Chapter 10: The Pig Saga Continues

The sun had just come up. The three pigs and the Big Bad Wolf went down to the local diner to grab breakfast together. Everyone there was very surprised to see them all come in and sit together as friends.

As they ate, they talked about all the times they had been through together. The wolf explained that his family business had started when wolves were forbidden by law to eat pigs, their primary food source. Instead, the wolves had to poke around in the barns where the pigs lived to hunt for leftovers. One day, it dawned on the Big Bad Wolf’s grandfather that he could huff and puff around the stalls instead of moving things with his giant paws. This tradition was passed down through the family until this very day.

Big Bad Wolf discovered that you could also just threaten to huff and puff and most pigs would run away. Yesterday, he had tried to threaten and get food, but none of the pigs would leave and he was getting very hungry. It wasn’t about huffing and puffing – it was about survival! This surprised the pigs. They often had extra food.

The pigs explained to the wolf the three different strategies they had taken. Speedy realized that he had moved a little too fast through his building project because he refused to really believe the wolf was going to come after him. As he rushed, he deviated from his original stick plan, and slapped a home together that did not meet his original goals. Finally, he was unable to focus on the task at hand, completely distracted by the wooden instruments he had accidentally constructed.

Goldy realized as he listened to Speedy that he had made a few mistakes of his own. He often moved much too slowly as he tried to figure out the least expensive way to do something. He had found free straw, but quickly ran out. By then, it was too late to go buy more so he ended up using small pieces of trash to finish his house. The structure was never stable, and the original plan was never solid enough either.

Although Demmy’s house had finally saved them, Demmy realized looking backward that there were some flaws in his approach as well. He was so focused on building the perfect house that he was paralyzed for long periods of time over planning. When he finally began to build, it was almost too late. The wagon addition at the end was not the best work ever. If it had not been for his brothers, the roof would never have held.

They all laughed at the stories, now that they were over. Then, there was a silence between them. Finally Demmy said, “Well, we really haven’t solved the food problem yet.” Speedy jumped up with an idea. “What is we used Demmy’s plan, fixed up the roof a bit, and went into the building business? The wolf could show how stable the building was and help us with the physical work!”

Of course, Goldy had concerns about the price, and Demmy wanted to plan a bit too much, but eventually the four worked out the business, and lived happily ever after.

Chapter 9: The Pig Saga Continues

It wasn’t long before the pigs heard the noise of the Big Bad Wolf crashing through the woods. There was a moment of quiet before Speedy’s cell phone rang. Although Speedy was tempted to let go of the wagon to grab his phone, he did not. Each pig held on a little bit tighter to the wagon.

Then, a big voice bellowed from outside the brick structure. “Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!” Again, none of the pigs moved other than strengthening their grip.

It started as a small wind, but within minutes the pigs could hear the mighty huff and puff of the Big Bad Wolf. The walls of the structure stood firm, although the wind through the cracks kicked up some dust into the air, and the pigs started to sniff. The wagon hadn’t moved a bit, but it seemed that the wolf was concentrating the air on the side of the structure.

The wind abated, and there was an enormous thud on the room as the wolf jumped on top of the structure. The wolf huffed and puffed down at the wagon, actually pushing the wagon down which made it easier to hold tight by the pigs. Again, the wind stopped.

After a few minutes, the pigs heard a knock at the door. They heard the wolf’s voice bellow, “Okay, you win. I can’t blow this house down. Anybody want to go get some dinner?” The pigs knew that the only thing the wolf knew how to do was huff and puff houses down. They weren’t surprised that when he could not do that, he quit. But they needed to be very sure that this was the end of all this trouble.

Demmy thought a moment and then said, “Wolf, we are tired of running from you, and tired of building things for you to knock down. Can we agree together that this will stop?” through the cracks around the door.

The wolf sounded tired as he said, “That would be great. I really don’t like doing this anymore. I’d like to retire and get involved in something else. Something that doesn’t take so much physical energy. It’s time for us all to move on to other things. You have my word.”

With that, Demmy looked to his brothers who nodded in agreement. He opened the door and the three pigs walked out. Each of them shook the wolf’s paw and a deal to end this chapter was struck.

Chapter 8: The Pig Saga Continues

Demmy awoke from the noise of his brothers crashing through the brush as they rushed to his house. He had the door of the brick house open long before they got there. They crashed through the door on to the grass floor, barely acknowledging their brother.

Neither brother could speak until they finally caught their breath. Demmy waited to hear what was going on. Finally, Speedy said “The Big Bad Wolf has come and destroyed our homes. We barely escaped with our lives. Thank goodness you built this strong house of bricks for us to be protected.” Demmy felt a little irritated at this. Obviously, his brothers had never really taken the threat of the wolf seriously, or they would have all been working at the brick structure as diligently as he had.

Still, even he had run out of time. He was not so sure this structure could keep the wolf out, either. He was primarily worried about the wagon acting as a roof. It seemed probably that the wolf would notice that the wagon was not attached, knock it off, and come into the house through the roof.

