Chandler the Pig

Bauer Farm was the most pleasant place to be in Oakland Valley. John Bauer, the owner of the forty acre farm house was a happy, large hearted man. He worked hard in his farm from sun up to sun down and took special care of his animals, whom he loved very much.

Joe and Chuck were his only help on the farm, other than his wife Suzie who usually stuck to the household chores. Every afternoon, after the animals had tended to the days work, John let them out to graze on the pastures.

All the animals looked forward to spending time on the pastures. Here they lazed around in the sun, enjoyed the bounties of nature, and played games, especially their favourite: catch and chase. It was the best time of the day for them.

To add to their pleasure, John had turned an old king size bath tub into a makeshift pond for the ducks and pigs to cool off. The tub was placed in the shade of the big banyan tree where Bobby the old gander sat and told stories to the younger animals.

Chandler the pig was the most popular animal on the farm. He was well mannered and got along with all the other animals Even Kiki the grouchy squirrel was fond of him.

Chandler’s best friend was Michelle the calf. She was an all-white breed except for a big, black, oval patch on her forehead. This made her one of the most attractive calves on the farm.

Together the two of them had a lot of fun. Everyday, they would race Chester the horse to the pastures, play football with the rest of the animals, listen to Bobby’s stories, and once in a while, babysit for Debbie the hen while she took a nap.

Life went on in the Bauer Farm and soon it was summer. Oakland Valley was full of people. Children returning from boarding schools, people visiting their families, couples holidaying in the country side; it was a full house.

One morning, while putting out breakfast, John noticed that Suzie seemed very excited.

“Suzie dear, you seem rather lively this morning,” said John.

“Yes John,” replied Suzie. “I am quite excited today and there is good reason for that too. I have an excellent idea how we could bring more life to our farm this summer.”

John put his newspaper down and urged his wife to continue.

“We can open the farm to the public for two hours every day!” said Suzie enthusiastically.

“Why, that’s an excellent idea my dear!” exclaimed John. “We could also put up small stalls with the extra produce on the farm and make a bit of profit on the side.”

That very day the two of them, along with Joe and Chuck, started preparing the farm for the public. Soon the news spread around the Valley and the farm was full of life.

Children loved seeing the animals. Some even brought presents for their favourite ones. Morgan the mare started looking ten times prettier with the red satin ribbons in her beautiful golden mane.

The visitation hours soon became the highlight of the day on the farm. All the animals loved the new routine. They were happy and content. All except for Chandler, who was getting miserable day by day. Forget about presents, no one would even come and see him or the other pigs. Moreover, from time to time, he would hear the visitors making hurtful comments. On a hot sunny day, most of the children would say “I’m sweating like a pig today!” or if a child was playing in the mud and getting himself filthy the mother would scold him by saying “Stop being a pig!”

This made Chandler sad. But what hurt him most was that the hours at the pastures were no longer the same. Michelle and his relationship had changed. They were no longer best friends. She preferred to hang out with the rest of the animals. No matter how hard Chandler tried, he couldn’t fit in as before. He felt left out and inferior.

After two weeks of self pity Chandler went to his mother, Driscoll for a solution.

“Mom, why do people look down upon us when they come to visit?” asked Chandler “They never seem to even want to look at the sty.”

“Chandler, we are pigs and that is how people see us,” replied Driscoll calmly. “It is nothing personal”

“No, this is not fair!” argued Chandler. “Look at Webby the duck, she pees in the same pond in which she eats and sleeps. Mother cow and her calves do the same. We are the only ones who keep our living and excreting quarters separate! And Mom, we don’t even have sweat glands so why do people say they’re sweating like pigs!”

“Now, now, Chandler, like I told you dear, it’s nothing personal” explained Driscoll.

But Chandler was determined to fit in and so he started to observe the behaviour of other animals during the visitation hours. He watched Chester the horse closely, who seemed to be the most photographed animal at the farm. That night Chandler thought about the various acrobatic stunts he can do in the sty to catch people’s attention. The next day, during the visitation, Chandler put his plan to action and failed miserably. He ended up being the butt of all jokes at the farm.

