The Grapevine Elves and the Magic Pebble

The first of many stories has arrived! Please tell us what you think!

By Roy E. Moxley

The question really isn’t when do children start to see elves behind leafy plants. It’s when do we stop. My grand-daughter, Ella, is eight years old, and she knows all about the elves behind the grapevine between their back yard and the alley.
Ella was on the swing her father had built out of pipe. It was really big and set in concrete, so it didn’t jump around even when Ella got so high she could see over the top. She was a little thirsty, but not thirsty enough to go into the house for a drink of water. Instead she went over to the grapevine for a nice juicy grape. They were big and purple with little seeds inside that you could spit out or crunch, depending on what kind of mood you were in. She saw a perfect bunch and just as she reached out her hand to grab it, another little hand from the other side plucked it first.
“Hey,” said Ella, “that was mine”.
“Was, being the key word there,” replied a cheerful voice from the other side, “It’s a good thing there’s more for everyone.”
“I didn’t see you from the swing-set,” said Ella with a little bit of suspicion in her voice. “Do you live behind the alley?”
“Sort of,” was the reply, “my name is Julie and this is Jake,” a mumbled hello came from around the chewing of sweet grapes. As Ella looked through a break in the leaves she saw twinkling eyes and slightly pointed ears of two children about her size.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you at school,” said Ella with a little puzzle in her voice, “are you new here?”
“No, we’ve been here for a long time,” commented Julie. “We were here when this grapevine was planted.” Ella looked down at the base of the vine. It was as big around as her arm. The vine twisted around rails that formed the fence to the ally, making a green wall as tall as Ella and half the width of the yard. “Grapes are good,” went on Julie, “but we need to head out to get some raspberry plants. We could really use some help. Would you like to come?”
Ella knew she couldn’t just go off with some new kids she just met, even if they were very nice. “I’ll have to ask my mom,” she replied.
“No problem,” said Jake, more clearly now that he had finished his grapes. “We know what she’ll say.”
Ella ran into the house and saw her mother at the sink getting things out of the fridge to start getting ready for supper. Mom was holding Ella’s baby brother in one arm and a bunch of celery in the other. “Mom, can I go help some kids I met get some raspberries?” Ella knew she’d need to add something or there was no chance. “Their names are Jake and Julie and they told me they’ve lived here a long time”.
“That’s fine Ella,” answered her mother, looking in the crisper drawer for the carrots, “don’t cross any roads and be back before supper.” Since their house was in the middle of a not so large block of houses, you couldn’t go very far without coming to a small street.
“OK mom,” sang back Ella as she headed out the door and back to the grapevine.
In the middle of the vine, right near the base, Ella saw Julie getting one more bunch of grapes. “Just a little snack for the trail,” Julie explained. “You need to come through the vine here by this break,” she went on. Ella wondered why she couldn’t just go around but she squeezed through the gap in the vine to stand next to Julie. Funny, she was in a little clearing with big trees up in front of her. There was no sign of the alley at all from this side of the vine.
“Don’t worry about that,” explained Jake as he saw Ella kind of looking around, wondering about things. “Your house is just back through the vine. You can get there any time. But now we need to head out for those raspberries”. With that he headed down a path that led into the trees.
“Come on,” said Julie as she took Ella’s hand, “We do have a long way to go.”
“My mom said I couldn’t cross any roads and I have to be home in time for supper”, explained Ella as they ran down the path after Jake.
“Don’t worry about that.” Said Julie, “where we’re going there aren’t any roads and you’ll get home in plenty of time. It’s really the Frost Giants we need to be concerned about”.
They were now fully in the trees and Jake was well ahead running along a smooth but winding path. He skipped over the occasional tree root and ducked under a low branch every now and then. Ella was proud of how she was keeping up. She liked to play soccer and was in the running club at school. “You’re running with elves now,” laughed Julie as they went on, “there’s no time to get tired with us.”
“What was that about giants?” asked Ella with just a hint of concern in her voice. They had been running for what Ella guessed was more than a mile and she still wasn’t tired. “Running with elves is pretty cool”, she thought.
“Well, giants are pretty selfish,” replied Julie, “they think that just because they like raspberries that no one else should be able to have them.”
“Kind of like a little brother who won’t share a cookie,” said Jake, who was now running along next to Ella and Julie. “We’re really doing them a service by helping them to see that it’s better to give than to receive.”
“Elves are really good about helping others that way,” went on Julie, with only the slightest twinkle in her eye that made Ella wonder if she was being teased just a little bit. Of course from what Ella could tell elves always had a little twinkle in their eye. But then Jake and Julie were the only elves that Ella had ever met and so she realized this might be making a generalization.
