Unhappily Ever After: A Collection of Feary Tales

Huff n' Puff

Huff n' Puff

In a faraway forest, there lived a wolf named Fred. This distinguished canine maintained the order of his wooded home. He made sure that peace was kept and that everyone had food. The other animals respected the wolf. He never tried to kill off the healthy only those close to death with one quick swipe of his paw. The wolf and his pack kept other predators away like the bears who kept trying to encroach upon their territory. Everything was in balance and the forest creature lived very happily together.

One fall day, the colorful leaves drifted lazily to the ground and the forest was buzzing with activity. The wolves knew to make themselves scarce since all the animals were pushing to gather food for the winter and having predators about made them nervous. Only one young pup, Fred's youngest cub, remained to watch over everything but from a safe distance.

A huge racket alerted the animals of an intruder and quickly they hid themselves away. The young pup started to run off to find his father but his hind paw was tangled in some briars. A very brave rabbit helped the cub but unfortunately the ruckus was over and the three invading strangers had already left.

Running back to the den howling for his pa, the young wolf explained everything. "They were fat and round. They had floppy ears and curly tails. Tom Rabbit said that they were um 'pigs.'"

"Everyone stays here." Fred commanded. "I'm going to go and see with we can get the winter stores back. Chuck and Steve, come with me."

The wolves took off after their quarry's trail. Fred knew of these creatures. They were cared for by humans and had plenty of food without the need to forage. The theft of precious resources could doom the natural balance that had sustain their peaceful forest life. After a long run the trio came to the forest edge and saw that they were no humans about. Fred cautiously approached the first little pen that was made of straw.

"Little pig, little pig!" he called. "Return what you have stolen or I'll knock your house down."

"You can huff n' puff wolf but these are my treats." The first pig called out.

"We need those berries and acorns for the forest animals."

"No, they're mine now!"

The wolf took a beep breath and launched himself at the pen. The straw siding quickly crumbled and the wolf entered grabbing up the stolen victuals. Handing the food to Chuck, who disappeared into the forest, Fred approached the next pen built out of sticks.

"Little pig, little pig!" he called. "Return what you have stolen or I'll knock your house down."

"You can huff n' puff wolf but these are my treats." The second pig called out.

"We need those berries and acorns for the forest animals."

"Why do you care?"

"Without enough food, the forest animals will starve."

"Well, they're my treats now!"

Fred took a deep breath and knocked down the stick pen as well. He then gathered up the precious resource and handed it to Steve. Running to the last pig pen, which was made out of bricks, Fred cleared his throat.

"Little pig, little pig!" he called. "Return what you have stolen or I'll knock your house down."

"You can huff n' puff wolf but these are my treats." The third pig called out.

"We need those berries for the forest animals."

"Why do you care?"

"Without enough food then the forest animals will starve."

"Isn't that good for you? The weaker they are the easier they'll be to catch."

"No. If the forest animals go hungry then more will die at once and they won't be very many new animals next year. That means that we wolves will go hungry because the prey will be scarce." Fred reasoned.

"Well too bad. These treats are mine and I'm going to enjoy them."

The wolf tried to break down the structure but it held firm. Seeing no other way in, Fred looked around. A strange small structure caught his attention. Looking in, he saw an abundance of food. He gathered up as much as he could carry. This would be enough to feed the forest animals and the humans would simply feed the pigs more in the morning.

The pigs saw their food being taken and they squealed to high heaven over the injustice. The racket caught the attention of the humans who raced out and saw the wolf running away with the food. Fred handed off his burden to Chuck and Steve who had come back. The two wolves did not want Fred to stay behind but he knew that there would be repercussions.

"Come with us." Chuck urged.

"No, the humans are coming and they'll go into the forest to hunt. That will endanger everyone."

Chuck and Steve ran away. They froze momentarily when they heard a single gunshot but knew not to return and pressed on further into the woods.

The three pigs watched in glee and cheered when they heard the retort of the human's weapon. The last of the stolen berries and acorns were then savored and the three pigs settled down for a nap.

THE END
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Halloween party!!! Today has  been busy. My sister and her family came so y'all can thank her for reminding me or would I would have forgotten.