Woodland Piglet

W-who’s there? Oh, hello. You startled me. Y-you are very tall. Can you reach the clouds? It must be nice to be so tall. I imagine you can see a long way into the distance. I can only see as far as the bottom of this tree we are standing near. This is a good tree; it has apples in it. Would you mind reaching up and getting me an apple? If you like, you can pick an apple for yourself, and we can sit and chat for a while.

I am a very small, pink piglet. I don’t imagine I will grow very much taller. I have a wise friend who said that was quite alright, as I could focus on the things closer to the ground, and my friends could focus on the things higher up. Then we could share what we have discovered so no one would miss out on anything. W-would you like to be my friend?

I live just over there in that small house. If you visit me, we can sit in the garden and share some tea, and—w-what was that sound—oh, it is just the squirrels playing in the leaves. As you may be able to tell, I am a bit shy, but I feel comfortable with you. Thank you for the apple.

Hello, wind. This morning I came to sit beside this tree and wait for a friend. Did you come to wait for a friend too? This tree has been here a long time, a sturdy and dependable tree; its trunk is the perfect shape to sit against. Look! Up in the sky, the clouds are playing tag with each other. I would like to play tag too when my friend arrives. Hello clouds, do you see little me waving at you? Oh, that tickles! The leaves are dancing and whirling around me. I will dance with the leaves while I wait for a friend.

My tummy is telling me it is time to eat lunch. I have had a wonderful morning, even if a friend did not pass by. No, that is not right. I have had friends with me all this time. The comfortable tree, the whispering wind, the dancing leaves, and the playful clouds have kept me company and been my friend.

I am so excited today is visiting day. Do you have a visiting day too? I have made some muffins. Everyone loves muffins…I think. Maybe I should make some cookies too. Oh, dear! L-look at the time. I have to hurry.

Who should I visit first? There is my bear friend, but if I visit him first, I won’t have any muffins left to take to my other friends. Maybe the old owl, but he may be out, and it is a long walk to his tree. The deer in the meadow loves to chat while her children are playing. Then there is the rabbit who loves to tell very long stories. If I sit quietly, maybe I can make a decision.

Oh! T-that started me. Someone is knocking on my door.

All my friends have come to visit me. When the sun woke me up this morning, I knew this would be a special day, but I did not think it would be my friends visiting me special type of day.

As long as there have been moles, there have been opal miners (opals being their chief goal, but by no means their only one).

Each mole community has their specialty, of course, and the town of Molington was certainly no exception. As neighboring mole communities usually specialized in such pursuits as worm digging and tunnel building (a skill quite different from opal mining, as any mole can tell you that has had the unpleasant experience of dwelling very long in an abandoned opal mine) the citizens of Molington seldom saw the need to train their pups in any other pursuit besides mining the rare and beautiful opals that were hidden beneath the rich countryside they called home. All other tasks were happily taken on by their neighbors, who were quite willing to trade their hard work for the beautiful opals of Molington.

As the mines of Molington became deeper and deeper, the task of transporting their finds to the surface became more challenging. Each mole took great pride in their daily tally of opals found (and every mole could identify every opal they had ever found, even years later). Transporting them became a matter of passing them up to the surface, mole to mole. As each mole hated to quit until absolutely necessary, they began tossing them so that less moles were needed to get them to the surface. Soon it became a game to see how far they could get their daily bounty, and to increase their skill in this, they began holding yearly contests. Moles from miles around would come and compete for the title of Champion Opal Tosser.

Your pet becomes an expert at finding its own food!

Favorite food:

Chocolate Acorn

See below for your free foods!