It was weekend again. Joy was very excited that he would see the Blue Fairy and the Fairy Land again. As soon as darkness fell, he asked his mother to give him dinner, so that he can go to bed.
“Why do you want to sleep so early tonight?” asked his mother, puzzled. Joy insisted, and was in the bed as soon as he could. Of course, it’s not easy to sleep when you are excited, and he had to take quite a few deep breaths before he could relax and sleep.
For sure, the Blue Fairy came in his dreams as always, smiling. “Are you ready, Joy?” she asked. “A boy just like you is waiting for you in the Fairy Land.”
Wondering who that boy could be, Joy accompanied the Blue Fairy to the magical journey, over the crescent moon and the twinkling stars into the huge white cloud of Fairy Land. As they approached the seven rainbows, Joy noticed a huge beanstalk crossing the rainbows and reaching up to the clouds. There was a boy standing on the ground, near the beanstalk. Can you guess who the boy was?
It was Jack! Joy went straight to him.
“I am going to climb this beanstalk again!” he told Joy. “Do you know that this beanstalk leads to a castle where a Giant lives!” Then he asked, “Would you want to come along?”
Interested as Joy was to see the Giants’ castle, he wanted to make sure everything was in order first. So he asked Jack, “I’d like to meet your mother.”
“Well”, replied Jack sadly, “My mother couldn’t come to this new Fairy Land cloud. When I get enough money from the Giant, I will go and get her.”
In that case, Joy thought, it is better for me to stay back and help Jack when the Giant comes chasing him. So he asked Jack to move on, and waited patiently by the beanstalk.
Soon, he saw Jack scrambling down the beanstalk carrying the magical Harp, and the Giant was chasing him behind.
“Help me!!” shouted Jack.
“Where’s the axe?” Joy shouted back, looking frantically in Jack’s cottage, so that he can cut the beanstalk.
“Axe??” Jack replied back. “I left it with my mother in the old cloud! Help me fast; otherwise the Giant would grind my bones to make his bread!”
Joy was bewildered. He looked around in hope of finding something else useful. His eyes set on an apple tree, and he remembered about the magical properties of the Fairy Land fruits. He immediately plucked an apple and ate it.
Meanwhile, the Giant was on the beanstalk, and it was swaying to and fro.
“Save me”, shouted Jack angrily, “instead of eating apples!!!”
He didn’t know Joy’s clever plan. Joy pulled at the roots of the beanstalk with all his new found strength. He used all his might, and pulled the huge beanstalk right off the soil!!! The Giant came crashing down to the ground and Jack was saved!
Jack was grateful to his new friend for saving his life. He thanked Joy again and again. The Blue Fairy also thanked Joy on their way back.
“Would Jack be able to get his mother on the new cloud now?” asked Joy, concerned about his friend.
“Yes!” smiled the Blue Fairy. “Thanks to you, a lot of troubles in our kingdom are being solved Joy. You are our hero.”
Joy smiled. It meant he can visit Fairy Land again next week.
PUZZLE:
Kids, do you remember the original Jack and the Beanstalk story? Try answering these questions to find out:
How did Jack grow the beanstalk ?
What was the name of Jack’s cow?
What did the Giant say when he smelled a human in his castle first?
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