“How far is it to these frost giants?” asked Ella. Not that she was worried. It was really fun to just go running along without ever getting tired. Maybe concerned was a better word. She knew mom would be worried if she were late for dinner.
“We’ll be there in no time,” said Jake, “and it’s really Frost Giants, not frost giants. You’ll understand that when we get there. But maybe it is time to stop for a snack.” Jake had just seen a little patch of strawberries next to the trail and he came to a screeching halt. “Strawberries are my favorite vegetable,” he said, trying to talk around a juicy berry.
“Strawberries aren’t a vegetable,” corrected Ella, “Vegetables are like broccoli, string beans and brussel sprouts.” Of course that didn’t stop her from eating several herself.
“You eat your vegetables and I’ll eat mine,” answered Jake, “of course there is a lot to be said for grapes, peaches and especially raspberries.”
Julie just smiled at Ella and shook her head. “We will need to start being quiet about now. Giants can be as dumb as a stone post, but with ears as big as dinner plates they can sure hear.”
“And with eyes as big as sugar bowls we can see elves eating our strawberries too” came a deep voice from somewhere around the treetops.
Julie was up in an instant and as she stood she whispered to Ella, “quick, pick up a pebble, we’ll need it.”
Ella had no idea why she would need a pebble, but she looked around and saw a perfect pebble. It was about the size of the end of her thumb and smooth with shiny flakes surrounded by grey and purple. She held it tight in her fist and looked over at Julie. Ella wasn’t exactly worried, although concerned might be accurate. There was apparently something really big awfully close, but after all she was with a couple of elves. What could go wrong?
Julie, in the meantime, was standing with her hands on her hips looking up at the treetops. What Ella had thought were a couple of tree trunks with big knobs about ten feet off the ground moved from the side of the trail to a clear area above them. A tanned face looked down at them and growled, “And exactly how dumb is a stone post?” it asked.
The giant put his hands on his knees and bent down to peer at Julie. Moving a little to the side of the trail, Ella tried to blend into the bushes next to her; with some success. “I’d put a stone post somewhere between a turnip and a paving stone,” answered Julie without a trace of fear in her voice. “You’d better just watch out though,” she went on, “my friend Ella has a magic pebble, so you don’t scare me.”
‘Magic?’ thought Ella, ‘it’s just a rock I picked up’.
“Hmmm,” rumbled the giant, “I guess being 40 feet taller than you doesn’t count for much when you have a magic pebble.” He brought his face even lower and stared hard at Julie. She just stared back without a word. Ella could almost feel sparks flying between them when the giant broke out into a big grin and said, “Oh Julie, I’ve missed you and Jake coming around here. Why didn’t you send a note?”
“Well, you know it’s time for raspberry planting, so of course we were coming up. You should have known.” And she stepped forward to give a big hug to one of the ankles rising from an enormous foot.
“I’m sorry Grunge,” she said looking up at the huge face above her, “I meant to say a Frost Giant was as dumb as a stone post, not you.”
“No offence taken,” said Grunge with a gentle smile, “aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Ella was almost standing inside a big bush and she stepped out with a guilty shuffle. Julie took Ella’s hand (the one that wasn’t clenched around the pebble) and pulled her further into the trail, “Grunge,” she said, “This is our friend Ella.” Grunge had lowered his hand almost to the ground and Julie put her hand around a little finger and pulled it over to Ella’s hand, “Ella, this is Grunge, my friend and the nicest giant this side of the rainbow bridge”.
“Very pleased to meet you,” rumbled Grunge, “Any friend of Julie’s is a friend of mine. But where’s Jake? I was sure I heard him earlier.” Just then a yell came hurtling down from the tree tops, followed by Jake who landed firmly on the giant’s neck.
“I’ve got you now, you pillaging pile of pandering poetry.” Jake bellowed, “Julie, you tie his toes together while I pull his ears over his eyes!! Once he falls over it will take him all day to get back up again.” Of course Jake was right about that. Giants are so big, that if they fall down on the ground it can take them a very long time to get back up. That’s why they have beds that are so high. It makes it easy to step down onto the ground.
“Ho, Ho, Ho,” laughed Grunge as Jake did climb around to swing from his ear to straddle his saddle sized nose. “You’ve got me now. I surrender to your famous flying tackle.” Grunge gently reached up and held Jake by the back of his shirt and set him on the ground. “That was brave Jake,” he said easily with his hands back on his knees, “but why would you need a flying tackle when Ella has a magic pebble?”
