A Pig of a Problem

A Pig of a Problem1

Todd and his family moved from the bustle of the city to a farmhouse outside a small town.  His parents knew that he was going to be lonely a lot of the time because they, as well as his older brothers and sister, still had jobs in town and would be away a lot.  What they did was buy some animals for the farm to keep him company.  They let him name them and have them for friends, but made sure he understood that they were food too.  As he grew older the tradition continued, except that they stopped getting other animals than pigs and he named them after his family, Joey and Burt for his brothers, Leona for his sister and Ma and Pa for his parents.  This caused some silly moments with his people friends at school, like when he told his buddy Dan that he was late for school because Ma got out and was digging up the garden with her nose, but they got used to it.2

Anyway, one day Todd was waiting outside the school and there was no one to pick him up.  It wasn't too far to home and a really nice day so he decided to walk.  As he disappeared around the corner by the feed mill one of his teachers, Mrs. Grundy saw him.  Todd's buddy Jeremy was standing outside so she approached him.3

"Why isn't there anyone here to pick Todd up?" she asked.4

"I reckon I don't know Mrs. Grundy."5

"Well!  Where would his father be?"6

"Todd said they was havin' trouble keepin' Ma locked up.  Could be that he's buildin' a fence she can't get through, or maybe he's just decided to kill her."7

"Kill her?  He wouldn't do that, would he?"8

"He killed Joey and Burt last week and Leona the week before.  They're all in the freezer now, except what's been eaten of course.  I put away a good feed off Leona myself just a couple of days ago when Todd had me over for a sleep over."9

Mrs. Grundy raced off into the school.10

When Todd got home there was nobody there, just a note from his dad saying he'd be back before dark.  Todd decided to go to the pond for a swim.  After that he was tired and fell asleep on the grass.  When he woke up it was because there were a lot of sirens going off.  As he got closer he could hear a lot of shouting and something was stinging his eyes.  Just as he came over the hill by the barn he saw some policemen dash into the house, then in a minute they came out carrying packages wrapped in brown paper.  It looked like meat from the freezer.  As Todd came down the path to the house someone grabbed him and picked him up.  It was Mrs. Grundy.11

"Oh, you poor poor boy to have your father do such terrible things and then run off."12

"Dad didn't run off.  What are you talking about?  Look, here he comes now." said Todd for he could see the family station wagon coming over the hill by the windmill.13

When Todd's father got out of the car all the policemen were yelling and pointing their guns at him.  As he lay there on the ground getting the hand cuffs put on him Todd's mother pulled up in her Volkswagen.  It took a while to get everything explained and Mrs. Grundy was awfully embarrassed, but after a good feed of pork chops washed down with pump water everyone was happy except for Todd.  He had to do the dishes.14

Name......Larry A. Tilander15

Age.......48, but not an adult16