Piglet and the Oak Tree - A Flash Fiction Short

The storm raged overhead, wind whipping through the forest as rain lashed through canopy. Branches swayed and clashed and the ground grew sodden. Forks of lightning illuminate the sky as rumbles of thunder roar between the boughs.
The small piglet scrambles through the dark and the wet, terrified and alone. Separated from its herd, the small pig crashes through bushes and underbrush, too scared to think. It wants it’s family, the comforting touches of brothers and sisters pressing in from the sides, the protective all-encompassing presence of mother, the gruff affection from father. The storm had scattered them, and the piglet ran deeper into the old wood.




As the sun rose, the piglet found himself laying at the base of a great oak. Wet, cold, and terribly sad, the piglet sat and simply looked around at the unfamiliar woods around him. He was scared, and hungry, and in the moment the sense of being lost was so overwhelming that the piglet couldn’t help but lay down and sob. But, as he lay there, sobs slowly trailing away, he noticed that the roots sheltered him well, blocking the winds and hiding him almost completely. The leaf litter between the roots was soft and even. Pulling more leaves around himself, Piglet, as he decided to be called, settled in and slept.

When Piglet awoke, the sun was low but it was not quite dusk. Piglet sat up, letting the leaves fall away. Rested, Piglet didn’t feel quite so overwhelmed, but now he was uncomfortably hungry. Piglet didn’t know which way to go, so he sniffed and followed his nose. It was leading him around the tree’s great trunk, but Piglet wasn’t sure what he was smelling. As he rounded a large ridge of root, he spied a person! The person was soaked, and haggard looking, and had been caught in the storm it seemed. Piglet was leery of people. He’d never seen one, but father had warned him that people were mean, that people would hit or chase Piglet and if they caught him, they’d eat him up. Piglet didn’t want to get eaten up! He was about to turn around and flee when his nose caught the smell of food. Piglet looked towards the person again and, this time, noticed the small bag of green and red apples laying on the ground nearby. Piglet’s stomach gave a rumble, but neither Piglet nor the person noticed it. The person was still deep unconscious and Piglet was too focused on the person and the bag of apples.
Piglet couldn’t resist them, his hunger was too great and he was too young for his father’s warning to hold enough weight to keep him away. He slowly, quietly crept towards the apples. The person didn’t move. Piglet nosed the opening of the bag and gently grabbed an apple in his mouth, then turned and quickly retreated to the other side of the oak, his side of the oak. He nestled back into the gnarled roots, in the soft leaf litter, and ate his apple. Nothing had ever tasted so sweet to Piglet.

Another apple plopped into the leaf litter next to Piglet and he looked up and saw that the Person was standing right there! Piglet scrambled, but there was no escape route through the roots. Their qualities that made them great shelter against the wind and the rains also made them impossible to easily escape from. Piglet backed himself as far as he could against the back of his little shelter and stared at the person in terror. The person stood there, gesturing with its hands and making little noises, but it didn’t approach. Piglet stared, sure that any moment the person would pounce, eating him right up. The person kept making low noises and slowly squatted down but didn’t get any closer. Piglet was still too scared to move, but now he was growing curious. The person wasn’t being like coyote or hawk, not stalking him or trying to grab him. The person was quiet and moving gently, being small. Coyote was never small, even when creeping through the high grass. Piglet froze as the person extended their arm, nudging the apple towards Piglet then pulling back to sit on their heels. Piglet tentatively nosed the apple, then his stomach took over and Piglet was crunching and chomping the apple eagerly. Piglet froze up again as the person let out a delighted chuckle and sat back against their own root. Person and Piglet both ate apples as the sun sunk down into dusk. Piglet wasn’t sure about person, but person hadn’t tried to eat them yet. Piglet backed himself as deep as he could in his root-shelter and nosed a little mound at the opening. It wouldn’t stop the person, but maybe it would hide him enough that person would forget he was here. Too exhausted to resist, Piglet nodded off listening to the person returning to their side of the tree, humming a something pleasant.

As the sun broke through the trees, Piglet woke. The sun was warm, his shelter was secure, and there was another little apple left near the opening. Piglet gingerly nosed aside his little mound and left his root-shelter. Person was sitting nearby, eyes closed and hands resting in their lap. Piglet lay in the sun and ate his apple, watching Person. Person wasn’t asleep, because Piglet could hear them humming that pleasant tune again, just quietly. Piglet spent his morning watching Person, which seemed a good a name as any, and laying in the sun.

As the sun reached that spot where it looked straight down at Piglet, Person stirred. With a sigh, they stood and slowly stretched. Person turned to Piglet and made noises with its mouth, then smiled and turned to walk off into the forest. Piglet didn’t speak person, having just barely mastered pig before being separated from his family (pig is a beautiful language, made up of touches and nudges and contact, with grunts, chuffs, and squeals to give emphasis or nuance.).  But curiosity got the better of Piglet, so they set out to follow Person and see what they were up to.

To be continued…