The Bestest Tea Party

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Desiree’s stomach sank as she looked at all the boxes surrounding her. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen. Not only did the boxes surround her, but they were spilling into the dining room. It was enough to make her want to turn around and go back to bed!

Why couldn’t she snap her fingers like Mary Poppins and have all the boxes disappear with everything being where it was supposed to be? How perfect that would be. If only her life was that magical. Right now, she felt like Cinderella. So much work to do and no prince to be found.

At least she had unpacked her Keurig. She would need it today!

Desiree was in the middle of putting all of her glassware and plates away when Callie ran into the kitchen.

‘Mommy, Mommy! Want to have a tea party with me?”

Her daughter’s eyes were bright with expectation.

“I am sorry, sweet pea, but I can’t right now. Mommy is busy, but save a cup of tea for me, okay?” She gave Callie a tight hug.

“Okay, Mommy, I will, as long as Teddy doesn’t drink it.” She giggled and ran back to her room.

There was nothing better than the sound of Callie’s laughter. Her laughter and unbridled joy had pulled Desiree through this tough year. How thankful she was for her precious daughter.

Turning up her music, she got back to unpacking.

“Mr Teddy, this cup is for my mommy. You can’t have it!” Callie shook her finger at him. “Here is a cup for you.”

“Remember, Susie, hold tight onto your cup. We don’t want any spills. You are wearing your prettiest dress.”

Callie was proud of her doll, Susie. She looked beautiful. Mr Teddy didn’t look bad either wearing a red polka dot bow tie. One had to look their best for tea parties.

Oh, Cathy, her other doll, was being too chatty again. Callie told her to stop talking, but she ignored her. She needed something to get her attention. Oh, Callie knew what to do.

Jumping up from her chair, she grabbed something from her bed. She didn’t know where it had come from, but it should get Chatty Cathy’s attention. Ding, Ding, Ding!

POOF! Pink and purple smoke filled the room. When it cleared, Callie couldn’t believe her eyes. Her face reflected a golden sunbeam. Jubilation filled her heart.

“Hi Miss Callie! Welcome to our castle.”

They knew her name, Callie was shocked. This was the bestest day ever!

“Hi! I can’t believe I am here.” She sat down at the table when a servant pulled out a chair for her.

“We are real glad to have you, and now I propose we make a toast to Callie.”

They all raised their crystal tea cups, and Callie couldn’t still the rapid beating of her heart. Whoever would have thought that she would share tea with her favorite princesses! Cinderella, Snow White and Belle.

The progress may be slow, but Desireee felt good at what she had accomplished so far this morning. Taking a breather, she sat down.

She noticed a flyer on the coffee table with the other mail.

“Thursdays are Free Ice Cream cones for children. Come to Jack and Jill’s Icecream shop this summer and cool off with a yummy treat.”

Desiree knew that Callie would love getting some ice cream, and it was time for a break. She headed to Callie’s room and knocked on her door. There was no answer. Maybe she had gone back to sleep. She knocked again.

“Come in, Mommy.”

Callie was sitting at her small table with her tea set displayed on it.

“Tea party still going, I see. I think Teddy may be getting a little sleepy.”

Callie laughed and sat him up straighter.

“Mommy oh Mommy I have had the bestest time ever! You will never believe where I was. I was far, far away in the land where the princesses live. I saw Cinderella, Snow White, and Belle! We had tea and cake and..”

Desiree put her hand up. Callie sure was wound up, talking a mile a minute. She thoroughly enjoyed Callie’s wild imagination.

“That is amazing. I want to hear everything, but what about you tell me everything over lunch. Then we can go for ice cream for dessert. Unless you are too full from eating cake with the princesses?” Desiree winked at her.

‘I am not too full! I love chocolate ice cream and sprinkles! Let’s go.”

“Let me help you change out of your pretty dress, and we will go. But remember you have to eat your green beans first for lunch.”

Callie wrinkled her nose and sighed. But then thought of the princesses again and smiled.

“First, there was a lot of pink and purple smoke, Mommy, and then…” Callie was chattering away again as Desiree helped her to get dressed.

“Whats that on your bed, sweetie?”

