Chuck's Luck

Note:

I did write this one for the contest but mostly, I wrote this to annoy my choir director

Chuck’s Luck

The old dusty lane was familiar to old Chuck as he wandered home from the tavern, shaking his shaggy brown hair as he walked along the path. The breeze seemed to hum a melody that floated into his ears.

Once upon a time, he had traversed this path as a child and met a man selling magic beans, or rather he collided with him. The disheveled bean salesman fell right on his bum and the beans he was carrying scattered on the ground.

“Sorry, Mister!”, he had said.

He remembered the bean seller glaring at him from beneath a hooded cloak and asking if his name was Jack.

“No sir, my name is Chuck!”

The old bean seller gave a grunt while he busied himself by picking up the beans while Chuck looked on unsure of what to do.

That seemed to be the case for most of Chuck’s life. He meandered around from job to job with very little direction at all, unless he was going to the tavern. Strange things just sort of…happened around him, but he was just an observer in all of it.

This morning, the sun cast a look towards him, making beads of sweat appear on his forehead. He barely noticed it as he walked on the path and straight into a large tree trunk and fell backwards onto the ground.

“Who put this….”, he shouted then stopped as his head began to throb. That was when he noticed it.

The tree looked more like some kind of large spiral staircase that led….somewhere. Chuck began to get dizzy as he slowly rose to his feet and ascended the staircase.

Higher and higher he went each step anticipating that his own bedroom would appear at the end of this strange dream, when suddenly, he felt two hands grab his shoulders.

“There you are! Get over here!”

Chuck opened his mouth to protest , but no words came out of his mouth as he was led by a firm hand into a medium sized room filled with about twenty people.

“Do you realize how long we’ve been waiting?”, the annoyed speaker exclaimed.

“Ummmm….” Chuck tried to focus on the speaker but his throbbing head made that difficult. For some reason, the stranger’s glare and tone seemed awfully familiar.

“FE! FI! FO! FUM!”, came a booming voice that seemed to echo over the whole sky, making Chuck jump out of his skin. As he turned towards the source of the sound, he didn’t feel much better.

“A Giant!!!!”, he squealed and immediately regretted it as he clutched his throbbing head which was already suffering from looking upwards towards the looming and foreboding face of the bearded giant.

“Jim, stop scaring our recruit! It's hard enough to get them as it is!”

“Oh come on! I ain’t scared nobody!”

“Oh really? Then why are you trying to pour table salt on him?”

“Ummmm…good luck”

“JIIMM! You’re gonna get on my last nerve!”

Jim sighed

“Besides, we’re not singing anything with ‘Fe Fi Fo Fum’ in it.’ I’ll let you know when we get one.”

Jim the giant snorted and slumped in disappointment.

“What about my eggs?”, he boomed.

The speaker rubbed his bald head with one hand.

“Jim, you’ve had that goose for eons. It’s not goin’ anywhere!”

“But…”

“And neither are you until I say so!”

There was heavy sigh and slump that shook the floor as the booming voice whispered “okay, boss”

“Thank you, “ the speaker said with barely disguised sarcasm, while giving the sky a look that said “this is what I’ve got to work with! Give me strength!”

He then turned to Chuck who looked around a bleary eyed confusion at the whole scene. Shaking his head, the choir director stood from his stool and walked towards a small bowl on the table and retrieved something that looked like candy and gave it to Chuck.

“Put it in your mouth and suck on it. It’ll help.”

Chuck stared at the candy for a moment and then looked back to the choir director, who still looked so familiar. “The bean seller?”, he thought.

“Well, go ahead!”, the crusty choir director quipped. Leaning forward, he added “Unless you like that hangover you’re sporting!”

Chuck shrugged his shoulders resignedly and took the candy, after which, the choir director handed him a folder filled with music.

“Don’t lose this! You’re gonna need it. Now everyone, take out the “Anacreon” piece. We’re going to be working on it this season.”

There was an audible groan from everyone but Chuck who didn’t know what was happening. His eyes widened as he opened the folder that had landed into his lap with a crack.

One of the women looked towards him and chuckled. “Welcome to the choir, newbie!”

“What?!? Choir??!! But..but….but, I cant sing!”

A deep rumble loud enough to rattle the room, sounded from the back as Jim’s stomach started its protest.

The choir director pushed his glasses down his nose and stared at the hapless Chuck.

“Chuck,” he started slowly. “You better hope that you can learn quickly!”

“But…”

“Jim’s big brother John is achin’ to make a stew!”

“And we’re on the menu unless we can sing!”, said one of the other sopranos. “I sure hope you’re a tenor! We need one if we’re ever gonna have a chance!”

“And ‘Anacreon’ is his favorite!’, one of the altos chimed in.

Beads of sweat poured down Chuck’s face while his mouth hung open in shock.

“Aha! That’s good, Chuck! Look at this, choir! When you sing,keep your mouth going north and south and not east and west! Right?”

“Yes, boss!”, they said in a chorus.

“Okay, Chuck, just do your best, okay?”

As if coming out of a waking dream, Chuck gulped and nodded his head and glanced down at the music that he suddenly found he could read.

“What was in that candy?”, he thought as he sang the tenor part with a perfection of a seasoned opera singer. Chuck shook his head in disbelief as he continued to sing.

After the rehearsal was over and everyone else left, especially Jim the Giant, Chuck approached the choir director.

“You said that you would explain”

The crusty choir director sighed again. “Well, many are called, but few are chosen, Chuck. You chose to climb that beanstalk, right?”

“That was a beanstalk?”

“Uh hunh”

“So, if I had walked around it….”

“You would have found your way home eventually, but not before passing out just in time to become a late night snack for Jim and John!”

Chuck staggered back and collapsed onto a chair as the realization hit him.

There was one silver lining though. At least he found some direction.