fandomhigh | Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Eight (03/05)

Monday, March 5, Period 2

Students arriving at the Danger Shop will find themselves in an idyllic country setting. A thatched hut stands nearby, and in the yard grazes a rather thin-looking cow. Once the students are assembled, Aziraphale gives his instructions for the lesson.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I have just a bit of business to take care of. First, I'll need written excuses for absences for the following students:

Armony Eiselstein (two absences)
~~Conner McKnight (one absence)~~ excused
Matilda Wormwood (one absence)

"Also, come prepared next week to participate in an open discussion. This will be a chance to study for your upcoming test, and to discuss any questions or ideas you have about the lessons and assignments so far. You may also use the time to meet with your project groups.

"And one final announcement: our field trip with the Conflict Management class will be on March 16-18. We'll be traveling by train up to New York City, where we'll visit the United Nations and take in a Broadway play. More information will be handed out next week, along with your room assignments."

LESSON: "Today you'll be participating in another Immersion Study. This one is based on your reading from our previous class: "Jack and the Beanstalk". You'll each be taking on the role of Jack, and your assignment is to get into the giant's tower and steal three items: a bag of gold, a hen that lays golden eggs, and a singing harp. You can slip in on your own, or try to get assistance from the giant's wife. However, be aware that you can only carry one item at a time, and the giant's wife will become more suspicious each time you return. Also, if the giant himself discovers you, he'll attempt to capture you. If the giant gives chase, you may use whatever means you like to defeat him. The assignment is completed when you return with the third item."

[OOC: There are OCD threads below for three encounters: first to steal the bag of gold, second for the hen, and third for the harp. As mentioned above, you can play out the scenario as it is traditionally told, or you can be creative and put your own spin on it. The giant and his wife will respond accordingly. The Danger Shop will provide you with whatever materials you might need, but keep in mind that it will also equip your adversaries in the same manner. If you feel you won't have time to do all three phases, feel free to skip ahead, or to SP the tags. You have until the end of the week to play it out.]

ASSIGNMENT: Write a brief essay on your experience with the Immersion Study, focusing particularly on the theme of Coming of Age or Morality as it applies to this tale. There is no reading assignment for next week.

[ooc: Class is going up early because I may be somewhat AFK in the morning. ~~Please wait for~~ OCD is now up, and class is in session. I will catch tags for Aziraphale and the lesson in the morning.]

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Not wanting to interrupt in case the occupants were busy, Cedric tried the door knocker. It was large and heavy and he managed one single knock.

Wow, he really need to work out.

That single knock produced a loud, echoing sound, and the door was soon opened. A woman dressed in an apron and mob cap stood there. She was tall, taller than Cedric, but not as imposing as the size of the tower would suggest.

"Eh, and what can I do for you, boy? You'd best run along, before my husband returns."

"I'm sorry for intruding," he said, nodding, "but I was hoping you could spare some warmth for just a moment? I've been traveling long distances and yours is the first place I've come to since arriving."

The woman was really very soft-hearted, and she gave in when Cedric asked to take a moment by her fire. Waving him inside with a quick look out to be certain her husband wasn't around, she said, "Come and warm yourself, and have something to eat. But you'll have to be gone before my husband returns. He's a giant, and he'll roast you and eat you and crack your bones."

There was a pot of savory stew on the fire, and she dished Cedric up a hearty serving, in a huge bowl. Everything inside the tower was oversized -- the table was high enough for him to walk easily under it, and three of him could fit inside the wood box by the fire.

"You've a very fine home, ma'am," Cedric said, looking around for some place that might store a bag of gold.

"Oh, that's kind of you, boy," the woman replied, going about her housework once she'd handed Cedric the bowl of stew. "Eat that up quick, when my husband returns he'll want to count his gold, and if he finds you here he'll eat you up."

As she spoke, she waved her hand toward a wooden box set up on a high shelf, well above Cedric's head. The box was enormous, the size of a large steamer trunk, and the shelf was at least twenty feet off the ground.

"I could count that for him," Cedric offered. "Perhaps so he could come home and eat and relax?"

The woman pondered the offer for a moment, eyeing Cedric with suspicion.

"Well...I suppose if you had it done quickly, before he got back, he wouldn't know it had been a human boy had done it. And then he'd just be grateful for the counting to be finished."

With a nod, she pulled up a tall stepladder and climbed up to the shelf. Exhibiting a surprising strength, the woman retrieved the wooden chest and set it on the table, then motioned for Cedric to climb up the stepladder so that he could reach. "Be sure to put it all back when you're finished," she admonished him, opening up the box with an enormous key, to reveal several huge sacks full of coins inside.

Then she headed out of the room to continue her housework.

[ooc: Must go AFK for a couple of hours, will catch tags when I return.]

Cedric was struck nearly dumb by all the money in the chest. "I will, I promise," he called after her.

As soon as she was out of eyesight, he grabbed something nearby and started piling gold coins into it very quietly.

The silence of the tower was broken after a few moments by the sound of the front door opening and then closing with a loud bang, followed by heavy echoing footsteps that made the room shake.

"I've come home for my lunch!" roared a voice, "And to count my gold! Where is my wife?"

The woman hurried into the room, motioning frantically to Cedric, and pulling open the top of the woodbox. "Quickly, hide yourself!"

She didn't seem to notice what Cedric was doing.

There's something to be said about Cedric's sense of improvisation when he starts stuffing the half filled bag of coins under his shirt while shuffling away from the chest.

He dove into the box and stilled.

Just as the woman closed the lid, the heavy footfalls entered the room, and the voice called out, "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead, I’ll have his bones to grind my bread."

"Nonsense," the woman's voice replied. "There's nothing to smell here but the stew for your lunch. I've already got your gold out for you," the woman replied. "See, it's on the table, all set out for you to count."

A scraping sound followed, as the giant pulled out a chair and settled in at the table. The sounds of slurping and chewing followed, and then the giant announced in a sleepy voice, "I'll finish the counting after my nap."

Soon, Cedric could hear the sounds of snoring.

Cedric pushed the top of the box open and looked around. When he saw the woman's husband sleeping, he gently climbed out of the box.

The man at the table was huge, perhaps thirty feet tall, and his snores were almost deafening. The woman, spotting Cedric as he crept from the box, motioned for him to follow her, and hurried toward the door.

Holding it open, she held a finger to her lips, and waved him outside, not seeming to notice whether he might be hiding something inside his shirt.

Cedric skittered outside quickly, mumbling a quick 'thank you' to the woman and keeping his back mostly to her.

Apparently the gold wasn't missed immediately, because no one raised the alarm, and Cedric was able to get safely to the beanstalk without being pursued.

Traditional Fairy Tales, Class Eight (03/05)

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