“Oh, that’s my cowbell. It’s so cool. It’s how I was able to see all the princesses and go to the castle far away. Shall I ring it again?”

Desiree smiled, “Let’s eat first and then sure, you can ring it again. I would like to meet the princesses too. Though you will always be my favorite princess.” She kissed Callie on the cheek as they headed to the kitchen.

“I also got to meet the seven dwarves, except for Grumpy, he didn’t want to come to a tea party.” Desiree laughed, hoping that Callie’s imagination would never end.

There was an old lady…

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Little Miss Tilly was dressed in one of her best dresses. Sitting and looking pretty with her precious puppy, Louie the second.

Tonight was special. She had been to her first recital and had played all the right notes. Well, almost all of them. She was distracted by Georgie making faces. Why were boys so pesky?

After everyone had performed their pieces, refreshments had been served. The cakes and cookies tasted divine.

Little Miss Tilly was  beaming as she sat on the curb waiting for her ride.  Mr Jenkins, her chauffeur would be by soon. She didn’t mind waiting.

She kept replaying in her head the shocking incident  that had happened a few moments ago.

Had Georgie really tried to kiss her?

He had tried kissing Rosie, but all the kiss  did was make her cry. Poor Georgie Porgie.

The next morning, Tilly woke up and called her friend Mary over to help with her garden.

After all the silverbells and cockleshells were arranged in rows, Little Miss Tilly decided to take a break.

She visited her other friend Mary, and her sweet lamb. But chaos broke out when Louie scared Mary’s lamb.

They had to chase it all the way to Mary’s school.

Tilly took Louie home and was upset that Mary hadn’t served her usual tea and scones. Her stomach was growling.

The cook made her some curds and whey, though Tilly had begged her to make some lemon scones instead.

Frowning, little Miss Tilly Muffet took her bowl of curds outside and sat on a tuffet. When along came a spider and sat down beside her.

Tilly screamed, scaring the spider who had sat down beside her. Her scream caused the poor spider to fly into the air.

At the same time, there was an old lady who happened to be walking by, drinking her cup of tea.

As she raised the cup to her lips, the spider who had flown into the sky came down, plopping into the old lady’s cup of tea.

“Oh dear me, earlier it was a fly that fell from the sky, and I accidentally swallowed. Now it is wriggling, wiggling and tickling inside of me.

She stared at the poor spider and said, “Perhaps he can catch the fly.”

She grimaced, and in one sip, she swallowed the poor spider to catch the poor fly, who had fallen from the sky, and was wriggling, wiggling and tickling inside of her.

Now, the old lady was laughing for both the spider and fly, were now wriggling, wiggling and tickling inside of her.

She continued walking down the road, and out of the air, a little humming bird fell into her cup.

With the spider still wriggling, wiggling and tickling inside of her, she thought of swallowing the bird to catch the spider.

“No, that is too absurd!” The lady lifted the poor bird out of her cup and let it fly away.

Now you know why the old lady swallowed the fly and can rest easy because she didn’t die.

*I hope you enjoyed this silly tale. i will be away for part of the day, but I will reply to your comments when I am back. 🙂*

Tuesday’s Thoughts!

Happy Tuesday! This morning flew by too fast! Now, if only the week can fly by as fast. Whether you want time to slow down or speed up, I hope you enjoy taking time to read the quotes. May they inspire you!

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Friday’s Super Short Stories!

Hooray for the weekend… unless you will be scrambling to get your taxes done!

What is a food that you had to eat in your childhood that you don’t like and haven’t eaten since! Mine is liver and onions and red beets!

What’s a six word happy story … or a six word suspense story … Share below… Get your brain in gear this morning …

Going Back to Yesterday

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Touching the enchanted mirror, Contessa’s heart alighted with fond memories of when she was young.

Little had she known of the future path that awaited her. Never would she have imagined the twist her life took. When she was young, Contessa felt like an ordinary girl. Well, maybe not quite so ordinary.

Contessa smiled, thinking back to her childhood as she touched her younger self in the mirror.

“What are you doing? I been waiting for you!” Evangeline stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at her younger sister, Contessa.

Contessa sighed. Her bossy sister could be so impatient sometimes.

Getting up from the ground, she brushed the dirt off her hands onto her old dress, much to her sister’s dismay.