Ella started to say, “but it’s just a rock I …” when Julie interrupted, “It’s always good to stay in practice Grunge, after all, the Frost giants aren’t as nice as you are. Especially when they find out we want to take some of their raspberry plants for our garden.”
“That is a good idea,” answered Grunge, “of course the Frost Giants took your raspberry plants in the fall but they are quick to take offence.” He turned his head slightly to look at Ella, “may I be permitted to hold the magic pebble?” He asked politely.
Ella glanced over to Julie, who gave her a small nod and a wink. Ella held out her hand with the pebble to the giant, who put his own table sized hand under hers. She dropped the pebble into the middle of his palm and he lifted it up to his eye to examine it closely.
“First rate,” muttered the giant, “very nice shape and size with just a touch of quartz under a light sprinkling of amethyst. The giant seemed lost in another world as he continued, “The mica balances the granite and attracts the eye without being gaudy.” He looked Ella in the eye and said, “You have done well. This is a magic pebble to be proud of,” and he dropped it carefully back into Ella’s hand. She stared at it in wonder. How in the world did he see so much in such a little rock she’d picked up next to the trail? She carefully dropped the pebble into her pocket.
“Have you got a plan?” asked Grunge, as he raised a bush sized eyebrow and looked at Julie. “You don’t just walk up to Frost Giants and ask for a bunch of their favorite food. It’s the perfect time to be planting raspberries and they know it. They might even be expecting you to come and get your plants back.”
“We’re elves,” said Jake as he started munching on another strawberry, “of course we have a plan. That’s why we brought Ella. We sneak in, get the plants, and sneak out…what could be easier? If there’s trouble, we’ll have Ella use the magic pebble. Ella gets home in time for dinner and we still get home in time to plant the berries.” That didn’t really sound like much of a plan to Ella, but sometimes simple is best. With that, Grunge bid them farewell and Jake, Julie, and Ella ran along the path to the land of the Frost Giants.
“I’m sure glad Grunge was nice,” commented Ella, with a bit of a question in her voice, “he was as big as a tree. He could have squished me like a bug if he wanted to.”
“He would never do that,” answered Jake with a little bit of shock, “He’s our friend. We helped him plant strawberries and peaches and plums and cherries so he could have some of his favorite foods when the Frost Giants kicked him out of their land for being too small.”
“Ulp,” thought Ella, “too small?” She was also a little worried about a plan that relied on a magic pebble. She’d just picked up the pebble because Julie told her to when Grunge showed up. She didn’t think there was anything magic about it. Grunge seemed to take it seriously though. He seemed to be pretty smart, not at all as dumb as a stone post.
Way too soon, or so it seemed to Ella, Jake held up his hand to signal stop, without saying a word. Julie smiled to Ella, her eyes shining. The three slipped off the trail into some low bushes on the side of a hill and crept to the top. Hiding under a wild rose just coming into its flowers, being careful to avoid the thorns, they looked out to the valley below.
Nothing like houses could be seen, but what appeared to be huge platforms were laid out between stands of trees. Giants were sprawled out on these platforms with arms and legs draped everywhere. “So why are they called Frost Giants?” asked Ella in a whisper.
Julie looked at her, “Because they’re really big,” she explained.
“No,” hissed Ella, “the Frost part.”
“Oh,” said Julie, “That’s because they live in the cold. When the weather turns even colder in the Fall, they get stronger. In the Spring, when it’s warming up, they get kind of tired and aren’t as strong.”
Even from the hilltop the sound of snoring could be heard. “It’s after lunch,” breathed Ella to Julie lying next to her. She was afraid to make more sound than a rustling breeze. “Are they all still sleeping?”
“I’m sure they were up late last night eating frozen pizza and playing video games,” answered Julie, also just barely loud enough to be heard. When Ella tried to think of the TVs they must use for their games, Jake mouthed the words, “think wide screen.”
“But there will be one awake somewhere keeping an eye on things. But they’re more worried about each other than they are of us. One of them is always trying to take the last of the root beer.” Julie finished.
“Root beer?” wondered Ella.
“To go with the pizza” was Jake’s only response. “There!!” he pointed at one giant slouched against a small mountain on the other side of the valley. “We sneak in, make one distraction on the North side when we grab the plants, and we’re out to the South. No problem-o”
“Problem-o?” asked Ella, “do you speak Spanish?”
“Only Elvish, comprendé?” was Julie’s reply. “Let’s go.” She whispered as she crawled out from the bush and back down the hill. They tiptoed between trees with giants sleeping above until they came to a big garden in the middle of the valley (Ho, Ho, Ho). Nothing could be heard but the loud snoring of giants, but Ella knew by how quiet Jake and Julie were that they couldn’t risk a single sound.
