HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 7

PART 7, December 7

The tracks headed off towards town. The problem was, they weren't very deep and they petered out real soon in the grass off the side of the field. If only they had had a snow they could have seen very clearly where the quarry had gotten to. Finally they decided to go back to get the little bird to help them out. It took them a little while to find him and get him out of the shack.

"Let's just go into town and see if maybe we can find out something about this," said Hickory Hog.

"I don't know," said the frightened little bird, "What if we meet with whatever it is... I mean, he was big, huge, giant..."

"We know, we know," said Whizzer Worm hastily, "That, however, is exactly what we want to do, meet up with him. And, then we want to take care of him."

"What's that?" asked Hickory. "I heard a rustling over there."

"Maybe we'd better go over there and find out," said the worm, as he wormed his way over for a better look at the whole situation.

There were some trees off beyond the grass at the edge of the field. They screened off Potatotown from Hickory Hog's shack. Hickory took off at a trot. He directed Whizzer Worm to one side. He went to the other while the frightened bird flew up high over the trees. For once, the higher he flew, the better he liked it. Maybe the person or thing was big enough to reach out from the trees and grab him, so he wanted to make sure he was far away from any of that.

They heard a scruffling again. This time both the hog and worm heard it.

"That way," they shouted as they set off in hot pursuit. Whatever was there heard them coming and started off at a brisk pace. It had been coming towards them, but then turned to run away from whatever it was that was coming at him. Whizzer Worm was a little closer at first, but he couldn't worm as fast as Hickory ran. For once the hog really trotted his quickest. The little bird peered down through the stratosphere, spying their prey, but quickly flew back the other way. Faster and faster the two earthbound partners sped on. Then they could see him before them in the woods. He appeared a shabbily dressed little man from the back, not at all the giant monster of little bird's acquaintance, but then you never could tell. They'd better nab him first to find out what was really up.

Hickory Hog was now close enough that he could almost reach out and touch him. With a spurt of energy he hurled himself on top of him and Whizzer Worm piled on top. They had him at last.

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 6

PART 6, December 6

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, Little Bird," cried Hickory Hog. "Please wake up.”

Nothing happened. Finally Hickory Hog picked up the faint little frightened bird and began to shake him, "You'd better watch out," warned Whizzer Worm. "You're beginning to shake off all his feathers."

"Oh, so I am," Hickory gently set the bird down on his bed. He was immediately lost among the covers. "Where did he go, now," asked the distraught hog.

"Let's see," said Whizzer, He began to worm his way around the covers. All of a sudden a little head popped up and a quavering little voice came out, "When did the earthquake finally get over?" Whizzer hopped over to pull the covers away from where the bird was. Immediately the little bird fell over on his side.

"It's all right now," said Hickory Hog. "You're here with us. We'll make sure you're safe, Let me get you some turnip seeds. Those will perk you up in no time."

So saying, he went off to the cupboard to find the seeds. He brought them back with a little bowl of water to wash them down. Everyone waited while the little bird gained back his strength and self-confidence.

"Now, what exactly was it that you saw?" began Hickory, "There have been some awfully strange things going on around here lately."

"He was huge, I mean gigantic, I mean colossal, "sputtered the bird, "He was big," The bird paused for a second and then went on. "Well, I don't mean as big as you. Hickory, a…a…, well, I mean, He, a..., He was bigger than me," he finished.

"Who was?" questioned Whizzer Worm.

"I don't know. But, there he was where all the potatoes had been, sort of just checking around to see if there might be any more. He saw me and started over toward me. He looked at me with the awfullest face you ever saw. He just stared at me, and he frightened me so much that I flew right to your door."

"I wonder if that isn't the same one who was in my corn crib," said Hickory Hog.

"And he stole my potatoes," added Whizzer Worm.

"I say we ought to go out right now and see if we can nab him," roared the hog. "What do you think, little bird?"

"Oh, I don't think we should be doing anything like that, I don't think, I'd be too scared."

"Well, I'm not," said Hickory Hog. "Come along with me, Whizzer.”

With that Hickory Hog grabbed his huge hog jacket and put it on. He flung open the door and marched out into the early morning. Whizzer Worm went along behind. The frightened bird flew with all his weight against the opened door to shut it, and then he triple locked it. After that he burrowed down in some of the covers on Hickory Hog's bed, hoping not to be heard from for some time.