Demmy looked at his brothers. Speedy was laying on his side and his eyes were already growing heavy. He gave Speedy a little tap with his foot as he said “I’m sure the wolf is on his way here right now, with all the noise you two were making. Here’s the plan. From the start, I have been afraid that something like this was going to happen with the wolf. You didn’t believe me and now you’re homes are destroyed. You know, I should probably throw you out right now – while the wolf chased you around he would leave my structure alone!”

His brothers liked frightened and then a bit hurt, and finally angry at Demmy’s words. But this was the way he usually talked to them. Most of the time it seemed that Demmy thought he was the only smart pig around. This probably was not the best time to bring that up, so Goldy decided to try to collaborate.

“Demmy, you are right. I know I didn’t take the wolf seriously, but I really didn’t have much money to spend. Speedy was very excited about the prospect of his new band, so he was temporarily distracted as well. You’ve always been better at planning than either of us, and this project is no exception. What can we do now to help?”

Speedy looked a bit cross, but then chimed in, “Yes, you seem to have built a good structure here. Is there anything we can help with to make sure it holds up. I’m sure if we all work quickly we can finish any work that you haven’t had time to do.”

Demmy looked proud of himself at the words. He really did love his brothers, and couldn’t bare to see them hurt. He explained to them his concern about the wagon on the roof. Together, they decided to each grab hold of the wagon from different places and use their weight to hold the wagon tight. Weight was something that all pigs have to their advantage.

Chapter 7: The Pig Saga Continues

At midnight, Goldy’s deep sleep was interrupted when his cell phone suddenly rang. As he answered automatically, Goldy tried to figure out where he was. In the dark, he could barely make out the structure he was apparently under. “Goldy?” said the voice on the phone. “Uh-huh…” said Goldy in return, still trying to sort out his locale. “Hey, it’s me, the Big Bad Wolf. I heard that you and your brothers were making houses to keep me out, and I wanted to give you an update on my plans.”

Goldy was quickly wide awake. Now he remembered where he was – inside a box made of hay, cardboard and assorted trash items. He really never thought the wolf was going to come back, at least not this quickly. “Well, um, that’s mighty polite of you,” said Goldy as he sat straight up and the improvised roof crashed on his head.

“Well, I got your cell phone number from your buddy at the Dollar Store, hope you don’t mind. So, here’s the thing…I’m standing outside of your house, I think, although the roof of the house I’m standing in front of just caved in, so I’m not sure I’m at the right place. I’m getting ready to huff and puff. Then, I’m off to Speedy’s to see what I can get done over there tonight. I’m getting kind of hungry, and I’m thinking ham sounds good.”

The wolf seemed surprisingly rational to Goldy as he squirmed under the back side of the house of hay. Just as he got on his feet, he felt the wind from the huff and puff, and felt the straw collapsing. He ran deep into the dark woods toward Speedy’s house.

Speedy was not asleep when Goldy got there. He had decided to play with his instruments in his house of sticks until he got a bit more sleepy. He had completely lost track of time. Goldy rushed in, knocking a few sticks off the door as he pulled it shut behind him.

“Speedy, it’s the wolf! He just destroyed my house, and he says his coming this way. Are you sure these sticks are going to hold?” said Goldy, almost out of breath. He dropped down in a corner, and a few more sticks fell free from the structure.

“Of course it will hold,” said Speedy. “You worry too much. Look, these sticks are sturdy enough to make beautiful musical instruments, so certainly they can stand up to one wolf. Catch your breath, and listen to the music for a minute.” Speed proceeded to play a little of Beethoven’s Fifth for his brother.

Goldy looked around and saw that the sticks didn’t seem all that secure, but it was much tighter and sturdier looking than what he had built. He assumed that his brother had spent a great deal of time on this structure, something Goldy had not done because he didn’t have the money to do it the way he wanted. He wished now that he had worked with Speedy, instead of wasting all his time on the dumb structure he had attempted. He felt like such a failure.

Suddenly, they both heard a sound like a wind. The sounds grew and grew, and little sticks then big sticks began to fly around inside the house. Goldy and Speedy looked at each other, looked up at the sticks, then together crashed through the back wall just as the rest of the structure collapsed. As they ran through the dark toward Demmy’s house, they could hear the wolf whistling Beethoven’s Fifth.

Meanwhile, Demmy has just finished the brick structure and was carefully putting the wagon on top of his house to make his roof. Feeling completely exhausted, he entered his house and fell immediately asleep.

Chapter 5: The Pig Saga continues

Speedy finished up his band instruments, then turned toward his half-built house. He grabbed the rest of the sticks on the ground and quickly threw them over the structure, making a makeshift roof. “Well, I’ll get plenty of ventilation,” he joked to himself, noticing the gaps in the shoddy roof. He had pretty well convinced himself that the wolf was long gone. He decided to pack up his instruments and head off to show them to his brothers.

As he walked down the road, dusk began to fall. In the distance, he could make out a figure moving toward him, pulling a wagon that must have contained a very heavy load. Suddenly he realized it was Demmy and rushed toward him to help.

