The Magic JellyBean

The Magic JELLYBEAN


On a rainy day in Princeton N J, when I had just turned fifty years old, the doorbell rang. The postman told me to sign for a package. Thanking him for the special delivery, I went into the house. I raced upstairs and put the box on the flowered quilt, on our bed. I came downstairs and stopped on the landing I smiled at my own photo when I was Sophie’s age.
I stepped down and walked a few feet and fell off the curb.
I dusted myself off and looked around but no one was around.
I picked up my rolling suitcase and sat down on this broken dirty bench. I looked up and saw the plaque. The sign read Welcome to “ Princeton. ”
Just then a brown and white station wagon screeched to a halt. A tall fair skinned man with a grey beard got out and mumbled something under his breath.
He came over and bear hugged me, “Mary Sue, welcome home; sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Daddy. It is good to be home on winter break. “
“Let me take that luggage and put it in the back.
Guess who has missed you and he is waiting for you in the backseat. “
“Luke, I missed you too boy.”
As we headed home, my dad handed me a present.
Our ten year old dog Luke panted happily in the car.
We arrived at our house and I opened the blue and yellow ribbon which was on top of this silver box.
“You shouldn’t of Pa. My birthday is in three days.”
“I couldn’t wait, sweetie.”
“It’s beautiful! “ What is it? “
“Put it around your neck. My Dad gave it to me a long time ago. I have been waiting for the right time to give it to you on your special day.”
“Thank you, Pa. I love it! This is a magical jellybean!”

I smiled and hoped it had come again for me. Just then, the phone rang and I forgot all about my package. My daughter Lucy was coming home from Connecticut College, today. So…I left my fifteen -old son Ian, a note explaining I would be home in half an hour.



Fifteen minutes later, a young boy wearing a blue t-shirt showing “Bart Simpson” skating on the front …… skated up to the door. The boy knelt down to pick up a spare key under the beige woven mat that read:
“W E L C O M E“. Ian closed the door and threw his orange & black backpack on the sofa in the family room. He walked into the kitchen and found the note written by his mother. He tore it off and threw it away and took out a red Gatorade. Ian raced upstairs dropping his black jacket on the landing of the stairs.
Ian dashed into his bedroom lined with “Tony Hawk” pictures on the wall, ceiling and behind his door of his bedroom. Ian turned on his computer and went to the bathroom. Before he went back to his own room, he remembered that he needed to check the garbage pail in his parent’s bedroom.

Ian pushed the door open and saw something that caught his eye. He walked over to the bed and found a package addressed to his mother.
Ian sat down and opened the box. A note written by one of his mom’s best friends “Dot”, was sitting on top of a small package wrapped up in gold tissue paper. Ian first looked around to make sure there was no one watching him. He slowly pulled back the gold tissue paper to reveal: a small wooden box.

Ian opened the lid of the box to see a very strange item laid out on top of a small foam bed. “Wow! I bet this gold jellybean doesn’t taste very good.” Ian was curious and he picked up the golden magical jellybean. As he did, some kind of force pulled him inside the bean. All he could see was a pitched black vortex tunnel, which suspended him in mid air. Ian screamed and tried to move but it was like he was frozen in time.

Just then, a window below him opened up and he fell through the opening. Ian closed his eyes and for a few minutes, believed he was superman. Within a couple of seconds, he fell onto a square bail of hay. Ian dusted himself off and noticed a small mirror in the corner. He walked over and looked at his face. Ian was shocked to find he was wearing a white, button-down shirt, which encased a pair of black suspenders. He was also wearing brown-corduroy pants. Ian looked down at his feet and gasped at the thought of wearing dark-brown loafers.

A burly-red haired older man came walking over to him.
”Jeb, stop fooling and running around with your little brothers.
There are many chores to be done and it’s only 7:15 am. Now, start raking up the manure over there. Stack the new hay bails in the other corner. Move it!! “ Ian was stunned and but something told him to do the jobs. So, with a heavy sigh…. He rolled up his shirt and started moving the manure out of the smelly barn. After that, he used his pitchfork to move the bails of hay to the other barn for the two horses. Ian felt tired and thirsty by the time he was done.
A hand touched his shoulder and Ian came face to face with the older man. The man reminded him of his own father. “ Jeb, good job son. I am sorry if I was harsh with you, earlier. I need you to help out and listen better. Do you understand me, son? “ Ian (Jeb) could muster up was a soft-spoken
“It is okay Dad. “ Pa Livingston extended his big hand and Jeb shook it.
“I reckon it’s time for a bite of your mother’s home cooked ham, mashed potatoes and corn relish. Are you hungry, son? “

“Yes, I am sir. I’ll go and fetch Alistair, Michael, Ben and little Mason.
They should be in the fields where the oxen live. “

“Thanks, Jeb. I knew I could count on your leadership and brotherly love. “

“My brothers and I will see you soon, sir.”

