J – Jack

J – Jack

This continues the story Back to Selat, followed by D – Darkness, and F – Fox. If you haven’t already, you may want to read them first. 

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I hoped that taking Fox’s recommendation was the right choice. It was certainly the road less traveled, and it did make a difference, but not the one I expected. 

The going was hard. It was a slow passage through the overgrowth. I got tangled up in numerous vines across the path, which made it even harder since I didn’t know what I was looking for. I got to a point where I wanted to give up and go back, but I kept on. I couldn’t believe Fox would lie, but it was beginning to look that way. 

I was glad that my flashlight had lithium batteries, but even still, I knew it would lose power at some point. I didn’t want to be stuck in this dark jungle of a forest if that were to occur. 

There were no sounds as I traversed this path, but I did note that I was moving upward to higher ground. I thought I saw a clearing ahead and made my way toward it. As I broke through the last obstacle, I stopped, which was good, for I found myself on the precipice of a very high cliff. Looking down, I saw nothing but a line of ragged rocks below, ready to impale anything or anyone, especially those who stepped off the precipice, intentionally or not. This was a death trap. 

As I carefully turned to face the way I had come, the vines and brush I had just walked through closed up; there was nowhere to go. I was trapped. Fox had deliberately sent me here and wanted to get rid of me. But why? Someone I had trusted had something to hide and needed me out of the way. 

It was then that I heard a kind of stretching sound. You know, the kind of creaking your body makes when you get up in the morning and reach the ceiling to stretch out all your muscles and limbs. Only this time, it wasn’t a body stretching; it was the sound of a rapidly growing plant, specifically a beanstalk. 

The beanstalk grew until it was just over my head, and climbing it was another familiar face, Jack. Jack stepped onto the precipice and greeted me. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked. 

He replied, “The caretaker mentioned that it might be a good time to plant one of my magic beans and suggested the bottom of this cliff as an ideal place. I didn’t want to disagree with the caretaker, so that’s what I did.”

“Interesting,” I said. 

Jack continued, “The question is, what are you doing here?”

I explained to Jack how I got there and everything I was tasked with doing. 

“Then it’s lucky I came along; I wasn’t even sure that the bean seed would grow.” was Jack’s reaction. “I was hesitant at first, with all the darkness and all. I didn’t know what I would find since I couldn’t see anything. But then again, I never knew what I would find the last time I climbed a beanstalk, and that turned out all right. The bean did grow, only this time, not overnight, but instantly. As I started climbing, I noticed a light shining on top of the cliff. That would have been your flashlight.”

With Jack’s help and guidance, we climbed down the beanstalk back to firm level ground.

“What’s your plan now?” Jack asked as we reached the bottom.

“I need to find Fox and find out why he lied to me, and I also need to get to Granny’s house and get some answers from her.” 

I thanked Jack and made off toward Fox’s den. If he was there, he would have a lot of questions to answer.

To be continued in L – Lies