“Will you ever learn to act and dress like the high society women that we are? We have gardeners to dig in the dirt and plant flowers.”

“I relish the feel of planting seeds in the cool dirt. Dreaming about how picturesque the garden will be when they all begin to bloom.”

Evangeline shook her head. “I don’t understand why you don’t at least use gloves. There are worms and slugs, and ooh, too unpleasant to think about.”

Contessa laughed at the shiver that visibly went through her sister’s body.

“I will hurry and get ready if you will distract mom for me.”

Evangeline agreed, and Contessa hurried down the path to the back of their house. Entered through the servants’ quarters so that she could slip upstairs, undetected by her mom.

Contessa’s mom had a hard time understanding her. More times than not, Contessa was responsible for her mom having a sudden onset of a migraine.

Years passed, and while Contessa did give in to going to balls and fancy teas, she enjoyed the simple life more.

Another thing that she discovered was that she enjoyed helping others more and more as she grew older.

She had always been good at recognizing if someone was sad, even when they tried to hide it. Thinking of ways to cheer them up was fun for her.

Often, she wished for a magic wand to have and make wishes come true. But left to her own devices, she found other ways to bring smiles.

Then, one day in the fall, she was pulling up some of her prize pumpkins. She was surprised to find a wand lying next to one of her pumpkins, buried in the soil.

She pulled it out and brushed it off. What was a wand doing in her garden? Could it actually be magical, like she had once wished for?

Contessa breathed in the aroma of her flowers as she opened her eyes. Looked at the mirror and saw her reflection. Capturing every wrinkle. Enchanted mirrors should not show wrinkles and gray hair.

It had been a delight spending time in her greenhouse and taking a trip down memory lane, with her younger self.

Now, it was time to go back to the house and get her magic wand. No other job could be as wonderful as what hers has been for years. Oh, the stories she could tell. The Adventures of A Fairy Godmother!

Hmmm, maybe someday she would take the time to write it, but right now there was a young girl who needed to go to a ball!

A Child’s Magic Touch

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When Bryce opened the refrigerator, he remembered what he was supposed to do last night. Go to the grocery store. Groaning, he poured the last two drops of milk into his glass. Guess he would be eating dry shredded wheat for breakfast.

Oh, there still was some orange juice in the back of the fridge. Enough for half of a glass to wash his cereal down. He put his cup of orange juice on the counter and turned away to toast his bagel.

Crash!

“Mischief!” Bryce yelled at the calico cat, making a hasty retreat to go under the couch in the other room.

So much for the orange juice. He hoped this crazy start to the day wasn’t an indicator of how the day would go.

At least he was off work today. It was Saturday, so the day couldn’t be too bad. Later in the morning, he would be meeting his friend at his private Country Club to do some golfing

Bryce was looking forward to golfing at a new place and eating a good dinner at the club’s restaurant. Would make up for his breakfast.

He decided to finish mowing the backyard before golfing. It wouldn’t take long. Had to stop last night, for it had started to rain.

When Bryce walked outside, he breathed in the fresh air and listened to the birds singing as they flocked around the bird feeder.

Smiling, he started whistling. It would be a good day.

Splat! One of the birds he had been admiring earlier left a present on his head as he flew over him.

He made a face but started the mower. It was only a little bird poop, could be worse. At least pigs didn’t fly.

One more patch of grass, and he could go inside and take a shower. He would probably shampoo his hair twice!

Zing! Crack!

Brys stared in shock at the hole in his new window. He had hit a little rock that ricochete into his window.

Finishing up quickly, he put the mower away, wishing he had never gotten it out today. Sighing , he walked into the house. What else could go wrong today?

His phone was dinging. Bryce picked it up off the counter and looked at the text his friend had sent.

“I am really sorry but can’t meet you at the club today for golfing. I’m not feeling well. Think I have food poisoning. Cathy cooked last night.”

Groaning, Bryce texted him back. He was disappointed, but he did feel bad for his friend, Trevor. He had met a new girl a few weeks ago, and it appeared that she couldn’t cook.

Bryce took a long shower. There was no rush now. He wasn’t going golfing.