Jake pointed to rows of sticks pointing out of the ground. Ella did her best silent “Are you kidding, that’s just a bunch of sticks. We came all this way for that?” but Julie just nodded her head.
“Time for the distraction” breathed Jake. Julie nodded and took her bow and an arrow silently off her back. She smoothed the feathers on the arrow, aimed carefully to the North and let it fly. It arched into the air without a sound and on the far end of the valley it cut through the stem of a single leaf that had forgotten to fall,…well, last fall. The leaf fluttered to the ground and landed with the slightest rustle against a blade of grass.
“What was that??” bellowed the guard giant on the other side of the valley.
Jake and Julie popped out from under the bushes and each gently pulled up about 6 of the “sticks”, which were really raspberry starts, and ran back to Ella. “Now the fun starts,” said Julie with excitement in her whisper. “Let’s run now.”
Ella wondered how they could possibly outrun those giants, but running was clearly what was needed now. All around them giants were crashing off their sleeping platforms with a “Huh, What, Who’s there?” But all of them were looking to the North.
“That won’t keep them for long,” panted Julie as they ran, “there were more at home than I thought. We’re going to need to use the magic pebble.”
“But it’s not magic,” protested Ella as they ran, “it’s just a rock I found along the trail.”
“Magic is magic,” was Jakes only answer. “We can trip the giants while they’re running after us but we need them to step in the right spot. That’s your job with the magic pebble. Here’s what you do…” with that Jake explained how Ella would be the key to the whole escape. “You can do it. We trust you.”
“Great,” thought Ella, “I just hope I trust me.” What she said was, “I’ll do my best.” And Jake and Julie both thought that would be just right.
As they ran down the path to home, Ella and the elves heard the shouting of the giants behind them get more organized. Pretty soon they heard the thumping of giant feet coming behind them. Jake and Julie ran into the trees and Ella picked a wide, open area to place the pebble down in the path and moved back away from the oncoming giants. With her hands on her hips she stood, more or less bravely, in the middle of the trail waiting.
It seemed like only a few seconds later she saw the heads of the oncoming giants above the far tree tops. As their whole bodies came into view, Ella let out a shout of, “Stop right there!!” The giants were so startled they came to a skidding stop where they were, about 50 yards on the other side of the, not so magical looking, pebble. “I’m only going to give you this one chance to go on back home or you’ll be sorry,” yelled Ella up to the giants. “You can go home healthy now, or you can mess with my magic pebble and go home for bandages. It’s your choice but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Ella was glad she was too small for the giants to see how much she was shaking. That pebble looked awfully small.
“You mean that little thing?” bellowed the leading giant, pointing down at the pebble. “Nothing that small can hurt something as big as me. In fact you’re too small to even bother with. I could stomp on you and not even feel it.”
“I know I have to use small words to get through to you,” replied Ella, starting to get a little angry herself, “Just because someone or something is small doesn’t make it less important. Go home now, or go home with bruises. It’s up to you.”
“Humpf,” said the giant as he tried to pick up the pebble. It was too small for him to get his fingers on. “We’ll see about that.” With that he and all the giants took a big step over the pebble and started after Ella.
She skipped ahead just a bit and sang, “Giants and gnomes can shake their bones but nothing here can hurt me.” That just got the giants mad. After they stepped over the pebble, they were only looking at her. Of course, that was the whole plan. They didn’t see the rope that Jake and Julie pulled up from the dust on the path. The giants put their foot right in front of the rope and were all tripped and came crashing to the ground. Ella knew to jump just to the side to avoid the falling giants.
Jake and Julie left the rope and came running up to Ella. “Great job,” they said, “now it’s back home in time for dinner.
Later that evening, after a wonderful dinner with her family, Ella went back to the grapevine for just a bit. “Are you there?” she whispered. A quiet giggle answered from the other side and a hand came out with a palm full of raspberries.
“They grow really fast here,” said Julie as Ella quietly took a couple and enjoyed their juicy sweetness. “Thanks for your help back on the path.”
“It was fun,” answered Ella, “Call me anytime you need me.”
“You too Ella,” was the reply, “but don’t forget this.” And Julie’s hand came through with a little pebble cradled in her palm.
That night, Ella put the pebble on her dresser, next to her family’s picture. “What’s that?” asked her Mom, looking at the pebble.
“Just something I picked up on the other side of the grapevine,” replied Ella, “It’s magic.”
“Hmmm,” was her Mom’s answer, “pretty…. a nice balance of mica and granite.”

{To be continued…}
© Roy E. Moxley 2011
All rights reserved