Jeb walked into the direction of the fields where two of his brothers were herding the sheep. Ben was pouring water and food into several buckets for the animals. Little Mason was brushing his horse “Dillion” and feeding him an apple.

“Hi guys, father wants to wash up and take break for lunch.”

“Thanks Jeb, we’ll follow you up to the house,” said Michael.






The five brothers raced on up to the house to find that their father had suffered a heart attack. He was lying on the ground and not moving. Dr. Smith was checking his heart rate and for a few minutes …. Pa opened his weary eyes and looked over the faces of his family. He motioned the oldest boy… Jeb and his last words were………

“Jeb, you are now the man of the house. Keep your brothers in tow and make sure you help Ma as much as possible. Goodbye son. “
Pa Livingston rolled to the other side and as he spoke his last breath, one could see the tongue flop down. His eyes wide as possible and the body lay motionless.

The rooster woke everyone up at 5:30 am the next morning.
All of the girls helped their mother in the kitchen. The boys got the farm organized.
About 8:00 am, Mary skipped up to where the boys were.
She explained that their mother wanted them to come and have snack at the house.
Each of the boys took off their straw hats and hung them on the hooks.
Everybody sat down at the table, Jeb said, “Grace” the one that his father used to say.
The rest of the family whispered “amen “, after a minute.
Everyone politely passed plates and food around the table.
After all of her precious children had finally gone to bed, Delilah Livingston blew out her candle to remember her husband.
Before Ms Livingston went to bed, she opened up a note from inside her tiny hands. It was a love letter from Angus, her deceased husband. She put on her small wiry spectacles and read the letter in silence.

Friday June 2, 1880

To my beloved Delilah,

I love you with all my heart and I will always be your guiding angel.
Please don’t worry your precious heart about the farm; Jeb and the
Boys will take care of the place. Let the girls help out more and you
take the much-needed rest. It’s time for Jeb to move out and settle
down with a job and a wife. It’s going to be hard but you need to let
your oldest son lives his own life. The older girls need to learn how
to sew .You can teach them and write more of your stories.
I can feel that my heart is flickering out like the candle.
I don’t have a lot of time on this earth. God is calling me!
I love you and I will always guide our kids.
Good-Bye…my sweet .God is watching!
Your Loving Husband,
Angus




Ma Livingston cried for some time and then walked over to the window. She gasped and smiled because she saw a shooting star soaring through the moonlit sky. At that moment she felt her heart jump for joy, she was going to be okay. Angus is now her angel and he will guide her into her new path. As she opened the door to her room, she laughed and the wooden door closed behind her.


The next morning, Ma had a heart to heart talk with her son Jeb. He just listened to his quiet, courageous and headstrong mother. After listening for a while, he spoke and explained that he would visit every chance, he got. With a heavy heart, Jeb strolled into the fields to find his brothers and sisters. He motioned to them to form a circle and sit with him. Jeb then sadly began to explain why he needed to go forth on his own. He told them that he was going on a journey of self-exploration. A adventure of a lifetime that would bring him closer to god’s vision. Afterwards everyone hugged and cried and then Jeb proclaimed that he must go. Jeb picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. As he started to walk, he turned around and glanced over at the image of his siblings standing. He turned around again and waved back………….his siblings kept waving until Jeb was out of sight.

Jeb walked for several miles until he came to a fork in the road.
He put his bag in the middle and sat down. He waited for a
buggy to come rolling on by. Jeb looked at the pocket watch, his father had given him. He had been waiting for over an hour. He wiped the sweat off his brow and shook his head. Then he heard a voice and it was his father saying ” it is going to be ok, son.”

“Wow!! I must be dreaming” and just then, a buggy rolled up to him.

“Hello there …….. young man. Would you like a ride?
Where are you going, son? “

“I’m not quite sure ……… sir. I’ am also looking for work too.”

