Chapter 7 – the Pigja

  In the shade of the Grandfather Oak, the Pigja sat and waited for others to join him. Many were afraid because was so ominous in his black mask and sheer size, but some of the larger animals found their way to him.   “Hello,” he said as he saw Moose, Deer and Horse meander over toward him.  He tried to smile, but pigs don’t have the most flexible lips, so it was hard to tell.  “How can I help you?” he asked.  The moose boomed out with her concern. “There are loud machines that insist on either piling up dirt, or digging deep ruts, so that the humans can pretend to fly. It’s very hard to navigate through the woods when you could step into a hole, or trip over a knoll.”    The deer chimed in to agree with the Moose. “I can avoid them if there are machines around, because I can hear them, and see the movement of the equipment. My worry is that my fawns will break their legs falling into their pits. We deer pay more attention to moving things, so we don’t see right under our hooves very well.”   Moose nodded.  “If the dirt pile is too close, or too high, I can’t see the other side to know whether there is a pit, or level ground.  I’m gangly enough as it is. Tripping over dirt is embarrassing, as well as dangerous.”    Pigja thought for awhile and offered this as a solution. “What if I push rocks or logs into the pits.  Would that help?  I can knock down the hills easily enough, but my vision isn’t that great either, so I will probably have to help finding them all.  Do you think that will help?”    Deer and Moose raised and lowered their heads to show that they understood, but Horse was not happy with that answer.  “I don’t have as big a problem with the hills, because I can jump them, but if the pits aren’t filled all the way in, I might trip and break a leg. I’ve gotten stuck in a gopher hole before, and it  was really scary.”    “Oh, I see,” said the Pigja. I can’t smooth out every hill and hole, but I’ll see I can’t find a way to let you know they are coming. Does that help?”   “Maybe,” said Horse, though he wasn’t convinced at all.   “Is there anything else I can help with?”   At that point a bobcat spoke up.  Normally the other animals would be afraid of such a cat, but Grousing Day was a peaceful holiday. No attacking was allowed, by any species, as long as the Grousing Day continued.   “My concern,” mumbled the big cat, “is the heavy machinery that is destroying the woods around us.  It hasn’t happened here on the farm, yet.  But it happened before, and it drives away all my food, so I have to travel further to eat. Can you help with that?” 

Pigja pondered for a bit and then answered, “Would it help if I were to root around the wheels and tracks of the big machines, so they got stuck?”   Bobcat wasn’t so sure about that.  “ They seem to be able to climb over everything and seem to enjoy destroying the trees and land around them.  I don’t know if they can be stopped.” 

  The pigja thought again and finally replied “Let me talk to Sir Assinine, and see if we can’t come up with some sort of solution. You’ll have to give us some time though. It is a BIG problem.” With that the Pigja’s group broke up and went on with their day, while the pig took a nap in the shade, waiting for the other groups to finish. After the nap, he slipped back into the shadows to keep watch away from the sight of the other animals. No one ever seemed to see him go away.