Pig In The Big Picture

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"Cock a doodle do and how are you ." said the Rooster .

"Not happy if you must know . Grunt ." The little pig replied .

"Hee Haw . Cheer up pig . Its not that bad ."
Said the donkey .

"Grunt sure thing donkey . Maybe life is good for you but for me
nothing ever changes . Look at this pig sty I'm living in . Grunt .
Everyday its always the same in here . Eat the skins and trample around
in muck and mud ,getting fatter and fatter . "
The pig said .

" Cawh cawh . Awh the poor little pig . "
Said the crow .

"Oh oink . If only I had wings grunt . I would fly away from this
place
and leave this run down farm forever ."

No one knew but the pig had already made plans .
She had chewed a small escape hatch through the wire in the pig sty
.
As the moon rose above in the sky the pig made a run for freedom
.
As dangerous as it was, the pig headed off towards the bridge, over the
railway tracks and as the freight train rolled down the track, the pig
jumped from the bridge into an carriage full of wheat . What a soft
landing it was.
What a pleasant surprise to be in there with all that wheat around her
.
The pig slept all night and when morning came the train came to a
stop.
The pig looked out and saw huge trucks laden with cattle and sheep .
Then she saw the ships the docks . It was so busy nobody saw the little
pig push her way from the train carriage out on to the dock .She tried
to keep quiet and out of sight and ran behind a stack of barrels
.

" Gnaw Gnaw . Screech . Hey what's a good looking porker like you
doing
down at the low docks "
The water rat asked .

"Grunt , I'm just looking for somewhere to sleep . Oink Oink "
The pig replied .

"Did you here that boys . Squeal ! Screech . The pig wants to sleep .
"

From every corner of the docks hundreds of rats came and circled around
the little pig .

"Oh hello oink . Nice to meet you . I've just spent two days and nights
grunt , riding on a train . The I was in was full of wheat . Oink oink
. I must say my good rodent friends grunt grunt , I feel comfortably
satisfied ."

The rats jumped all over the pig . One of them looked straight into the
pigs little bright eyes and said ,

" I wonder could you to show us exactly what carriage you were in
."

"Well oink oink just a minute "
The pig jumped up on one of the barrels and pointed her little trotter
at the train that was sitting on the tracks near the low end of the
dock .

"Oink that's the one there . Grunt . The carriage with the big yellow
letters AWB on the side of it ."

The rat pack scurried over the wharf and where gone in seconds .
The pig trotted off into town . Over the city cobblestones the pig
trotted with the light of the moon reflecting a soft glow on the
cobblestones .
The still of the evening was broken by a large white owl .

" Hoot hoot . Steady on pig . Don't you know there are butchers with
knives
and hooks nearby ."

"Oink what's a butcher Mr Owl ."
The pig asked .

"What Hoot . A butcher is your worst nightmare . Hoot Twit Whoo
Trust me pig you don't want to meet the butcher . "
Said the wise old owl .

The pig put her snout up in the air and sniffed a cold breeze .
"Ok Oink oink . Then I better get out of here fast ."
She said and innocently trotted up a dark alley behind the village
shops .

"Meow . Well hi there little piggy . You're a long way from home aren't
you meow meow ?
Said the stray alley cat .

"Oink hello there pussy cat . Well you know home is what you make it
grunt . Oink oink no one can tie me up grunt and put me in a cage . No
way I'm free .

"Meow can you cry to the moon like me meow "
Said the alley cat .

The cat began crying to the moon and the pig joined in with some high
pitched grunting . After a moment the cat said ,

"I like you pig come and meet some of my friends ".
Both the pig and the cat walked together for a while . They stopped
beside an old man who was half asleep on the ground .

"Oink the poor man has fallen down . Maybe we should get some help
"
The pig said .

"This is the city pig . Meow you must learn to let sleeping dogs lie .
Just look after yourself and you'll survive meow "

They made their way down the alley then turned into a dark back street
.
The cat walked sleekly along the pavement . The pig hoofed along behind
.
At the end of the dead end street a group of old homes stood . One of
the doors was open and the cat went inside and climbed up a set of
stairs .
The pig followed closely behind .
Up the stairs they went . It was damp and damp . The wallpaper was torn
and hung in shreds from the walls . At the top of the stairs a small
stack of canvases were leaning up against a wall . An electric bulb
spewed a dim half light on the landing .

"This is Fred's house . Meow he's a famous artist ."
The pig was amazed at the cat's knowledge of the world .
Suddenly a man walked up the staircase . It was the same man who had
been sleeping out in the alley .

The old man found it difficult climbing the stairs for some reason but
he eventually made it to the landing . When the man saw the pig and the
cat he looked down and smiled and softly said ,

"Well hello there pussy cat . You have another friend with you tonight
.
Ok then lets go inside and I'll get you both some milk and bread
.
You know I love to have company so stay the night if you want . I have
a new canvas I want to finish ."

