The Pig Fairy
by Pinkerton Little
The Pig Fairy A little pig in a small sty wants to be free. He escapes by night and finds freedom in the starlit sky: "slient, deep and endless." Love's magic rules as he returns and liberates his barnyard friends.
It was a day like any other on an everyday farm. The little pig was in his sty; the great bull in his pen. The chickens were in their coop and the cows in the pasture. It was a day like any other, but something was wrong. The animals were restless. Cooped up and fenced in all around, they wanted to be free.
Of all the animals, Little Pig was most restless. His sty was very small, and when darkness came, he tunneled under the sty wall and escaped.
The night was dark, but he was not afraid. Love’s magic ruled the night, and free he was to be.
Soon he came on a pond. Its still water mirrored a thousand silvery specks of light. Drawn in, Little Pig slid down the bank and into the water. There fish fins sprouted on Little Pig’s back and glistened in the depths.
Then Little Pig swam up and faced the sky. Vast it was… starlit, silent, deep and endless. Right there and just then, Little Pig was free!
Quick to the bank he swam, scurried out and sat gazing upward. “Look up, Look up,” said he to himself. “The sky is always there. Look up and you are free!”
Then Little Pig remembered his friends. He had to go back and share what he'd learned, but turning to go, it was too dark to see. “Oh no!” squealed the pig, but he need not have worried. With a sudden flutter, fish fins turned to fairy wings, and Little Pig himself became a pig fairy.
“At your foot is a twig," spoke a gentle voice. "Pick up the twig and light your way home.” Then a thousand silvery specs of light swirled up from the pond and flew to the end of the twig he held. A glistening magic fairy-wand lighted his way back home.
In the barnyard Little Pig tiptoed to the pen where the great bull slept. “Look up,” he whispered, waving his sparkling wand. “The sky is always there. Look up great bull. Look up and you are free.” The bull’s eyes opened to the vast expanse and like his little friend, he was free.
Then Little Pig tiptoed to the pasture where the cows slept, waved his sparkling wand and whispered: “Look up my friends! The sky is always there and you are free.” The cows’ eyes opened to the wondrous sight, and like Little Pig they too were free.
Then silently to the coop he sped. “Look up my friends! The sky is always there and you are free.” The chicks’ eyes widened and they were free.
Little Pig was happy now, his work complete. He tiptoed to the sty, tossed the wand over the wall and tunneled back in. The wand landed upright in the mud, and Little Pig slept in the glow of its glistening light.
Next morning when the farmer came, everything looked as always. The little pig was in his sty; the bull was in his pen; cows were in the pasture, chickens in their coop. Everything looked the same, yet something was different. No longer were the animals restless. One and all were free.
Tired from his long night, Little Pig slept into the morning. “Strange to be sleeping so late,” thought the farmer as he passed the sty. Looking closer he saw the twig: “Strange to see a twig standing upright in a sty.” Then under the mud that coated the pig he saw something stranger still. “Mother, come quick,” shouted the farmer! “The pig has wings!”
After that day people came from all around to see the amazing sight. They wondered about this remarkable pig, but no one ever guessed he was a pig fairy. Who could imagine such a thing? Little Pig’s wings were never explained.
"If only they knew," mused Little Pig smiling sweetly. "If only they knew."
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