Jack's Feather

an ABC Story for Kids
Story by Mia Ortiz and Patricia Ycasiano, 1994

A young lad named Jack woke up and greeted the morning with a frown.
Before having breakfast his mother asked him to sell their cow for they have no money left for food.
Corky the cow was Jack’s best friend so he left their house with much despair.
During his trip towards the market, Jack encountered an old man who took interest in Corky.
Ernie, the old man, convinced Jack to give him the cow in exchange for an old bottle saying that it was a priceless antique.
Foolishly, Jack accepted the bottle and ran home with a smile on his face.
“Good Heavens!!!” Jack’s mother exclaimed when she found out that Jack sold the cow for a worthless piece of junk.
His mother furiously threw the bottle against the wall.
Inside the bottle, the genie that lived there was awaken from a thousand years of slumber.
Jack was the only one who can see the genie for his mother was too old to believe in genies and other supernatural beings.
Knowing the power of the genie, Jack wished that he would be brought to the castle of the evil dwarf in the sky for he knew that it was the evil dwarf who robbed his father of his wealth and cast a spell on him.
Longing to seek revenge, Jack befriended the evil dwarf’s chicken and asked for one of his feathers.
Making no noise at all, Jack entered the dwarf’s gloomy castle via an underground tunnel that he discovered in search of an entrance.
Nervously, Jack struck a match so that he could find his way through the pitch-black tunnel.
“Oh my God, please whoever you are, help me!” a lady’s voice sang out.
Pity struck Jack’s heart when he saw an enchanted harp lying in the cold and damp tunnel floor, her strings slashed.
Quivering with anger, the lady of the golden harp told Jack about the time when the dwarf was in an exceptionally bad mood ten years ago.
Rick Xavier, the dwarf, asked her to play but because of her fear, she struck a wrong cord and the next thing she knew she was thrown out.
Skillfully, Jack fixed the strings of the golden harp.
Together, they swiftly but stealthily found their way to Rick’s room. There they made sure that their presence would not be sensed by the dwarf with magical powers.
Unaware of Jack’s plan, the lady of the harp started playing. The dwarf found himself unable to resist the sweet, enchanting lullaby music of the lady of the harp, so he fell asleep.
Vigorously, Jack started to tickle the dwarf’s foot with the chicken’s feather.
Waking up, the dwarf could not stop his laughter and giggled uncontrollably.
Xavier the dwarf was about to die with laughter when Jack’s conscience told him to stop.
“Yo man that felt great!” the dwarf exclaimed with a never before seen smile on his face as he thanked Jack for making him laugh for the first time. As a reward, he asked Jack what would he like to have. Jack told him to give him the riches he stole from his father and to reverse the spell that he had cast on his father.
Zipping across the sky with a magic carpet, Jack, the genie, the dwarf and Jack’s father fetched Jack’s mother and brought her to the castle where they all live happily ever after.

Nakita ko sa mahiwagang baul ko. This was our requirement in English Literature when we were in high school. Pwede daw kaming gumawa ng children's stories o diva?! Taas grades namin dyan! May drawing drawing etsos pa yan e.