Jack and the Staircase

The Story

"What did I just do?" I asked to myself. Then the ground parted in front of me. I stepped back and almost tripped again. I stared at the parting ground. It was growing larger and larger. Then, it stopped.

I took a step forward. Then I looked into the new gigantic opening on the ground. I saw a gigantic staircase leading down into the shadows which looked like a mouth of a monster with really long gray tongue.

"I should go back," I said to myself. Then the curiosity of 'what in Harmony is down there?' got to me. I wanted to know what's down there and why this staff had lead me to this place.

"Well," I grumbled. "Here goes nothing." Then I stepped onto the staircase and started to go down.

Strangely, the torches started to light itself when I passed them, like eyes of the blinking beasts. I grabbed one, ranched it out of the wall. Then, I reached the end of the staircase.

I stepped out of the staircase's doorway and discovered that I've just entered a huge stone room which was lit with a warm fire at the far end of the room. There was a really long and huge dinning table in the center of the room. There were all sorts of foods on it. There were lots and lots of golden coins scattered around the place, mixed with jewels, golden nuggets, and other valuable materials. There was a door at the right wall while a cabinet occupied the left wall. But there was something extraordinary about this place.

"Why is everything so big?!" I said to myself. Yep, except for the golden coins and other valuable materials, the long table, the foods, the door, and all others were really big.

I took a step. Then another. That's when my brain processed the golden coins. I instantly forgot about everything and pounced onto one pile of the golden coins. I whooped with joy while grabbing the golden coins with my hands.

"I'm rich!" I yelled. Then I started to put the coins into my pants pockets, and my ragged leather jacket pockets.

I sang "Jingle Bells" while running up the staircase. When I reached the top, I grabbed the staff and pulled it out. The opening started to close itself.

I skipped out of the woods and entered my house. I woke my mom up and showed the golden coins that I've brought. When my mom asked where I got the coins, I told her about the staircase leading down into an underground room.

Then she scolded me not to go back to the place. But when I went to bed, I decided to visit the underground room again next day.

In the morning, we counted the money. It turned out that there was enough to buy food, a new cow, and a much bigger field! But we planned to buy them slowly. So, I went to the marketplace to sell our chickens. I spent all morning and afternoon selling chickens.

That night, I went back to the woods and put the staff into the rock again. The ground parted and I ran down the staircase. I entered the huge room and ran toward the pile of golden coins again. Then I heard a sound of a chicken coming from the far corner of the room. I looked toward the direction and saw a big chicken. It was laying eggs. But the eggs . . .

I gulped. The eggs were golden!

"Hope and Harmony!" I exclaimed. I ran to the chicken and gently picked it up. The chicken just looked at me for a moment and lost interest. I scooped the eggs up with my free hand and put them into my pocket.

"I'm so lucky!" I mumbled and started to run up the staircase.

When I arrived home, I woke my mom again and showed the chicken and the golden eggs. She scolded me again. And I decided to visit that place again.

The next evening, I entered the underground room again. This time, I saw a golden horn lying on the ground. I picked it up with both hands and gazed at with awe. I didn't notice a figure standing up from the chair at the far end of the room.