to sell first, she could get the extra ingredients and supplies to jar and sell applesauce or make pies.

She tripped over something and looked down. “Jack, is that a golden plate?”

“Oh, yeah, the squirrels gave me some pocket change the giant dropped.   So, can I keep the ladybug? She won’t be any trouble. Watch.” He crouched in front of the ladybug and held out a hand. “Shake!”

The ladybug held out a leg and Jack shook it. Jack grinned. Jack’s mom sighed. “That’s fine Jack. Why didn’t you tell me about the gold first?”

“I really don’t know how we’d sell it without explaining where we got it,” Jack said.

Jack’s mom laughed. “Jack, everyone from miles around can see the beanstalk.”

“Yes, but if they don’t know about the gold, they won’t be trying to take the beanstalk from us. Big flowers that you have to climb for an hour to get are a lot less appealing than gold. Especially if you have to get through giant squirrels to get to the beanstalk.” Jack threw a stick and the ladybug flew after it.

“Jack…that was surprisingly clever. You’re right. We’ll have to find a way to sell the gold in smaller pieces and not very often…” Jack’s mom sat on a bucket and started to mutter to herself.

Jack grinned again as the ladybug flew back and dropped the stick at his feet. “Mom, I think I know what I’ll call her.”

Jack’s mom looked up. “What?”

“I’ll name her Spot,” he said.

Jack’s mom laughed. “I guess you’re still my silly boy after all.”

Betsy trudged down the dirt path. In the past year, her family had died and she’d lost her job. Now all she owned could fit in her backpack and she couldn’t even afford to pay bus fare. Well, it just meant she was probably due a bit of good luck soon.

The path wandered through the woods. The trees were tall and the light was dim. Betsy rounded a turn and saw someone slumped over at the base of an old, dead tree.   As she walked closer, the person slowly stood. It was an old woman.

The woman’s cheeks were lumpy and her eyes were sunken in. Her hair was white and wispy and stuck out all over. She was holding a blue gingham apron tightly in her hands.

“Young lady,” she said.   “You look strong and kind. Could you help me? I’ll reward you well.”
“What do you need?” Betsy asked.

“This tree is hollow,” the old woman said. “If you climb up and lower yourself down, you’ll see three rooms.   In one there is a dog with eyes as big as salt shakers. He sits on a chest of copper coins. In the next there is a dog with eyes as big as bicycle tires. He sits on a chest of silver coins. In the last, there is a dog with eyes as big as a lighthouse.   He sits on a chest of gold coins.”

“Eyes that big seem rather implausible,” Betsy said.

“And yet they are,” the old woman said. “The dogs won’t hurt you if you show them my apron. If you put it on the ground, you can lift them onto it so that you can open the chests. Take what you want.”

“And what do you need?” Betsy asked again.

“My tinderbox. It was my grandmother’s.”

“What’s a tinderbox?” Betsy asked.

“It’s a little metal box with flint and wood and such inside. It’s used to start fires,” The old woman said.

“So how am I supposed to lower myself down into the tree?”
“I have a rope.” The old woman picked up a cloth bag that had been leaning against the tree. She pulled out a rope that must have filled the small bag. The bag didn’t look any less full. “I can hold the end for you while you climb down.”

Betsy shook her head. “I’ll tie it to one of those thick looking branches. That way I won’t have to worry about your arms getting tired.   I’ll leave my pack here and put your apron in my pocket.”

The old woman handed over the apron and Betsy climbed up the tree and secured the rope to a branch. She carefully climbed down the inside of the tree, holding the rope tightly.

There was a stone room underneath the tree, lit by hundreds of lamps. A little round metal box stood against the wall in a pile of dead leaves, as though it had been dropped through the hollow tree and left there. Betsy picked it up and walked down the hallway. There were three doors, all with keys sticking out of the locks.

Betsy checked the first. There was a big-eyed dog sitting on a chest. She checked the next. This dog on a chest had unbelievably big eyes. She checked the last room. She almost closed the door again. How was it possible for a dog to have eyes that big?

She cautiously waved the apron and laid it at its feet. She shuffled the scary dog onto the apron and opened the chest.   It was indeed filled with gold.   Finally some good luck.

So, how much was she willing to pay herself for helping an old woman for less than an hour? It seemed mean to rob her blind just because the old woman was desperate. Betsy grabbed a handful of coins and felt a little guilty as she put them in her pocket.

She shifted the dog back and picked up the apron and the box. She tied the apron around the box and tied it to her belt loop. Then, she climbed back out of the tree. The old woman was waiting at the bottom of the tree, hands clasped together.

“Did you get my tinderbox?” she asked.

“Yes. I grabbed some gold too,” Betsy said. “Would you like some?”   She started to climb down the tree.

