Adventure Book:
Pickles Learns to Hide |
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Imagine how surprised Max was when he looked out the window and saw Grandma prancing up the the walk carrying a very large bag.
Well, Max” said Grandma. “I suppose the question is... what’s in the bag?
And, of course, that was the question.
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Grandma rummaged in the bag and brought out four— 1, 2, 3, 4— flat furry things. Max held them up to the light.
They are” he said, “flat farmyard critters!
"Indeed!" said Grandma. “That’s why I brought this.” Reaching into the bag again she drew out a great big bag of poly-fil®. “Stuff them!” she said.
And with a stick, Max did stuff all four animals— first the pig, then the horse, then the cow, then the duck.
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“Stuff this one a bit more,” said Grandma. “It looks a little peaked.
"Burp!” went the cow.
"This one has had enough,” announced Max.
"Now,” said Grandma, “we shall have to make up adventures for them all.”
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“Quite right,” said Max. “Imagine a pig named Pickles.”
“Lovely,” said Grandma. “What does Pickles do?”
“He tries to hide,” said Max, “but he can’t.” So Max imagined a game of “hide
and seek” on the farm.
“You hide Pickles. You hide, and we’ll find you.” All the animals agreed that Pickles was it.
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First Pickles considered the old apple tree. It was tall, and pigs do not like to climb— at least not without a ramp. There was a hole in the tree where Louis the squirrel hid his nuts, but it was too small for Pickles. So... Pickles went behind the tree.
“We see you!” cried all the other
critters. “You are too stout to hide behind that apple tree.”
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Next, Pickles examined the door to the barn. Pigs don’t like to swing on doors unless someone builds them a seat— and little pigs don’t want to hide behind a closed door because they get afraid in the dark. So... Pickles hid behind the door and left it open just a crack.
“We see you Pickles,” said the others. “We see your corkscrew tail.”
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Then Pickles saw Grandma. I’ll just stand next to her, he thought, and look like a dog.
But he didn’t look like a dog at all. He looked like a little pink pig.
“We know the difference between a dog and a pig, Pickles,” said his farmyard friends.
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How about under the house, thought Pickles. Look at that space.
“Oh!” said Pickles. “Oh, ugh!” said Pickles. “Oh, ugh, ooo!” said he, and then... “Oh, ugh, ooo, ouch!!” I am neither in nor out, he thought. “Indeed,” he said, “I am stuck.”
“We see you,” said the other animals, and they pulled him out.
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“Oh dear,” said Pickles. “Hiding a pig is very difficult to do. I have tried the tree and the door.”
“I have tried my very best dog disguise while I was standing next to Grandma, and I have tried squeezing all of me into too small a space.”
“Everyone sees me. No one is fooled.
Pigs don’t hide well at all!”
And then Pickles had an idea.
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He tiptoed to the back of the yard where a lovely hole had been dug. In the hole was a big puddle of water from a recent rain.
Pickles slipped into the puddle, which turned to “oozie, goozie, smoozie” mud.
He rolled in it, and dove in it, and came up
covered in it.
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“Where is Pickles?” cried the other
animals.
“Oh dear,” said Grandma, “I see a pig in the mud.”
And indeed she did!
I guess pigs can hide well after all.
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| Written and illustrated by elinor peace bailey |
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