The two friends were outside in the cold morning. The sun was rising in a distant hazy sort of way. Right away they could see that the potatoes were gone. This time, though, there were some definite tracks to follow. Determining to catch whoever had made them, they set off.

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 5

PART 5, December 5

"Who's there!" called out Hickory Hog and Whizzer Worn in rather frightened voices.

Tap, Tap, Tap… It came again.

This time Hickory Hog started to get a little angry. It was much too early for hogs to be up and about, especially with harvesting all over for the winter and planting and cultivating months away. "WHO IS THERE!" he bellowed.

"Let me in. Please let me in," came a small voice from outside. It was a high reedy sort of voice, almost inaudible. Then there was a little sob. It wasn't a frightening sound at all, but rather a frightened one, as if whoever was outside the door almost didn't want anyone to really answer his call.

"WHO ARE YOU!!"

"It's me," came the little reply, "You know…."

"I certainly do not," said the hog, getting up out of bed, "And when I do finally get ahold of you you'll certainly wish I didn't know you."

After having flung off the covers he spent rather a lengthy time trying to find his hoghoof slippers before he crossed the cold floor and flung open the door. There before him in the pale dawn stood the most pitiful, sorrowful little creature there ever was. It was the frightened little bird. Everything he knew of frightened him. Hickory had once helped him to stop being afraid to fly, but there were still many other things that made him afraid.

"Why, it's the frightened little bird," said Hickory Hog, "Come in, come in." He held the door open so that the bird could come in and then quickly shut it to keep out the cold. The little bird came into the house and just stood on the rug in front of the fireplace shivering and shivering.

"What brings you here so early in the morning?" asked Whizzer Worm, who was still arousing himself from his wormy sleep.

"Wwwwwelllll," shivered the little bird. "It's a long story. It began last night, I decided to stay in Potatotown this winter, you see, instead of migrating South with all the other birds. Up until now it had been all right to stay outdoors, but it was beginning to get too cold, I thought I might come over and stay in your barn, Hickory, but when I got here late last night it was all locked up for a change.

"I knew I needed somewhere to get out of the wind. Then I remembered Whizzer Worm's private little potato patch, I knew some of those made little mounds that would protect me from the winds, so I decided to spend the night between two of them. The only thing was, when I got there they were all gone,"

"GONE!" shouted Whizzer Worn. "GONE!"

"And that's not all. Right after I got there I got the worst scare of my life. There was somebody there….and…."

That was all the frightened bird had to say. He had gotten so frightened retelling what had happened that he had fainted dead away.

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 4

PART 4, December 4

"Someone has been living under there?" cried Hickory Hog. "What do you mean?"

"I mean just what I said,” Whizzer Worm replied. "Someone has been living under here. They've left behind them a tidy pile of corn cobs."

"Corn cobs? Oh, No! How many did they leave? If they ate too much of my corn I won't have any more. What will I do?"

"Oh, they only had about a dozen or two ears," answered the worm. "I don't imagine whoever it was had more than one or two at a sitting, that is one or two SINGLE ears," he went on, rather pointedly. "You won't be out much."

"That's good. At least I'll have enough for my Christmas dinner, I'd hate
not to have enough for that, I'm planning on having you over along with the little old man and the frightened little bird," (Notice how Hickory Hog called everyone he knew "little". Next to him even some elephants might seem "little".)

"Oh, you'll have plenty. Don’t worry about that. I just wonder where he’s
gone to?"

"That is a good question," said Hickory, "Maybe we ought to clean up those cobs and get back into the house where it's nice and warm. You could spend the night if you want to."

"Well, normally I like my nice snug burrow in the earth, but maybe tonight
it would be better to stay indoors. You never know. Someone who eats corn like that could have a use for worms, too,"

So saying, the friends locked up the barn. That was the first time Hickory Hog had ever locked up his barn. Never before had there been any need, so the doors were always left open or shut, depending totally on whether they happened to get closed or not. This time they were closed for sure. The windows were barred, too. There was no way to get back into the barn unless someone burrowed in from the earth below, and Whizzer Worm said that the evidence didn't seem to indicate such an entry on the prior occasion of occupancy.