“We’ll, you are in luck young man. I can go as far as the river and then you can take the barge across to the new city that they are building. Hop on in, young lad.
By the way, my name is: Mr. Clemens and this strapping young lad next to me is Samuel. My boy is only 6 years old he loves to read.
He tells me, he’s going to write stories about the Mississippi. “

“What’s your name, son? “

“Jeb Livingston, nice to meet you sir. Hi ….. little guy. How are you folks? “

“ I’m not a little guy and I like to draw. Can I draw you Jeb?
“Sure. Sam . I bet you are a gifted artist.
The next three hours, the three guys talked about Abraham Lincoln, farming and reading books.
Jeb thanked his kind companions and headed off to find the barge. He walked along the river and saw his reflection and laughed. He then noticed something shiny or gold in the river. So he cupped his rugged, callous hands and captured the item. He looked at what was in his hands really hard and couldn’t figure out what it was. He thought he could take a bite of it but he was wrong. “Oh well …… “he thought and tossed it back in the river. Jeb didn’t realize was that he had found a Magical Jellybean. The Jellybean had powers that helped a person travel through time. Once the Jellybean gets touched it follows their master. When the Jellybean hit the water, it automatically bounced out and fell into Jeb’s pocket. Jeb walked down the dirt path and saw the barge and paid a coin to travel across. He sat in the back and saw the beautiful landscape and smiled. He was exhausted!

The rope caught the post on the other side and the captain tied it tightly. The captain said“ Have a good day, young man.”
He handed Jeb a piece of paper. It read: The first annual Harvest Festival in Jackson ,Mississippi .Come one and all ! Have any questions go see ………………………… Mayor George Biloxi. Jeb was amazed at the interesting buildings he was seeing .He had never traveled far from his small farm before. He was experiencing new things and adventures. Places, smells and people were all new to him. It was wonderful!
Just then someone bumped into Jeb and he got spooked, the person mumbled “sorry.” Jeb walked further on towards the center of the quaint town. All of a sudden, a lot of noise erupted behind him. He saw a small plump man pointing at him. Motioning to a man with a badge and yelling,“ That boy stole my pocket watch. Go get him Chief Williams. I want it back now!” Jeb froze and before he could say a word ,the man put handcuffs on him. He was led to a barn that happened to be the local jail that had not been completely built yet. Another man put a rope through the handcuffs and tied Jeb to a post , like a horse. Jeb shook his head and he put his hand into on of his pockets. He took out the jellybean that he thought had been tossed out . He smiled and started to remember a prayer , his Pa had told him. He closed his eyes and noticed his hand glowing and the Jellybean rolled behind him and stopped.






Just then hands touched Jeb’s legs and he turned to face the boy who had bumped into him earlier. Then the Chief came in and said” Young man you are free to go. Old man Rafferty saw Charlie boy do it. He is sitting next to you. I’m sorry for the chains .Let me help you out of those handcuffs. “Jeb mustered “Thank you but what will happen to that boy? “ The chief explained that the boy would have to do community work for his crime. He would also be in the jail for a few days and nights. The Chief took the boy and led him into another room. Before Jeb left, he saw the Jellybean on the wooden floor and he noticed a handle. He tugged at it and finally the door opened. As Jeb looked at the barn one last time, a glowing force pulled him inside a tunnel of darkness.

The window of his parent’s bedroom opened up and Ian fell through and landed hard onto the wooden floor. For a few minutes, he was confused and then stood up .He walked over to his mother’s mirror and was very happy to see himself “Man” he thought, I must have had a bad daydream or something .He noticed that he still had the Jellybean in his pocket. He took it out and smiled.
As he was putting the bean back in the box, his mother said
“Did I ever tell you how your grandfather “Jeb” found that special Jellybean? It’s a really fantastic adventure.
By the way, your grandfather is on the telephone. Why don’t you talk to him?”
Ian said “Sure, mom. I would love to! After I am through, I will set the table and help you with dinner. I love you mom! I am sorry that I have been a troublemaker lately“.
Ian’s mom stood in the doorway and a tear rolled down her cheek .She couldn’t believe that her son was being helpful and nice. She was glad that Ian was changing his bad habits one day at a time. Mrs. Livingston closed the box up and as she did, noticed a glow coming from the Magic Jellybean. She smiled and then went downstairs carefully to be with her amazing children.

THE END