Maybe he would spend an exciting afternoon at the grocery store. He gave a pitiful half augh as he shook his head and made a list. Trevor’s girl may not know how to cook, but at least Trevor had someone.

Ugh! No, he wasn’t going to start down that rabbit hole of self-pity.

His phone rang.

“Hi, sis! What’s up?”

“Could you please watch Bella for a few hours today?”

Bryce brightened up. He adored his neice. “Sure, all I have planned is going to the grocery store today.”

His sister thanked him and said she would be over in an hour. That would give him enough time to go grocery shopping and grab some of Bella’s favorite cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies dunked in milk was good, no matter ones age, thought Bryce. He sat across from his 3 year old neice at the table. She had been chattering non-stop since she arrived.

Bryce was enjoying listening to all of her stories. The girl’s imagination was crazy.

She had saved a baby dragon and met a cow fairy.

Her life was more exciting than his, thought Bryce. He may have to start searching for dragons.

After eating too many cookies, Bella ran to her little bag of toys that she had brought along and grabbed a book.

“Can you read this to me, please?” She asked as she handed Bryce the book.

He got a wry smile when he looked at the title. “Alexander and his no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day.”

They sat down, and Bella cuddled close to him. “I wuv you.”

Bryce looked down at the cherubic face of his neice. Maybe today was beginning to turn around. He wasn’t missing the golf course at all. He pulled Bella a little closer and began to read.

Butterfly Kisses

Painting by Thomas Little

Maria heard the sound of her daughter singing, and when she walked into the room, tears filled her eyes. The tears came so easily these days.

So, this was why her daughter wanted to bake a cake. She had asked for the electric candles, and Maria thought  the cake had been for her stuffed animals. She liked having tea parties. Not trusting herself to speak, she stood behind her daughter and listened.

“Happy Birthday to you. I hope you like the color pink. It’s the best color, and you are the best daddy.”

Looking out the window, her voice dropped a little, and Maria had to strain to hear.

“I miss you, and mommy misses you too. She cries a lot. I try to be  good,  but yesterday Austin was mean and …” Collette paused and crossed her arms. 

“I said sorry but I will tell you a secret, I not sorry, Daddy. He looked funny with ketchup in his hair.”

She giggled, and Maria had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. 

“Come back soon, Daddy, please! I love you.”

Collette blew him kisses. “I hope you can catch all my kisses. They come with a million wishes for you to hurry back to me and Mommy. Then mommy won’t cry anymore. I don’t like it when mommy is sad.”

Maria couldn’t hold back anymore. She wrapped her arms around her precious daughter.

“I love you so much, sweetie!”

Collette hugged her mommy tight, “I love you, mommy. Do you think Daddy got my kisses?”

Kissing her daughter’s cheek, she replied. “Yes, I do, I really do!”

After they ate the cake with some of Collette’s stuffed animals, Collette ran off to play, and Maria cleaned up the kitchen

Her husband, Antoine, had been missing for a few weeks now. With each day that passed and still no word, it was getting harder to hold onto hope. 

He traveled a lot for his job, and Maria always worried about him getting in an accident.  Now, it appeared that her fears may have come true. Where was he?

She had called the local hospitals checking for him, but he didn’t fit the description of any new patients.

Bowing her head, she prayed again. He had to be OK, he had to. She couldn’t begin to imagine life without him.

Life without her French lover, who  had swept her off her feet five years ago. It was a summer of romance that never ended when she was studying at the university for the summer. Little had she known that she wouldn’t be returning to live in the States after that one sizzling summer spent here. 

The phone rang, and Maria’s heart lurched when she saw the name of a hospital flash up on Caller ID.

“Hello..” She was trying to remind herself to breathe.

“Maria, oh my Maria … It’s me.” The tears rolled down her cheeks as she listened to the most wonderful sound of all. Her husband’s voice.

When she hung up the phone, her heart was bursting with happiness about her prayers being answered.

Antoine had been in a bad car wreck and was unconscious when the medics found him. He had been thrown from his vehicle and had no ID on him. Thankfully, when he awoke, he knew who he was and had been able to call Marie.

His voice was weak, but it was music to Marie’s ears, and her body had tingled all over with goosebumps when he told her about waking up.

