Jack woke up in the middle of the afternoon and was amazed at what he could see. A huge tall gigantic beanstalk had grown from the field and reached high into the clouds, as far as his eye could see. It had large leaves on stems which would be easy to climb.

It must have grown from Willie Tinkerer’s Wonder Beans, he surmised.

Jack knew that nothing could be salvaged from what he had left behind with Gretel. The future, he was sure, lay ahead, at the top of the beanstalk. He began a long climb, and marvelled at the sights. He could see over the woods, into the town, and even beyond the town below, to the valleys that led off to other towns he’d never visited. Why walk off to them, when he could climb into the clouds?

Jack climbed higher and higher and soon saw white clouds around him, obscuring some of the leaves of the beanstalk. He climbed through, and found that, beyond the clouds, the beanstalk emerged at the top of a hillside where even the flowers were taller than Jack himself. Across a huge garden, with scenic giant pathways and flowers, Jack saw a gigantic mountainous castle. Did fortune lie within? There would certainly be adventure.

Jack began a slow journey across the garden, until he came to the towering door of the castle. He looked up, and saw that the door knocker was high out of his reach. He climbed up onto the step and then saw that there was enough space under the door for him to slide under it. Jack made his way into a grand luxurious room, and walked for a while, until he saw a 15 year old giant girl walking towards him. She saw him and stopped, looking down. He was about the height of her ankle.

“Hello!” he called, “I’m Jack.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, and welcome to Brobdingnag, Jack,” she said, reaching down and picking him up, “But it is not safe for you to stay here. My mother’s favourite dinner is a little boy like you. Every time she catches one, she makes a great ceremony of eating him.”

“Really?” said Jack, “Can your father do nothing to stop her?”

“Mother’s a widow,” said the girl, “I’m Serena. Oh my! I hear Mother coming. I must hide you.”

Serena noticed a vase of flowers, and quickly concealed Jack between some flowers, so that he could peek out and witness the approach of Serena’s giant mother.

The woman walked into the room and looked at the grand old carpet which lay on the floor.

“Fee fie foe fints.

I see tiny boy footprints.

If he’s young and still unwed

I’ll gulp him whole, until I’m fed!” said the woman.

There was one thing that Serena had not told Jack about her mother. The giantess was the most beautiful woman that Jack had ever seen.

After a while, Dinella returned to her kitchen and walked around, gathering a plate, a glass, and a tray, and setting them on the bench on the other side of the room. Then she came over and looked in at him, and he noticed the difference in their sizes now. Her beaming face was an engrossing sight in front of the glass window.