Jac

Chapter 3

Using the leaves and twisty vines like the rungs of a ladder, Jack climbed and climbed until at last, he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long, broad road winding its way through the clouds to a tall, square castle off in the distance.

Jac peeled open her eyes to a sharp rapping on the door, groaning as she sat up. Her entire body ached from whatever position she had passed out in, and the hair left in her bun was barely holding on, spilling wavy brown strands into her face. She crawled out of bed lazily, one foot meeting the chilly floor at a time.

Trodding across her room and rubbing her eyes, Jac's mind vaguely registered a strange lack of light. Peeking through a groggy eye, Jac barely made out a peculiar shadow in front of her bare feet. She couldn't identify what exactly its shape was, but it definitely wasn't there before.
Her eyebrows crinkled together in a sort of sleepy confusion as she paraded over to her window, throwing back the curtains with a single flick of her wrists. The sight nearly made her stumble backwards with surprise.

Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Jac gaped at the gigantic sprout ripping from the soil. Its arms stretched higher than she could tell, even when she craned her neck out the window to get a better look. The beanstalk grew up, up, up until it faded into the clouds.

Struck with wonder, Jac whispered absently, "Thanks, old man, but how is this supposed to help me find my fa--" She stopped, blood running cold. "There is no way I'm climbing that."

Yet a part of her knew that she'd undoubtedly end up climbing it, no matter how badly her stomach squirmed at the thought. She wasn't necessarily afraid of heights, but the unknown destination made her mind reel in different directions. She could end up more lost than she started.

Jac was trying to get another better look at the beanstalk when her mother's cane knocked into the door. "Jaclynne, you better be up!"

"I am, Mother!" She called back, still watching the beanstalk out of the corner of her eye as she walked over to the door. "I'll only be a minute!"

Her trousers and work blouse were rumpled and dirty from her day at market and sleep, so there was no need for her to change. It wouldn't matter if her trousers became caked with dirt.

Besides, her mother seemed in a slightly better mood compared to the previous night, and she didn't want to ruin it by being late.

"Meet me out front as soon as possible!" In fact, her mother could arguably be described as cheerful this morning, though Jac had not the faintest idea why. Her mother did enjoy gardening, but not enough to seemingly forget about her spat with Jac.

Jac was wary as she stepped foot outside. If her mother was being this nice after such a large argument, something must be up.

Her mother didn't turn to look at her. She just continued humming, digging at the soil in front of her, under the large shadow of the beanstalk.

Now that she was outside, Jac craned her face to the sky and was still unable to see the top of the beanstalk.

"Quit staring at the sun, Jaclynne, and come over here!" The sound of her mother's voice made her head snap down, though her words confused her. Clearly it had not been the sun she'd been straining to look at but the huge beanstalk erupting from the middle of their garden.

Instead of being just as confused as Jac, Enora was nonchalant. She beckoned towards Jac with her pointer finger, smiling encouragingly.

"Come here," she urged, waiting impatiently for Jac to step closer. "So these are your seeds to plant--" she gestured to a pile of a decent size-- "and just plant them in a pattern similar to how I'm planting mine. The sooner we finish up, the sooner we can get out of this broiling sun." As if to emphasis her point, Enora dramatically wiped a bead of sweat from her brow with her sleeve. It was quite comical to Jac, considering she was complaining about a sun that wasn't beating on her back. Perhaps she was referencing the general weather, though Jac found it strange that Enora hadn't mentioned anything being out of the ordinary.