CLARA Chapter 3 Racing With Peter the Pony

Clara had only gone a short distance when she saw Peter the Pony grazing on some sweet red clover at the edge of the meadow.

"Hello Peter", said Clara. "Isn't this a lovely day. I'm taking a walk. I'm looking for adventure. I want to have some fun. It is no fun at all staying inside my piggy pen all day. There is nothing much to do. Would you like to come with me? You can teach me all about how to have adventure. It must be wonderful to be a pony. I wish I was a pony instead of a little pink pig with nothing to do all day. Come with me, Peter, please."

"Sure, Clara, why not. I’m just loafing around the meadow right now anyhow with not much to do myself.

How about a race", Peter whinnied? "To the apple tree. Race you." Peter stomped his feet and swished his tail. "Race you", he said and Peter was off and running.

"Hey, wait for me", Clara called. "Don't run so fast." Clara ran as fast as she could to catch up to Peter.

Peter ran back and around Clara, then back to the apple tree three times before Clara got there but Clara didn't mind.

"Whew", Clara sighed as she plopped onto the grass beneath the tree. "You run much too fast for me. I guess pigs aren't very good at racing but it was fun to try." Clara and Peter munched on crisp red apples while they rested and Clara caught her breath again.

"I think," Clara said between bites, “I am not very good at racing, but thanks for the adventure.” Clara ate another apple. "I am going to visit Karla the cow in the pasture and then walk over to the duck pond”, Clara told Peter. “Would you like to come with me? I‘m looking for adventure. I‘m the first adventure seeking pig in the whole wide world."

"No," Peter said, "I think I'll stay right here in the shade of the tree and enjoy some more of these delicious apples. You go ahead if you want to but be careful, Clara.  Maybe you should go home instead. Little pigs shouldn't be wandering around out here all alone. Go back to your piggy pen where you belong, Clara."

“No”, Clara said stubbornly, “I don't want to go home. I am home all the time with nothing to do but eat and sleep and eat again. I wish I could be just like you, Peter, and then my life would be so much more interesting and fun. It is no fun just being a little pink pig who has to stay in a pen all day and do nothing but eat and sleep and eat again.”

“But you aren't like me, Clara. You are a little pig and I am a pony. We weren't meant to be just alike or do exactly the same things. You should do what pigs are meant to do and I should do what ponies do.”

“But,” Clara sighed, “it is boring just being a pig with nothing to do. I don’t like being a pig. I want to be a pony or a dog or even a cat. I want to have fun and go on grand adventures. A pig’s life is no fun at all.”

Life isn't all about just having fun, Clara,” Peter said. “I have to work very hard too. I have to pull the wagon or sled out of the mud or through very deep snow and pull the plow for hours in the hot sun. I help with other chores around the farm too. Sometimes the farmer's children ride on my back until I am so tired I could drop.  They make me run and run and run.  It is not always fun being a pony either.” Peter nipped a shiny red apple off the tree and munched it down.

Clara thought about what Peter had said for a few minutes. If she was a pony, the meadow was a great place to be with places to run and so many things to see, but maybe she didn't want to be a pony after all.

She tried to imagine herself pulling a plow or the farm wagon out of mud or through deep snow. She tried to imagine running and running as fast as she could and having the children ride on her back. Clara didn't think she could pull a plow or a wagon and children didn't ride on pigs, she didn't think. Being a pony might not be all that much fun. Maybe Peter was right. Clara decided she didn't want to be a pony after all.

Clara ate another apple and then said, "I guess I'll be on my way. Good-bye Peter. Thanks for the race. It was fun. It was my very first real adventure."