around them, as if this part of the world had no color at all, and only a faint wetness and a cutting coldness and a swaying back and forth, back and forth.
“I can’t see!” the frog cried. “I can’t see and it’s cold and it’s wet and I can’t see! I can’t see and I don’t want to DIE!”
Jill’s teeth were chattering. “Frog,” she said, “be quiet. Please.”
“We’re going to die, we’re going to die, weregoingtodieweregoingto . . .” the frog began repeating.
The gray around them was becoming less gray and more white. The cold was not so cold, the wet not so wet. Up, and up, and suddenly Jack felt an unexpected warmth on his face, as if he were getting close to the stove in his kitchen. The gray was now all white, and the white was becoming wispier and wispier.
And then Jack’s head emerged from the clouds.
He gasped.
Jack did not blink as he climbed up to the next branch, nor as he reached his arm out onto the blanket of clouds that surrounded him, nor even as he found that the clouds held him up. He did not blink once. He just stared.
Behind him, Jill pulled herself upwards, her arms shaking with strain, the sweat pouring down her face. She gave one last heave, and then she was above the cloud level.
She saw Jack, standing on the clouds. And then she saw what he was staring at.
“Oh
. . .
”
she said.
Stretching out far, far into the distance was a line of towering white cliffs, undulating in and out before an endless expanse of the purest, deepest blue she could ever have imagined. The white cliffs, a thousand feet high if they were an inch, were topped with green tufts of high grass. Below the cliffs, between them and the pure blue sky, ran a long, smooth cloud beach, against which the blue of the sky gently broke like waves.
Jill gazed down the perfect white sky beach. She felt dizzy. It went on, quite literally, forever.
----
Jack, Jill, and the frog knelt among the clouds. They had walked for an hour down the strand of sky, marveling at the strangeness of it. But now they had stopped, for they had come upon something even stranger.
Just ahead, enormous men were punching each other, repeatedly, in the face.
“What are they doing?” Jill whispered.
A great, fat, bearded man clenched his fist, wound up, and knocked the teeth out of another great, fat, bearded man’s mouth.
The great, fat, bearded man who had had his teeth punched out staggered around for a few moments, wiped the blood from his face, clenched his fist, wound up, and returned the favor.
This continued for a good many minutes. The children watched in horror.
“They look huge . . .” Jack whispered in awe.
“Giant . . .” Jill agreed.
“Not giant,” whispered the frog. “
Giants
. Those are
giants
.”
Neither child asked how the frog knew this, for as soon as he had said it, they knew it was true.
“I’ll go talk to them,” whispered Jack.
“WHAT?” cried the frog.
“What?”
hissed Jill, not quite as loudly.
“Maybe they want to be my friend,” Jack murmured.
Jill and the frog looked at Jack like he was crazy. They were just about to tell him so, in fact, when he stood up and started for the giants.
“Jack!” Jill spat. “Stop!”
“Come back!” cried the frog.
But Jack was already walking toward the giants as if in a trance.
He had not gotten more than a few paces closer, though, when the giants suddenly wiped their bloody faces on their sleeves, turned, and trooped up a tall, thin, white staircase that led directly into a hole in the face of the cliffs. In a matter of moments, they were gone.
Jack hurried forward. Jill, reluctantly, picked up the frog and followed him.
Little Jack found himself at the base of the tall, narrow staircase that led into the cliff. He could see, at the top, a round door. Above the door ran gold lettering which read, T HE C AVE OF H EROES . Before the door stood a tall, thin giant with a gaunt face and a long beard and a shining
“I can’t see!” the frog cried. “I can’t see and it’s cold and it’s wet and I can’t see! I can’t see and I don’t want to DIE!”
Jill’s teeth were chattering. “Frog,” she said, “be quiet. Please.”
“We’re going to die, we’re going to die, weregoingtodieweregoingto . . .” the frog began repeating.
The gray around them was becoming less gray and more white. The cold was not so cold, the wet not so wet. Up, and up, and suddenly Jack felt an unexpected warmth on his face, as if he were getting close to the stove in his kitchen. The gray was now all white, and the white was becoming wispier and wispier.
And then Jack’s head emerged from the clouds.
He gasped.
Jack did not blink as he climbed up to the next branch, nor as he reached his arm out onto the blanket of clouds that surrounded him, nor even as he found that the clouds held him up. He did not blink once. He just stared.
Behind him, Jill pulled herself upwards, her arms shaking with strain, the sweat pouring down her face. She gave one last heave, and then she was above the cloud level.
She saw Jack, standing on the clouds. And then she saw what he was staring at.
“Oh
. . .
”
she said.
Stretching out far, far into the distance was a line of towering white cliffs, undulating in and out before an endless expanse of the purest, deepest blue she could ever have imagined. The white cliffs, a thousand feet high if they were an inch, were topped with green tufts of high grass. Below the cliffs, between them and the pure blue sky, ran a long, smooth cloud beach, against which the blue of the sky gently broke like waves.
Jill gazed down the perfect white sky beach. She felt dizzy. It went on, quite literally, forever.
----
Jack, Jill, and the frog knelt among the clouds. They had walked for an hour down the strand of sky, marveling at the strangeness of it. But now they had stopped, for they had come upon something even stranger.
Just ahead, enormous men were punching each other, repeatedly, in the face.
“What are they doing?” Jill whispered.
A great, fat, bearded man clenched his fist, wound up, and knocked the teeth out of another great, fat, bearded man’s mouth.
The great, fat, bearded man who had had his teeth punched out staggered around for a few moments, wiped the blood from his face, clenched his fist, wound up, and returned the favor.
This continued for a good many minutes. The children watched in horror.
“They look huge . . .” Jack whispered in awe.
“Giant . . .” Jill agreed.
“Not giant,” whispered the frog. “
Giants
. Those are
giants
.”
Neither child asked how the frog knew this, for as soon as he had said it, they knew it was true.
“I’ll go talk to them,” whispered Jack.
“WHAT?” cried the frog.
“What?”
hissed Jill, not quite as loudly.
“Maybe they want to be my friend,” Jack murmured.
Jill and the frog looked at Jack like he was crazy. They were just about to tell him so, in fact, when he stood up and started for the giants.
“Jack!” Jill spat. “Stop!”
“Come back!” cried the frog.
But Jack was already walking toward the giants as if in a trance.
He had not gotten more than a few paces closer, though, when the giants suddenly wiped their bloody faces on their sleeves, turned, and trooped up a tall, thin, white staircase that led directly into a hole in the face of the cliffs. In a matter of moments, they were gone.
Jack hurried forward. Jill, reluctantly, picked up the frog and followed him.
Little Jack found himself at the base of the tall, narrow staircase that led into the cliff. He could see, at the top, a round door. Above the door ran gold lettering which read, T HE C AVE OF H EROES . Before the door stood a tall, thin giant with a gaunt face and a long beard and a shining
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