Fred the Pig

Fred lived on a farm in eastern Ontario. No, Fred wasn’t a farmer, he was a pig. Now, mind you, the farm Fred lived on wasn’t a bad farm. There was over a hundred acres of rolling, lush land. There was more than adequate housing for all the animals on the farm which amounted to two cows, Betsy and Bessie, three ducks, Quack, Mack and Zack and two horses, Winnie and Margaret. Fred was the only pig on the farm and maybe that was what his problem was. Maybe he was lonely.

Fred did not like the owners of the farm very much. They were very nasty to him. So, I guess Fred had a right to do what he did one stifling, hot May afternoon. Fred stole the farm.

“Alright all you animals,” called Fred that evening. “Listen up!”

“Oh Fred,” yawned Margaret. “I am tired and I want to go to sleep.”

“Yeah,” yawned Mack. “Leave us alone.”

“Things have changed around here,” said Fred. “I’ve fired our owners!”

“You’ve done what!” Betsy and Bessie yelled.

“You heard me,” said Fred. “I’ve fired them. They never cared much about us anyway.”

“Well,” said Winnie. “He’s got a point there. They never did care about us. The only thing that they cared about was the money that they would make from us!”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Margaret. “How did you fire them?”

“I just told them to get out,” said Fred. “At first they wouldn’t go but, after I pointed out how cruel they had been to us, they finally left.”

I see, said Quack. Well, now that’s settled, I’m hungry. Let’s eat!

“There’s one thing everyone here has forgotten,” said Zack. “How are we going to run a farm?”

“I haven’t forgotten about that,” said Fred. “We can all pitch in and help.”

“You mean co-operate,” said Margaret.

“Yes,” said Fred. “You and Winnie can plough the fields and Bessie and Betsy can plant the seeds. At harvest time, Quack, Mack, Zack and I will bring in the crops. It may seem like a lot of work but I know that we can do it!”

“Yes,” said Bessie and Betsy. “We can do it.”

The animals were very determined to make their farm succeed. They worked very hard. At harvest time, they were surprised at what they had accomplished.

“I’m proud of you all,” said Fred. “Do you realize that we have more than enough crops here for our feed? We will actually have some left-over that we can sell at the market! I think that we should have a celebration.”

All the animals dressed up in their finest for a grand celebration. They were very proud of themselves.