Wishes

Magic Beans

The baker almost reached the village, when Jack ran straight past him, without noticing. The kid, the baker thought, and quickly followed.

Jack suddenly stopped, looking around and listening. "Milky Whiiiite," he called. "Miiiilky Whiiiite!" The baker saw a tear rolling down the boy's cheek. He felt so bad, he whispered without realizing it, "Milky White..."

At that very moment, Milky White emerged from the shadows, giving a long low, MOOOOoooo. "Milky White!" Jack joyously shouted, hugging his cow.

Now's my chance, the baker thought. "Hello there young lad." The baker startled Jack, stepping out of the shadows. "Uh, what might you be doing with a cow in the woods?"

"Oh, um, I was... taking him to market. But I seem to have lost my way."

"Well, I was actually also going to the village, hoping to buy... perhaps a white cow. May I please buy him? How much?"

Jack remembered what his mother said. "No less than... five pounds, sir."

"Ugh," the baker sighed. "Where am I to get five pounds? Please, give me a moment." The baker walked behind a tree to think about this. "Five pounds huh?" someone suddenly asked. The baker spun around to see a haggard old man in shabby clothing holding out his hand. "How about five beans?" The baker looked down and counted the tiny beans in the palm of the man's hand.

The moment after the baker took the beans, the mystery man dashed off into the shadows. "But wait!" the baker called out, "What good are five beans?"

"Beans?" Jack ran up to the baker. He didn't see the mystery man talking to the baker. The baker looked at his new currency. "Uh, would you like my beans?"

"Wait, beans?!" Jack's eyes widened. "In exchange for my Milky White?!" At this point the baker could tell the kid was about to begin an outburst of tears.

"No! No, no! But these beans... carry magic." The baker couldn't believe he just said that. Here he was lying to a little boy just to take his beloved friend from him.

"Magic?" Jack wiped his teary eyes. Now he was curious. "What kind of magic?" Great, the baker bit his lip. "Magic... that defies description."

Jack thought for a moment, then nodded. The baker opened up Jack's hand and handed over the beans. One, two, three, four, five. He took a step back to let Jack have a last moment with Milky White.

Jack bent down so he was eye to eye with the clueless cow. So that he wouldn't cry again, he quickly hugged Milky White and ran off.