“Psst…. hey, kid!”
Jack looked around.
“Pssssst… kid! Over here!”
Jack looked to his left and saw a man urgently beckoning him with his hand.
Jack had had the stranger-danger talk at school. He knew he shouldn’t go over, but there was something about the man that made Jack very curious.
When he saw that he had Jack’s attention, the man said, “Kid, you believe in magic?”
Jack took a step nearer.
“Listen, kid,” the man said, “I got these magic beans, see, and I gotta unload ’em.”
Instinctively, Jack stepped back, eyeing the man warily.
“I ain’t gonna hurt ya, kid,” he said. “I just gotta get rid of ’em and you look like a boy who would appreciate a little magic in your life.”
He slowly unfurled his fingers revealing five white beans in the palm of his hand.
“Want ’em?” he asked.
As if in a trance, Jack extended his open palm to the man, then closed his fingers over the beans that were placed in it.
…..
Months later, Jack leaned against the brick school building waiting for his ride. He was imagining what it would be like to have a horse.
He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and pulled out a white bean. He couldn’t remember where it came from, but he popped it in his mouth. Crunch! he bit down.
The building behind him rumbled. A few bricks tumbled. His knees grew weak. He looked up and peeked.
The wall, the wall — OMG!
The Unicorn Challenge: Max 250 words. Base it on the picture. That’s it!
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Hilariously imaginative and subversive.
This is what happens when I’m totally clueless. 🙂
🙂
Very well retelling of the old tale.
Thanks, Sadje. I have always loved the old stories that are filled with magic.
You’re most welcome
Love the story and the picture 😂
Thanks, WIllow!
A pleasure 💜
Hey, Sally Hotdogs, all our assignments are imperfect!
Your daughter is a wise young woman.
I love the story told for our own times.
And I love the suspense at the end – my imagination is working overtime!
I literally had no idea what that was a picture of — so I went with the only logical explanation: something to do with magic!
Maybe this will explain it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Neill
The cartoon character has been painted on a wall along with some characters from the cartoon strip.
‘Lobey Dosser’, in Glasgow language, meant somebody who couldn’t afford a room and slept in the entrance to a block of flats.
Then there was his arch enemy, Rank Badjin, sitting behind him on the famous 2-legged horse, El Fideldo.
My favourite was the boot-wearing fairy called Fairy Nuff (Fair enough…😉)
That helps A LOT!! I kept looking at it but didn’t know what to search to figure it out!!
Awesomely funny!!
Creatively written.