On the farm, the pigs loved mud.
All of them.
Roll in it. Splash in it. Sit in it. Sleep in it.
Splop. Squelch. Gloriously mucky.
All the pigs except Percy.
Percy did not like mud.
Not one bit.
He liked clean trotters.
He liked a tidy snout.
He liked being the only pink pig in a field of brown ones.
“Come in!” called the other pigs.
“No thank you,” said Percy, from a clean patch of grass. 🐷
🌾 The Hot Summer Day
July came.
And with it, the hottest day the farm had ever known.
The sun was enormous.
The air was thick.
Even the chickens were standing in whatever shade they could find, which was not very much shade.
Percy stood on his clean patch of grass.
He was very, very hot.
Very hot indeed.
The other pigs were in the mud.
All of them.
Lying flat.
Perfectly cool.
Not a care in the world.
Splop. Squelch. Sigh of contentment.
Percy looked at them.
He looked at the mud.
He looked at the sun.
He looked at the mud again.
“Just this once,” said Percy.
🐷 Oh.
The mud was cool.
Deliciously, magnificently, absolutely perfectly cool.
Oh.
Oh, that was good.
Percy lay flat.
He let the mud come up around his trotters.
Around his tummy.
Around his very warm ears.
Splop.
Squelch.
Ahhhhhhhhhh.
“Told you,” said the pig beside him.
“You didn’t tell me it felt like THIS,” said Percy.
💛 Levi Watches Him Change His Mind
Levi was leaning on the fence watching when Percy went in.
The transformation was very satisfying.
From tidy pink pig standing carefully at the edge —
To flat-out, completely-covered, blissfully-muddy pig in about forty-five seconds.
“He finally went in,” said Levi.
Percy opened one happy eye.
“I was waiting for the right moment,” said Percy.
“It took all summer,” said Levi.
“The right moment always takes exactly as long as it takes,” said Percy wisely.
Then he closed his eye again and let the cool mud do its very important work. 🐷