okay, so I'll quit whining!

grins

have an excerpt instead. From Jack and the Big Old Beanstalk, my story from Torquere's Torqued Tales:

They lay in a sweaty tangle of arms and legs, both of them panting and smiling for the first time in what seemed like weeks. Jack took a lazy, sloppy kiss, his body feeling like it had been run over by the plow.

“You sure tore me up, Dane,” he said, watching his hand as it slid up Dane’s ribs.

“You brought me candy,” Dane said, kissing him right back. “I’m sorry I made you sleep in the lean-to.”

“I ain’t, if it gets me this.” He sighed, though, knowing it was time to get up. “We should see where that stalk goes.”

“What?” Dane pulled back to stare at him, just like the night before. “Why?”

“Well, that tinker feller said there was riches involved. Now, you know I ain’t inclined to flights of fancy, but it did grow to the sky without no water.”

“Huh. Well, get yer clothes on, then, and let’s go ‘fore it gets too hot.”

They got dressed without any more argument, and started climbing, both of them huffing and puffing long before they reached the top. They had to be crazy. They ought to be out plowing. But they climbed on, both of them resting a bit on one big bean shell.

When they finally popped up at the top of one big ‘ole bean that had split out of the shell, they gaped in amazement.

“Dane. Do you see?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you believe?”

“No.”

There was a whole ranch up there. Hell, the cows was as big as their little house, no lie. Giant cows. Giant everything. And a ranch house sat back along the line of the bean, looking like a fortress to a pair of rag dolls.

“Should we?”

“Hell, yes.” Dane took off like a shot, dodging cow flops bigger than their whole bodies.

“Well, shit. Now who’s a believer?”