“I heard Collette’s voice, but it was distant, and I couldn’t make out what she was saying. But then there was a wetness on my cheek that felt exactly like her butterfly kisses. I struggled to open my eyes, for I wanted to see her so badly, and that’s when I woke up. I woke up to our little girl’s kisses. ”

His voice had broke and Maria knew he was fighting back tears. The lump in her throat had been huge, but she finally managed to speak.

“Oh honey, this morning, Collette was blowing you kisses, and you caught them. You caught her butterfly kisses that had been sent with a million loving wishes.”

The Golden Glow

This is the next part.to Journey in the Snow

Wow! Stacy didn’t know what she had expected to find when following her little deer friend who she had named Kojika, but this hadn’t been one of her guesses.

Kojika had stopped in front of a cave. There was a boulder in front of it. It had a glowing long and pointy object stuck into it. It wasn’t the typical thing one saw every day.

Why did Kojika bring her here? What was Stacy supposed to do? Try to take the object out of the rock? Where was one of King Arthur’s knights when you needed them?

It was glowing gold and had some pink tones in it as well. What was it, and how was she supposed to pull it out of the rock? Especially now with shooting pain in her wrist. Not that she was strong enough even if her wrist wasn’t hurting.

She had stumbled in the snow earlier and bent her wrist to catch herself. At least she hadn’t twisted her ankle in the fall.

The deer stood there patiently watching Stacy. She gazed back at the deer.

“Are you sure you can’t talk? Why did you bring me out here to this boulder?”

Kojika stared back unflinching.

The longer Stacy stood still, the more that the cold started sinking into her bones. She wanted to be home under her thick tangerine orange blanket.

Reaching toward the glowing object in the rock, she touched it. Nothing happened. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Plumes of smoke to fill the air, perhaps?

Giving a small tug, she pulled on it with one hand. To her great shock, it came out of the rock! There was no doubt now that whatever this object was, it was magical. How else could Stacy have pulled it so easily out of the rock?

Her hand started trembling uncontrollably. What was happening? Stacy started to worry as the trembling increased spreading throughout her body. What magical powers had she unleashed?

She heard the echoes of her heart vibrating in her ear. Then, suddenly rainbow snowflakes filled the air. Coming down so fast and thick, Stacy couldn’t see anything else.

The curtain of snowflakes parted, and Stacy was in awe. There was a unicorn standing in front of her with a glowing golden horn standing in front of her.

Bowing its head, it spoke. “Thank you, my friend, for freeing my horn. I am indebted to you.”

Before Stacy could recover enough to utter an intelligible word, the unicorn was gone.

She spun around. It wasn’t anywhere, and where had her little deer friend, Kojika gone? Stacy was all alone, but she didn’t need to worry about finding her way home. There were golden glowing prints in the snow that she followed. Soon, she was in her backyard, where it had all begun.

As Stacy got ready for bed, she was lost in thought. What had happened? Why was the unicorn’s horn stuck in the boulder in the first place? Who would ever believe her story?

Snuggling under her heavy blanket, she wondered. What did it mean by being indebted to her. Would she ever see the unicorn again? That was her last thought before giving in to sleep.

The next morning, Stacy was happy to wake up to the pain in her wrist being gone. She could move it fine, like nothing had happened to it the night before.

Pulling on her cozy robe, she walked out of her bedroom. Buffy was yipping, wanting to be fed.

Stacy couldn’t help but wonder if last night had all been a wild dream. There was no deer or unicorn standing in her backyard when she looked out.

After feeding Buffy an egg, a special treat for her, she sat down to drink her coffee and plan her day. The ringing of her phone pierced the solitude of the morning.

Stacy didn’t recognize the number, but she answered it.

“Hello, Is this Miss Stacy Uni?”

“Yes.” Stacy replied.

“Wonderful. This is Mrs Ames, and I am calling to say how impressed I was by your resume. We think you may be the perfect fit for us here at the Golden Glow Corporation. Could you come this afternoon for an interview?”

Stacy couldn’t stop smiling as she hung up the phone. She had an interview! But she was confused. Why couldn’t she remember ever sending a resume to the Golden Glow Corporation? Had she simply forgotten?

