“Hi, bro!” the elder Striped said. They were all the same height, but the older one wore a jaunty cap.
“Hi,” Middle politely said. Despite the fact that in the forest they were afraid of the desperate striped piglets, the pink piglets considered them their cousins and got along well with them.
“How are you?” the Striped in a cap asked, spitting out an acorn crust. “What’s new?”
“We’re thinking of building a house.”
“Why?” the striped piglets were surprised. “You already have a house.”
“Yeah,” Middle said. “But we want a big house. With a winter garden. So that other animals can live there. The business. Wanna join?”
“Nah,” the elder Striped answered. “We have a lot to do. You know… Fishing, eating acorns. Then the leaves will be yellow, we’ll have to roll in them. Also… There’s a lot of responsibility. And winter’s coming soon.”
“Sure,” Middle agreed. The responsibility worried him a lot. So many things could go wrong: not enough timbers, the roof could cave in… The tools, the boards, the bricks! Middle thought that it would be better to make jam in peace, and, after all, to roll around in yellow leaves, but for some reason he didn’t want to agree with the striped piglets right now.
“There is a guy on the block,” another striped piglet without a cap spat. “He also decided to do this… Business thing! He set up a shop with all sorts of things! And guess what? He spent all the piggy bank money and went broke! Nah, business isn’t our thing. We’ll find an easy job somewhere… A part-time, for example.”
“Thus, bro,” the third Striped summed up. “You do your thing. And we’ll do ours. Ciao!”
The elder Striped lifted his cap, and these three disappeared into the bushes.
Thinking about everything, Middle walked for a long time. The leaves that were beginning to fall rustled cozily under his hooves. When he returned home, his brothers were already asleep under their blankets. Their common piggy bank was on the table among the plates and cups. It was clear from its pitiful look that it had been thoroughly shaken. A notebook laid next to the piggy bank – something was counted and drawn in it. Middle washed the dishes and kneaded the dough for baking rolls in the morning. Life seemed calm and simple. Well, maybe they would change their minds…
* * *
The excited look of Junior and the determined look of Major let Middle know that yesterday’s conversation had not been forgotten. Despite his protests, the brothers had barely finished their tea and set up the piggy bank back on the table.
“This house will be so beautiful!” Junior continued to dream. “Painted walls! We’ll drink hot cocoa on the terrace! We’ll plant raspberry bushes around it.”
Major nodded in approval.
“Do you remember you ate raspberries the year before and had a stomach ache afterward?” Middle balefully said to Junior.
Junior fell silent.
“Building a big house is extremely hard!” Middle continued. “We’ll have to hire builders! What if they don’t work hard enough? Or pouring rain will start? The walls could be destroyed! And you… you can’t do anything! Yes, you can draw little pictures, but you’ve never decorated an entire house! What if it turns out badly and everyone laughs at you? Do you want to be embarrassed?” he continued to pressure his brother.
“I don’t,” Junior said. He felt sad and removed the notebook from the table.
“Wait,” Major said to his brother. “Do you remember,” he turned to the middle piglet, “the first time you made an apple pie, and you spoilt it? Half of the pie was raw, the other half was burnt. And Granny Owl was yelling that you were going to poison her?” Junior giggled. “And you said that you would never ever touch pastry again.”
Middle got embarrassed.
“And what wonderful pies you bake now!” Major continued. “And you,” he turned to his little brother. “Do you remember how afraid you were to swim in the lake? How it seemed to you that it was deep and that you would definitely be bitten? How we got into the water with you and held you… And what now? Who has the medal for the best swimmer hanging over his bed?”
It was all true. Despite the panic, Junior had become an excellent swimmer after hard training. Remembering this, the little brother looked reproachfully at Middle and this one shrugged.
“We can do this,” Major summed up, “And it doesn’t matter that we don’t know how to do it yet. We’ll hold each other! We will learn how to build the walls of big houses, and how to make a winter garden… I guess it must be in the books. We will definitely learn! Look at us!” Major poked at a shiny copper kettle, which had just happened to be on the table. It reflected three perky little snouts. “We’ve managed to figure out our lives,” he continued. “We bake pies, we swim in the lake, and we got rid of Wolf! Even if we don’t succeed, trying is more interesting than doing nothing and just staring at the ceiling…”
“…And more interesting than spitting acorns!” Middle suddenly blurted out.
“Exactly!” Major agreed.
“So, are we breaking it?” Junior squealed with delight.
Well, this time the piggy bank’s pitiful look didn’t help. Three confident hooves fell on it at once.
A mountain of coins was laying on the table.
The adventure had begun.
Chapter 2.
The Struggle at the Walnut Glade
An announcement appears on a tree. – Someone tall in a black cloak. – Why does your tail itch? – A disappointing defeat. – An unexpected decision.
Birdsong woke up Junior. The sun was shining through the window. Having splashed cold water on his snout, the piglet looked round. If his brothers had seen him, they would have made him wash his snout properly!
Thinking a while, Junior decided to pick some wild blueberries for breakfast and left the house.
Junior knew how to find joy in every sunny day. He liked to swim, go boating on the lake or just walk around with his basket. The piglet always turned his little snout in all directions in search of interesting, tasty and beautiful things. And now, having weaved around the forest for about half an hour, Junior returned not only with ripe berries, but also with a big bouquet of wildflowers.
The piglet noticed something new on the tree near the little house. It was an announcement.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ANNOUCEMENT
We are happy to announce competition for the construction of a forest residential complex!
The one who builds the best house will be reimbursed for all expenses from the forest and will receive the title of Chief Forest Builder!
Everyone can participate!
The competition will take place at the Walnut Glade at 12:00 pm.
⠀