Demmy looked at him wearily and said “Speedy, thank goodness you’re here. I’m about to give out.” Please give me a hand pulling these bricks to the clearing down the road.” Speedy looked at the bricks, and couldn’t think of anything he’d less like to do. “Demmy, forget this house business. I’ve found a way to make instruments out of stick! Join my band, and we’ll make so much money, we can pay the wolf to stay away, if he ever comes back.”

Frowning, Demmy felt his anger rise. “Speedy, this is serious. The wolf is most likely watching us from the woods at this very moment, waiting for a good time to strike. Haven’t you built any house at all?” Speedy answered, “Yes, I’ve built a house out of sticks, just over there. Join me there and get a good night’s sleep, and we can talk more about it in the morning.” Demmy just shook his head and continued to move down the road. Speedy shrugged his shoulders and moved on, looking for Goldy.

When he finally found Goldy, his brother was also in a nasty mood. He was struggling to put the finishing touches on his unstable structure. As Speedy started to talk about the band, Goldy turned on him screaming, “Are you crazy? I’ve finally finished this stupid house, and I’m done. I’m going to sleep. Leave me alone.” With that, he very carefully slipped into the cardboard cabin.

Speedy was not surprised at the reactions of his brothers; these same patterns had repeated since they were very young piglets. Tomorrow, all would be well again. He turned, and walked back to his stick house with his instruments to sleep.

Chapter 4: The Pig Saga Continues

As Speedy worked to find the perfect sticks to complete his new band, he had a strange feeling of guilt. Maybe he had underestimated the wolf, as his brother had accused. Maybe the stick strategy wouldn’t work. He quickly pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind. “It’s a good possibility that the wolf has moved on to other towns by now,” he thought, “and that this whole building project is a complete waste of time.” He returned to his stick instrument hunt.

Goldy had just finished adding the dead branch, paper, tin can, and cardboard to his straw building. As he added the cardboard on the top, the whole structure collapsed. He was growing more and more irritated with the whole project. He let loose a great sigh as he began to rebuild with the same materials. He had no idea what time it was, and had almost completely forgotten why he was doing this project.

Demmy looked up from his Internet research at the library, and realized that it would be dark in less than an hour. He needed to get some bricks and get to building before nightfall. He hadn’t really left himself enough time, so he ran to the store and quickly bought the bricks. Suddenly he realized that it was going to be a challenge to carry the bricks to the site. He had a little money left to buy a wagon, but it was going to take him awhile to drag that wagon full of bricks back to the site. As he set off down the road he thought of all his troubles – his fear that the wolf could show up at any moment as he moved slowly, his fear that the bricks would not be enough to stop the wolf and his fears for the safety of his brothers.

Chapter 6: The Pig Saga continues

Demmy had finally reached the spot where he was going to build his house of bricks. He was feeling a bit guilty for being so mean to Speedy, but his brother was always so quick to change course. Was he the only one who could see the impending danger of the wolf? He wondered how Goldy was faring, but based on history he was guessing that Goldy was already asleep. He glanced nervously at the setting sun and then to the bricks. He had a lot to do and not much time to do it. He decided to take one of his precious moments and prioritize what needed to be done.

He made the following list:
Get in the house and go to sleep
Stack bricks into a house shape
Unload bricks
Carry bricks to the clearing
Use the wagon as a roof, and put the remaining bricks on top to secure it
Check on Goldy
Apologize to Speedy

Although sleep sounded the best of all of these tasks, he knew that it was not the first. He decided that he could not get the critical tasks done if he got distracted by his brothers right now, so he built the following lists of tasks to be done in order and how long each would take. Since he was the only one working on the house, only one task could be done at a time.

Unload bricks – 30 minutes
Carry bricks to the clearing – 30 minutes
Stack bricks into a house shape – 90 minutes
Use the wagon as a roof, and put the remaining bricks on top to secure it – 30 minutes
Get in the house and go to sleep – 5 minutes
… and tomorrow check on Goldy and apologize to Speedy

By Demmy’s calculation it was going to take 2 ½ hours before sleep occurred. He began his work with that goal in mind.

Chp 3 The Pig Saga continues

After a few minutes, Speedy was done with his house. He noticed that if he hit different sticks together they made different, almost musical sounds. He had a wonderful idea – he would get his brothers to have a band with him! His attention now focused on finding different sticks to make different sounds, gathering them up to take to his brothers. He had not looked over his final house, and if he had, he would have noticed that he had forgotten to hook the top into the four walls.

Goldy had run out of straw. He had used all the scraps he had found on the ground but that had only covered half of the house. He knew he could go to town and buy some additional straw, but that seemed extravagant to him. He looked around, searching for things he could use that would be like straw and not cost him anything. He gathered up some small pieces of paper, a tin can, a dead branch with the leaves still attached, and his favorite find – a giant piece of cardboard.

Demmy had almost made it to town. As he went down the round, he would stop and talk to people he knew, asking them their opinions about where to get the best bricks. Soon, he was enjoying a lengthy conversation about the history of brick with his friend Bob. They both agreed that it was important for Demmy to stop at the library and spend some time researching types of brick on the Internet before the project started. Demmy began to walk to the library.