Driscoll noticed Chandler’s desire for attention and the sadness in his eyes. She decided it was time she had a word with him

“Chandler dear, what is going on?” asked Driscoll

“I don’t understand why people laugh at me when I do the same things as Chester?” Chandler complained “That is what they love so I did those stunts, but they don’t like me!”

Driscoll thought for a minute and said “Chandler, remember one thing in life, always be yourself. Never change in order to be adored by others. Every individual is unique. With time people come to appreciate you for who you are and that’s what matters.”

But Chandler conveniently ignored his mothers’ advice and went to sleep.

Time went by. Chandler became quite a loner. His only social companion was his cousin Curtis, whose prime hobby was sleeping. Now, the only thing Chandler was looking forward to was the end of summer. Maybe then his life would go back to being the way it was—no ‘visitation’, no gifts, no music, back to the old happy times on the pastures.

However, to his horror, Suzie and John elongated the visitation hours since the season was ending. Now, people spent four or five hours on Bauer Farm instead of two.

This naturally ate into the time spent on the pastures but none of the animals seemed to mind. Only Chandler felt that the coming two weeks were going to be the worst ones of his life. His cousin Curtis tried to cheer him up but nothing that he did made Chandler happy and popular like before.

From dawn to dusk, all one could hear was chatter about the visitation. The mornings would be spent preparing for them and finishing the farm work. By noon, the animals would turn in for a nap. Soon after that, people would start pouring in and stick around till late evening. When they left, the farm was cleaned and the animals fed. By dusk, everyone retired after a long day of fun.

As the days went by, the weather became much more pleasant. The mornings were cooler than before and nights just the right temperature. One evening, when the animals were turning in for the night, Chandler noticed that it was rather windy for a summer evening. But he thought nothing of it and went to sleep. Sometime in the night, there was a big uproar from the cow shed. Chandler woke up at once and tried to understand what was going on.

“What’s happening there Chase?” he asked the mule next door.

“I think there is something wrong in the cow shed,” replied Chase with the least bit of interest.

Chandler recognised the mooing sound. It was Michelle! Something was terribly wrong with her. Chandler mustered up all his strength, climbed onto the sloth pot, and jumped over the fence. He made a bee line for the cow shed and was shocked to see red flames roaring out of Michelle’s shelter. Morgan, who was standing nearby, suggested that someone must fetch John. But Chandler knew that would take a lot of time. It took him only two minutes to realise what he must do. He told all the animals standing in front of the shed to clear the way.

“Get out of the way! Get out of the way!” yelled Chandler.

He ran to the sprinkler and turned it on. Within minutes, the water put out the fire and Michelle was saved. By then, John had arrive on the scene and taken charge. The lamppost that had short-circuited and caused the fire was removed. Michelle was treated and provided a temporary shed for the night.

The next day, Michelle came and thanked Chandler for his help and also apologised for her behaviour.

“Chandler, I’m really sorry for having been so mean to you,” apologised Michelle.

“You are the best friend anyone can ever have.”

And that was not all. When visitation started, the story of the previous night quickly spread around and soon Chandler was the new hero on the farm. Everyone wanted to see the pig who had turned on the sprinkler to save the calf!

No longer was Chandler ignored and looked down upon. The nasty comments still continued but he knew better now.

That night, before the animals turned in, Driscoll came over to Chandler.

“Son, I hope now you’ve understood what I said.” said Driscoll. “You have two of the greatest assets—the intelligence of a pig and the compassion of your heart. Never let go of that.”

“Yes, Mom, I now realise what you meant. I don’t have to be like Chester or anyone else to be liked by people! I am Chandler and will always be.”

Driscoll smiled and rubbed her snout on his neck affectionately. “I’m proud of you son.”

***

by enamoured (Viewed 142 times)