The Grumpy Giant's Garden

High on a windy hill stood the gray stone castle of a giant who built a twelve-foot granite wall around his orchard to keep the village children away. He slammed the heavy iron gate shut and padlocked it, declaring that no one would ever set foot on his green lawns.

While spring bloomed with daffodils and warm sunshine throughout the valley below, perpetual winter snow drifted across the giant's silent courtyard, freezing his fountain and killing the delicate blossoms on his apple trees.

One morning, a little boy climbed through a breach in the stones, reaching for a frozen branch. The giant took his heavy iron pickaxe, struck the granite barrier until it crumbled into gravel, and lifted the child up to the sunlit branch.

Pink peach blossoms burst across the orchard as children flooded into the garden. Sitting beneath the blossoming boughs, the giant shared sweet winter pears and fresh cider with all his new neighbors as warm spring air filled the courtyard.