The cat walked slowly in and out between the old mans legs . Purring
and making very friendly sounds . The pig tried to do the same but
almost pushed the old man back down the stairs .

"Stop it now . That's enough from you two"
The old man said . Then he lifted the cat and stroked it before putting
it down near a door . He took a key from his coat pocket and opened the
door .
The large room inside had a window on the roof where moonlight shone
through . There was no furniture apart from a chair and table . A
mattress lay on the floor and in the middle of the room there was an
artists easel .
The old man brought bread and milk in two bowls and the pig and cat
shared the meal as the old man lifted a brush and started painting
.

After a while the cat and the pig went over and watched the old man at
work.
His brush strokes were clean and crisp . The picture was of a farmyard
.
It reminded the pig of her home in the country .

All that night the old man worked on his canvas . Each movement of his
brush was intense . His concentration was fierce . The old man began to
fix his eyes on the pig and began to paint an image of the pig in his
picture .
When morning came the old man stopped and rested on the mattress
.
When he fell asleep the pig put her snout in the air and said .

"Grunt . Oink Look at me . I'm in his picture cat ?"

"He has a thing for animals . I am in most of his pictures you know
."
The cat replied .

"Oink. Thanks for bringing me here cat. You're the best friend I've
ever had ."
The pig said .

" Later on I will bring you to meet the baker . He's a good friend as
well ."
Said the cat .

On the roof of the building the rain started to pelt down and soon the
pig the cat and the old man were all fast asleep .
The pig awoke just in time, to see the old man finish the painting of
the farmyard scene . He took the canvas and placed it on top of the
staircase,
With the stack of pictures on the landing .

The old man returned and lifted the pig and began to speak .

"Listen I think I'll call you Pinky . I want to paint a portrait of you
".

He took a blanket and placed the pig before the easel .
Then he began to paint .
The pig watched and what a picture it was turning out to be .
One of the best he had ever done . That's what the old man kept
murmuring with every stroke of his brush .

The cat awoke and purred . The old man smiled and patted the cats head
. Then he said .

"Why this is Pinky . How do you like it ?"
The cat purred louder .

It was about mid morning and the old man stopped work .
He went over and opened the door and ushered the cat and pig to leave
.
A short time later the old man made his way back down the stairs and
was off into the street . The pig and the cat sat there on the landing
.

"Grunt where is he going ?"
The pig asked .

" Meow he needs to clear his head . He's a famous artist and everyone
knows him . Meow he gets invited to all the hotels in town and that's
where you'll always find him . In some bar about town ."

" Oink . What can we do now?"
Said the pig .

"Meow . Meow . I want you to meet another person in the street . Maggie
is the kind old lady next door . When the milkman comes we'll get
invited in . Just wait and I'll show you . "
Said the cat .

The clinking sound of empty bottles alerted the cat who raced down the
stairs By the time the pig was got to the bottom the milkman had
delivered two bottles of milk to Maggies door . When the door opened
the cat purred and looked up into the old woman's face .

"Hello there puss . Why you have brought along friend today . Come in
for goodness sake and I'll get you some breakfast . "

Maggie placed some cereal and warm milk in two bowls which were
devoured in no time at all . As the pig slurped away the old woman took
a camera from the shelf and took a few photos of the pig . The she
disappeared into another room and returned after while with a number of
photographs of the pig .
She hung them up to dry on a line by the window . The pig trotted over
and looked up into Maggies face . The old woman giggled a bit and said
.

"I am so glad you called to visit me . I hope you don't mind me taking
your picture pig . Come and let me show you some more of my photos .
"

She fetched an album from a cupboard and placed it before the pigs face
and turned the pages slowly . Each page had a different photo of an
animal . There were dogs, cats, birds and horses . But not one of a pig
.
A knock came to Maggie's door and a newspaper was delivered through the
letter box . Maggie lifted the newspaper from the floor and sat down on
the armchair . Suddenly she said ,

" Pig look . You're picture is on the front page ."
Sure enough there was a large picture of a pig in farmyard . There was
a large headline under the photo that read .
Have You Seen This Pig .

The old woman looked at the cat and the pig .
"My oh my you are a runaway pig . I am sorry little pig but and it is
my duty to return you home to the farm . "

She lifted the pig and put her into a sack until the newspaper
contacted the farmer who came to pick up his pig . He paid the old
woman a reward and then left in his truck for the farmyard . It was
dark and stuffy in the sack and the pig could see nothing . It seemed
an eternity but eventually the pig was let out of the sack . But what a
surprise it was .
There was mucky pig sty . The farmer had installed a clean new home for
the pig . There was an underground heating system and stainless steel
feed troughs . Now the pig was happy and content to be back on the farm
where she remained for the rest of her comfortable life .

By Paul Mc Cann

THE END