Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Three Little Pigs…the rest of the story


And so the Wolf, who had devoured the first two little pigs, ended up as food in the soup of the oldest little pig, Chuck, who had been smart enough to think ahead and build a brick house, one which would prove to be impermeable to the destructive forces of nature around him.

After Chuck finished up his dinner of wolf and lentil soup, he cleared the lonely table and washed his place setting for one.  He sat for a while in front of the fire, proud of his cleverness and ingenuity, and grateful that God had rewarded him with such a tasty soup.  He went to sleep that night feeling quite gratified.  He had always been taught that God had created pig in his own image, and had given him dominion over the plants and animals of the Earth.  Now he had proof.

The next morning, Chuck woke up in a cold sweat.  His sheets were soaked, and he felt cold and clammy.  He struggled to get his aching body out of bed, and into the bathroom, where he proceeded to vomit for half an hour.  He took his temperature, and it was 104 degrees.  He called his veterinarian, Dr. Crow, who told him to come in immediately.

Dr. Crow examined Chuck, ran some tests, and finally informed him, regretfully, that he had a terminal case of the Wolf Virus, for which there was no known cure.  Chuck became indignant, and angry, cursing the vet and vowing to find someone who could help him.  He looked far and wide, calling vet after vet, and researching for hours on the internet.  He got second, third, and fourth opinions, but he could not find anyone who could help him.  All sources told him that he had an incurable disease.

Chuck did not accept this fate, however, and decided instead that he would dedicate his life to finding a cure.  He spent the next six months studying day and night to obtain an associate’s degree with which he could get a job as a research assistant at the National Wolf Virus Research Center, which was funded primarily by the Federal Government, General Electric, and Anheuser Busch.

He got a job working for a beautiful sow named Clara, a brilliant scientist. Chuck worked tirelessly collecting and recording data for her, and bringing her slop whenever she was hungry.  Clara had three piglets at home.  Their father had left them to pursue a hot young gilt shortly after they were born.  She soon took a liking to the Chuck, and sent him non-verbal signal after non-verbal signal in an attempt to express her feelings.  Chuck missed them all.

A year passed, and they had still not found a cure.  Chuck decided that Clara was either not working hard enough, or just not smart enough, so he decided to go to graduate school and become a scientist himself.  After four years, he got his phD in Biochemistry from Emory, and built his own research lab out of, you guessed it, brick.  He did experiment after experiment, trial after trial, all to no avail. 

One day, he received a telegram that Clara, his old boss, had died.  He began to cry.  He thought back to the day he found out he was sick, and realized it had been over nine years.  In that moment, he gave up, and went home. 

As he sat in front of the crackling fire in his cozy brick house, his thoughts began to fade away.  He began to feel as though he was lost in the fire.  His connection with his body, and his disease, began to loosen its grip.  As he became immersed in the playful flickering of the flames, he began to feel as though he was becoming part of the fire.  At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and Chuck said, in a calm voice, “come in, it’s open.”


The door opened, and there stood the Big Bad Wolf.  Chuck looked up, and suddenly realized the truth.  The two old friends embraced, and laughed out loud as the walked forth together into the unknown.


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