Walking over to her desk, she pulled out her file of jobs she had applied at. She couldn’t find “Golden Glow” on her list. Strange.

Oh well, her crazy brain had probably forgotten to write it down. She walked back to the kitchen and passed her picture window. Her mouth fell open. The unicorn was standing in her yard bowing its head. There was no doubt that it was the same one from the night before. A golden glow emanated from its horn.

Lady Blue

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They called her Lady Blue, Enchanted Woman of the North, and more. But no one knew her true name.

Everyone knew who you meant when you mentioned one of those names, but no one really knew who she was. They knew what she looked like. Men had memorized every detail of her face but those details said nothing about her heart.

There was an aura of mystery that surrounded her, which no one could solve. Though it wasn’t from lack of trying.

When she appeared in town, people  would always try to start a conversation with her. But she never said more than a few polite words. She would give a sweet smile and warmth reflected out of her captivating blue eyes when looking at you.

Kind was her heart, as she always offered her help to anyone who needed it. A woman carrying too many bags or to a little boy who needed someone to tie his shoes.

The animals in town seemed to be especially drawn to her. She had a way with them. Once, she stopped a runaway horse by simply holding up her hand.

While curiosity about her was strong, the townspeople respected her and didn’t press her for information. Life went on, with Lady Blue coming to town a couple of times a week.

One day, there was a new man who came to town. He was enraptured with Lady Blue and decided that she was the woman for him. 

It created some excitement in the small one horse town as people watched the saga unfold. The guy was a good man. He didn’t mean any trouble, but his heart wouldn’t let him stop trying to win Lady Blue’s hand.

He showered her with gifts of beautiful blue orchids and candy.  The guy traveled out of town for the rare blue orchids, telling others she was worth the trip. Some men groaned, for now because of him, their woman were wanting blue orchids as well.

It didn’t take long until some men were giving him money to buy some blue orchids for them to charm their women with.

The women were happy that Channing, this handsome  stranger, had come to their town. When they saw the diamond necklace he presented to Lady Blue, their hearts sang as they fluttered their lashes at their men.

But they could smile, flatter with words, and flutter their lashes all they wanted. This time, it  wasn’t going to work. The men had to remind them that having food on the table was more important than a diamond necklace around their necks. 

The women sighed, but they understood. They loved their hardworking husbands and their simple one horse town.

As Channing persisted in trying to gain Lady Blue’s hand, one began to feel sorry for him. It didn’t seem that he would ever win until day came that no one would forget.

The day had started out in the normal way. The men of the town were hard at work at the mill, and the women were at the market. It had occurred to some that they hadn’t seen Lady Blue that week, and concern began to grow for this lady that had captivated their town.

Channing started asking where she lived, but no one knew, other than the fact that it was out of town. She always headed in the direction of the woods. Mounting his horse, Channing headed into the woods to see if he could find Lady Blue.

“I need Doc! Doc!’

All were shocked to see Channing running his horse at full speed into town. It had only been an hour since he had left.

Doc came out of his office hearing Channing’s shouts. 

“It is Lady Blue. She needs you! Something is awfully wrong. She is on the ground in front of her cabin and she won’t wake up.”

Wasting no time, Doc grabbed his medicine bag, and they rode in his carriage out of town to help Lady Blue.

A hush fell over the town as they waited to hear about a woman that though they didn’t know well, had managed to capture everyone’s heart.

People started murmuring with excitement and nudging each other. In the distance, a horse and carriage were getting closer. It was Doc!

Everyone started heading towards his carriage to hear the news.

They were pleased to see Doc with a wide smile on his face as he assured everyone that Lady Blue would be fine.

But where was she, and where was Channing?

“Welll….” The Dr had a twinkle in his eye. “I think its safe to say that Channing has won Lady Blue’s heart. After all ….” the Dr paused, as the women especially waited with bated breath. “It was his kiss that woke her up.”

The women gasped, placing their hands over their heart, as they swooned. Everyone was elated for the happy couple, but they longed to know more. What did a half eaten apple found beside Lady Blue have to do with anything?

The Dr smiled, promising everyone that they would learn more when the couple came back to town, but for now, Channing and Lady Snow wished to be alone.

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.