Grumbly the Giant

Here is the conclusion to Thursday’s post, Into the Enchanted Forest

Jack pretended to be a prowling lion as he followed the path of the books. He looked from side to side, not wanting to miss a thing.

He came upon a lake in the forest and was transfixed. What a beautiful swan that was in the center of the lake. It had a glow about it that set it apart from the other ducks swimming.

Jack watched the other ducks and felt like one of them. Ordinary, nothing special. Unlike the swan, he didn’t have anything that made him stand out and shine.

But Jack did have some bread crumbs in his pocket. The honey corn muffins from breakfast with Mr Kiljoy had made his taste buds do a dance of joy. He had put two in his pocket for later. Now they were gone. He had been hungry when he was on his way to the forest.

Pulling out some crumbs, he threw them to the swan and the ducks.

They kept swimming as they ate, and soon Jack couldn’t throw the crumbs far enough to reach them. Maybe the crumbs would stay in his pockets for later.

In the other part of the forest, Grumbly the Giant went to each cage, handing each boy a plate of cookie and cracker crumbs.

Being a messy eater caused Grumbly to make a lot of crumbs. After eating a dozen pancakes, he gave the boys the other dozen pancakes. Anything to keep them quiet.

The giant’s head hurt enough on its own without the boys squalling like chickens.

Maybe he should let them have the purple goblet. It sure wasn’t helping any to keep his headaches away. He sat down on a boulder and tapped his head with his fat finger. “Think,Think,Think,” he told himself. Hmm … he suddenly felt the urge to eat some honey.

Jack was continuing to walk. He wondered how long he had to go yet to find the enchanted goblet.

He spied a sign up ahead. “The Big Race” A race? Maybe Jack could participate. He was a fast runner! Jack took off running, and he didn’t have to go far before he saw a tortoise and a hare preparing to race.

A tortoise and a hare, that kind of race certainly wasn’t fair. Running up to the tortoise, he introduced himself. “I would be honored to run for you if you would like.”

The tortoise gave a slow nod of his head as the hare protested. After reading down the list of rules and checking it twice, the wise owl raised his wings. “I don’t see any rule that says the boy can’t race for the tortoise, so Jack, take your place beside the hare and get ready. The race will soon begin.”

The hare gave him a glare, but Jack didn’t care. This race would be fun.

Jack took off like a flash, and the animals cheered.

The boy ran hard, but the hare had still passed him, and then Jack didn’t see him again. How did he get so far ahead of him in such a short time?

Resting up against a tree, Bucky, the buck toothed hare, smiled. He ate a yummy carrot. Silly boy, he thought, races were for speedy rabbits like himself, not for kids.

Bucky was close to the finish line, but he didn’t want to beat Jack too badly, so he would give him a little time. He ate another carrot.

Was that cheering he heard? He hopped closer to the racing path. Whoa! How did that happen? The boy was almost at the finish line! Bucky was hopping mad as he took off after him.

Jack was overwhelmed by the cheers of the animals when he crossed the finish line. He had never been cheered for before. His heart was full of delight. He did have something that made him shine, like the swan, he was a champion runner!

The ground shook, and everyone looked in surprise to see Grumbly the Giant walking towards them. He usually kept to himself because of his constant headaches.

Jack trembled. Mr Kiljoy had not said anything about a giant. He was holding the purple goblet, but Jack would never dare take it from him!

Grumbly handed the purple goblet to Owl. “Here, you can give this to the winner of the race for a trophy.”

Grumbly couldn’t give it to the boys, for they all were fighting over who he should give it to.

“That is real kind of you, Grumbly, thank you!”

Grumbly gave a small smile as he hung his head. Oh, the pain throbbed.

The wise owl flew quickly to his tree and back again to Grumbly. “Take this bottle of magic pills. They will help your headaches.”

Grumbly didn’t know whether to believe him, but what could it hurt, and after all, he was a WISE owl.

Thanking the owl, he took the bottle and walked back to his home. Jack watched everything in disbelief. He won a race against a hare and saw a giant!

When the owl presented Jack with the goblet, he was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get back to Mr Kiljoy. But, he had run the race for the tortoise, and Jack was a polite boy. Bending down to the tortoise, he asked if he wanted the goblet. The tortoise said no, the goblet was way too big for him. Would never fit in his house!

Jack jumped in the air. He could easily jump over a candlestick. He was so happy. The goblet was his. Mr Kiljoy would be so proud, and Jack could already taste the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. He took off running as the animals watched in shock. That boy was as fast as a deer!

Meanwhile, Grumbly made it back to his home and sat on his boulder holding his head. The boys had stopped squalling, but his head kept pounding. He looked at the bottle of pills and realized what he had to do.

First, he swallowed the pills with a giant sized Coke and then unlocked all the cages, telling the boys to scram or else! He didn’t have to tell them twice. They took off in a flash.

The giant watched them run, and when the last boy was out of sight, he waited. Would it work? It worked. His headache was gone! Oh, he would have to thank the wise owl profusely! Finally, his pain was gone. All it took was swallowing the magic pills and following the instructions on the bottle. “Keep away from children.”

In the days to come, the animals all enjoyed seeing a different side of Grumbly. That name didn’t fit him anymore. He was Jolly, the Giant now.

Mr Kiljoy was thrilled with the enchanted goblet and opened up his mansion to all of the boys. He had an extra addition built on to the mansion for them. It was quite a unique, fun place to live for it resembled a giant shoe, where everyone lived happily ever after.