They walked down the path to the atrocious frightful oak tree and stopped. “Come on with me, Red. We’ll drop this six pac off on the doorstep and then go out into the barn and sleep in the hay. A little time in the hay will make us both fell better.” He tried to pat her on the rear but missed.

Red Ridinghood nodded. “I’m all for it. I’m having a bad hair day. All I want to do is sleep.”

They walked gingerly down the wooded lane leading to Jack’s home. Tree branches leaned over the lane with splotches of moonlight providing the bare amount of light needed to stay in the middle of the road. A hoot owl signaled the end of darkness while a red-tailed hawk shook its plumage and screamed a greeting to the new day. The two young people arrived at the beginning of the open field at the early twilight zone of daybreak.

Red halted and pulled on Jack’s arm. “Jumping ugly princes, what in the name of Humpty Dumpty is that?” She pointed at Jack’s house and blinked three or four times to clear her eyes. “There’s something beside your mom’s house.”

“I don’t know.” Jack walked briskly half the distance to the house and stopped. “It’s a tree or something growing there. It was not there yesterday. I hope we didn’t pull a Rip Van Wrinkle and sleep thirty years.” He looked at Red for confirmation.

She quickly scanned Jack and looked back at the house. “No, you look just like you did yesterday. Maybe a little bit worse for wear. Let’s get a closer look.” She began pulling Jack toward the house.

Red stood at the base of the plant and looked upward. “It goes up forever. I can’t even begin to see the top.” She felt of the trunk. “It’s not a tree, it’s a bean plant. One of those magic beans sprouted and now look how much it’s grown.”