“No thank you, dear,” the old woman said. “Just the box.” Betsy untied the apron and handed it back to the old woman with the tinderbox. The moment the old woman had it back in her hands, she began to change.

She somehow melted into a young woman Betsy’s age, with black curly hair and dark brown eyes. The apron and box melted together into a tall wooden staff. “Finally!” the young woman said. “Thank you. What’s your name? I think we’ve completely forgotten introductions.”

“I’m Betsy. What happened to you?”

“I’m Griselda, but call me Rizzie. I had a great job working as a member of the palace staff. It gave me access to their library and I learned a lot.   When I was ready to move on, I decided to try out one of my new spells. I baked a bunch of live blackbirds in a pie. When the king touched it with the knife, they burst out singing.”

“Wow! So what happened?”

“The royal mage charmed one of the birds to find the culprit. It came and bit my nose. Then he locked my magic and set up that awful task. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along,” Rizzie said.

“And the dogs? And chests and such?”

“Just one really.” She whistled and a normal looking dog appeared next to her. It wagged its tail. “The money was all the money I had in the bank.” She waved her staff and muttered something.   “It should be in my bag now, except what you took. And the staff really was my Grandmother’s. Thank you again.”

“So, where are you going next?” Betsy asked.

“I’m not sure,” Rizzie said.

“I hear there’s a kingdom nearby where the crazy king locked up his daughter because a seer said she’d marry a commoner,” Betsy said.

“Well, that’s stupid. Why not just hold a ball and choose who you invite? He’s just asking for a crazy risk-taker to run away with her,” Rizzie said.

“Care to see if we could go straighten things out?” Betsy asked.

“Sounds like fun,” Rizzie said. “But stop me if I want to play a trick on the king. That didn’t work so well the last time.”

“Simon,” Janet said, “Stop eating pieces of that candy house. You know better. Who knows what they put in it to preserve it?”

Simon brushed the gingerbread crumbs off his shirt. “It’s dad’s fault. What was with his ‘you take the high road and I’ll take the low road’ nonsense? If he didn’t know the way home, we should have stuck together,” Simon said.

“I hate hiking.” Janet sat on a rock. “Stop it now, Simon. A candy house that big is unnatural.”

Simon bit the top off a candy cane and grinned. “Witches aren’t real, Janet. You won’t need to push anyone into an oven.”

“Maybe not, but something bad always happens in movies when the group splits up,” Janet said.

“That’s true.” Simon dropped the candy cane and backed away from the house. “Let’s get going again before it gets dark.”

An old woman, dressed in black, appeared in a cloud of smoke. “It’s too late children,” she said. “I have caught you eating my house and now you’ll have to work to pay for damages.”

“We’re still minors,” Janet said. She began to back away. “You’ll have to talk to our father first.”

Simon turned and started to run. Janet followed him. The old lady laughed and cages appeared and fell on the children, trapping them inside.

“If she has the materials to make giant metal cages, why is she building her house out of gingerbread?” Simon asked.

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

“No. But, wouldn’t it get sticky when it rains? And the effort to keep it all fresh…” Simon said.

“Silence!” The old lady said, smacking the metal bars with a black cane that she hadn’t had a moment before.

“But I babble when I’m nervous,” Simon said. “Ask anybody.”

“It’s true,” Janet said.

“Then I will leave you out in the cage, and your sister can help me with the housework,” The old lady said.

“That’s a terrible idea. Janet breaks dishes when she washes them, and she burns toast,” Simon said.

“Well, she’d better learn quickly, or else,” the old lady said.

A green mist filled the clearing. “I’ve found you, gingerbread fairy. Your partner, the potato chip fairy has already been captured and returned to his cell,” a voice said. The mist cleared. The old woman and her house had vanished.

In their place stood a tiny, half-eaten gingerbread house and a little person with wings dressed in a brown dress with embroidered candy accents.   Obviously this was the gingerbread fairy.

A fairy in green with a poofy skirt was putting handcuffs on the gingerbread fairy. As they clicked into place, the gingerbread fairy, the candy house, and the cages all disappeared.   The fairy in green fluttered over.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Who are you? Is your hair naturally green?” Simon asked.

“Simon!” Janet said. She turned.   “Um, thank you for saving us, Ma’am.”

“Just doing my job. I’m the broccoli fairy. We food fairies get power when humans eat our totems. Always eat your broccoli, kids. And avoid junk food. It’s evil,” the tiny fairy said. Then she disappeared.

“Did that really happen?” Janet asked.

“She didn’t answer my question about her hair. Now I’ll never know,” Simon said. He frowned.

“Come on Simon, let’s go meet dad,” Janet said. “Did I mention I hate hiking?”