James, Anna-Maria and the Giant Peach Prologue

Prologue

This is James Henry Trotter. He lived with his mother, and father, and young sister, Anna-Maria, in a cozy little house by the sea.

A young boy of seven years stood on the shore of the beach. He was dressed in a yellow sweater, a blue vest, tan pants, white socks, and brown shoes. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. Every now and then, he would pick up a stone, throw it out into the sea, and watch it splash into the water.

Behind him, a man dressed in a blue, long-sleeved shirt; tan pants, brown shoes, and a brown hat grabbed him up. "Hey, I've got ya!" He laughed, as James giggled.

"Happy birthday, darling," A woman in a pink dress and white shirt and shoes smiled, walking up the sand, carrying a cake with seven lit candles. She had brown hair and eyes, and had a pink cloth tied around her head. Trailing after her, gripping the skirt of her dress to keep up was James' two-year-old sister, Anna-Maria. She had light brown hair in little ringlets, and big brown eyes. She wore a pink and white dress like her mother, white socks, and blue shoes.

James' father set him down so he stood in front of a table with presents. "Now, quickly," James' mother said, holding the cake in front of him. "Blow them out before the wind does."

"Make a wish first." His father advised.

James closed his eyes, thinking about his wish, before blowing all seven candles out. Six of them were ordinary white candles; the one in the middle was a special one. It was a boy riding the back of a grasshopper; on the boy's head was the candle.

Once the candles were dimmed, Anna-Maria clapped her hands, jumping up and down.

It was a wonderful life. They had each other, and they had their dreams.

Later, the whole family lay on a blanket in the sand, watching the clouds go by. "Look!" James exclaimed, pointing at a cloud resembling a two-humped camel. "That cloud looks like a camel. And that one over there," He pointed at another that looked like a train chugging down the track with smoke coming from its pipe. "Looks like a train engine."

"Can you see the tallest building in the world?" Mr. Trotter asked.

Both James and Anna-Maria looked at the clouds. There was a pointed cloud, but it did not resemble the tower their father spoke of. "I can't find it." James said.

"Mm-mmm." Anna-Maria shook her head as well.

Mrs. Trotter turned to her two children and recited the family motto, "Try looking at it another way."

James and Anna-Maria sat up, staring at the cloud, and turned their heads to the right. They saw a cloud resembling the tower: the Empire State Building. "I see it!" James exclaimed.

"I see! I see!" Anna-Maria giggled with delight, clapping her hands.

Mr. Trotter pulled out a travel book from his pocket and showed it to the kids. It had a picture of the Empire State Building on the front, and the words "New York."

"That's where we're going." He said. "On a great ship that will take us across the ocean, and we'll go right to the top of that building. The four of us, on top of the world."

"Are there any kids there, like Anna-Maria and me?" James asked.

His father opened the travel book. Inside were pictures of the city. "Hundreds of them," He said, giving James the book. Anna-Maria climbed onto his lap to look at the book. "It's a wonderful place, James; a city where dreams come true."

Then, one day, a terrible thing happened.

James and Anna-Maria looked up to see that their parents were gone. The sky grew dark; lightning flashed, and thunder sounded loudly. The wind blew around them.

An angry rhinoceros appeared out of nowhere, and gobbled up their poor mother and father.

James stood up, holding Anna-Maria close; she was hugging him, staring up at the sky in terror. James stared into the dark clouds as well.

Their troubles, if they had any at all, were over in 35 seconds flat.

Out of the dark gray clouds, the silhouette of a rhinoceros with yellow eyes came out, roaring.

But James and Anna-Maria's troubles were just beginning,

James sat up in bed, panting. He had that horrible nightmare of his parents' deaths again. Instead of his afternoon clothes, he wore a white and blue striped nightshirt.

Beside him, Anna-Maria hugged his waist, tears running down her little cheeks. She too was wearing a nightshirt. Hers, however, was white and dirty.

When James realized he was holding his travel book, he quickly hid it under his pillow. And just in time, as his and Anna-Maria's two guardians of eight months came bustling in.

For now, they live here, with Aunt Sponge,

"Get up!" One of their aunts, Sponge, snapped. "You lazy little bugs!" She was a fat, repulsive woman. She wore a pink robe lined with pink fur, slippers, and a blue towel tied around her head.

And Aunt Spiker.

Behind her was the other of the children's aunts, Spiker. She was tall, thin, and just as repulsive. She wore a green robe, slippers, and another blue towel tied around her head; this one had the misleading appearance of a bow tie.

"You two've already wasted four minutes of daylight!" Aunt Spiker snapped, pointing to her watch.

James just stared intimidated at his aunts, holding a frightened Anna-Maria close. "Look at them," Aunt Spiker mocked. "Lollygagging in dreamland, when there's so much work to do!"

"Weeds to pull," Aunt Sponge added. "Wood to chop,"

The sisters then chanted together, "Work, work, work, work, work!"