Jobs Are For Smart People: Jack’s Tale
Desperation can make people do some very silly things.
Now, his mother had warned him. She had told him not to do it. Jack should have listened! If he had listened, then he would never be where he is now… in danger of being a giant’s lunch!
Oh Jack, you will cry. If only you’d been born with brains!
This is how it happened. Jack and his mother were starving to death. Their only possession was a cow. What an unfortunate situation they were in! Only a cow! (I hope you understand the gravity of the situation.)
“Jack, my dear, witless boy,” said his mother to him. “Go and sell the cow for as much as possible. Buy some food!”
“Verily, mother,” said Jack. “Wouldn’t it be wiser to go get a job? It would be reliable and steady income. Starvation will be naught but a distant memory.”
“Silly boy,” said his mother. “Sell the cow. Jobs are for smart people, and as you are obviously not smart, that is not an option.”
Jack wagged his head and took the cow to town.
The first person to see him stopped him in the road. “What a lovely cow. How much’re ya selling for?”
“As much as I can get,” Jack replied.
“I’ll give ya three beans. Nothin’ else.”
“Those look delicious!” Jack said, and the deal was done.
Have you ever sold your only earthly possession for only three measly beans? Me either. Now you understand how desperate Jack was. A cow for three beans! Ha!
Long story short, Jack’s mother was not happy with this turn of events. She promptly buried the beans in the garbage pile and went to bed, grumping about her petty life and witless son.
The next morning, Jack found something very strange. A HUGELY GINORMOUS green stalk towering in the air and reaching for the heavens. How enticing! How spendid!
(Dear reader, you should be worried.)
“Wow!” Jack shouted. “Let’s see what’s at the top!
So he climbed to the top, and found a Giant Kingdom. Jack didn’t realize this, until a very big person scooped him up and stared at him with giant eyes.
“You’re in trouble,” the giant said, and it wasn’t long before Jack was taken to the Giant King to be judged for his crimes.
“Soup and scones.
Blood and bones.
Boys and brains.
Hunger pangs.
What a treat.
Let’s eat!”
Now, if you’ve ever seen a Giant King reciting gruesome poetry over a small person, you know that it is never a good sign.
Momentarily, Jack found himself on a silver platter, staring up at the Giant King’s gaping mouth.
“Yikes,” he thought, and quickly stood and ran for his life. Down the stalk he clambered, hoping that Giants were partially blind and therefore would not see his escape.
(A strange stroke of luck this was! Giants are, in fact, partially blind and therefore did not see his escape.)
He ran home to his mother, regretting his silliness and wishing that he had never sold the cow in the first place.
“Jack,” his mother said. “Why don’t you go and get a job?”
And Jack was left wondering why he hadn’t thought of that to begin with.
MORAL: Do not sell a cow for three beans, no matter how tasty they look.
About The Author
Abby
Abby is a teenaged writer who loves using her words for Jesus, to seek and point out beauty in the ordinary. When she isn't writing, you can find her jamming on her guitar, which she fondly calls "Raymond Fender the First", sitting on porches, or reading.