It was a bitterly cold night and the two friends were glad to be in Hickory's
snug warm house. He had added a whole pile of hog logs to his fireplace, and those kept them warm all the night through. In fact, it was so arm that the last little bit of popcorn Hickory Hog had in the house exploded by itself, even though it was two whole rooms away. That did happen to seem a good treat to them so Hickory melted seventeen cubes of butter to go with it, and they had a nice snack. Bedtime came, and everyone drifted off into a warm, cozy wintery sleep.

All around them the night was quiet and still. All of a sudden just before daybreak their sleep was disturbed. There came a loud tapping at the door,

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 3

PART 3, December 3

Hickory Hog turned his attention to the barn. It was a big barn, the color of a red russet potato, with corn yellow and green doors. In the yard before it was a turnip colored tractor. Nothing seemed to be unusual. Hickory lived some ways out of town, and once the harvest season was over he didn’t get a lot of visitors. In fact, he hadn't had a visitor of any sort in over a week before Whizzer Worm had popped up his wormy head.

"What could be in my barn?" he asked.

"I don’t know," replied Whizzer Worm, "but if I was you I'd check it out to
see what could be the matter."

"I guess you're right, but I was just in there getting out my corn."

"Maybe whoever it was was quiet when you were around," offered Whizzer. "Everybody can hear you coming for at least three miles away, and if I didn't know who you were I’d sure lie low myself."

"Let's go, then," said Hickory.

Whizzer Worm got the rest of himself up out of the ground and wormed his way over to the barn door. Hickory Hog stamped over and flung open the door. Everything was silent and still inside. The December sun slanted in through the open door and you could see all sorts of flecks of dust stirred up in the light by the huge hog's entrance, but that was all. No living thing scurried around inside the barn. Hickory went to the back of the barn, while his friend began to explore the pile of corn. There were somewhere between 40 and 50 thousand ears left. It would make a lot of places for someone to hide under, especially if he piled the corn around himself just right.

While the corn pile was being investigated Hickory turned his attention to all his tools in the back. All the hoes, rakes, shovels and other implements were there where they belonged, undisturbed. Also there were all the catalogues he ordered from. True, he did save seeds from his own produce, but he liked to try out new kinds and varieties, so he needed these. There were 79 catalogues dealing with corn seeds alone, along with for potatoes, 36 for turnips and 13 devoted solely to Brussels sprouts. It was a library unique unto itself. Nothing was amiss there at all. Then he heard a cry from under the corn, "Come here, quick!"

Hickory ran over as fast as his hooves could carry him, Whizzer Worm stuck his head out of the pile of corn. "I've discovered something," he said.

"What?"

"Someone has been living under here!"

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 2

PART 2, December 2

There was a rustling and a bustling deep under the pile of corn in Hickory Hog's barn. Something or someone was down there up to mischief, but what it was no one knew. For the time being they kept their work and existence a secret.

A cold north wind began to beat against the little shack. Hickory Hog went outside and got a few more hog logs to go on his fire. He used only hog logs which were big and fat and burned for a long time. As he was outside he happened to see a little movement of earth. It formed a little mound that grew taller and taller, until finally out at the head of it popped the head of Whizzer Worm.

"Well, hi there, Whizzer Worm" came the call from the huge hog, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be snug and safe down in the earth in your little worm home. What brings you out on a cold day like today?"

"I don’t really know. There's just something happening."

"I know. All the crops are in and there's nothing more for you to eat in the ground. Pretty soon it will be too hard to go through, even for you, and then you'll have to wait until spring."

"No, it’s not that, either. It's just something that's making me uneasy. I keep hearing noises."

"You mean me?"

"No, not you," insisted the worm, "I'd know your heavy tread anywhere. These footsteps or whatever they are are lighter than yours. And I keep hearing them in the same place."

"Oh! Where's that?"

"Over in your barn."

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie

HICKORY HOG AND THE CHRISTMAS RASCAL, part 1

PART 1, December 1

Hickory Hog, as everyone knows, lives in a shack by the side of a brook. He has a garden, and in his garden he has corn and turnips and potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Close by is the city known as Potatotown in which reside his many friends and admirers. It is not with them, however, that we are concerned at the moment, but with another party who happened into the area.

It was a cold, nippy sort of morning. Of course all the harvesting was long over. All the people thereabouts had filled their barns and cupboards with all the good things God had given them that year, In fact, there were some squirrels who had made a barn out of one of the potatoes that Hickory Hog had grown, in order to store their nuts. His potatoes were large indeed. One had been made into an apartment building for homeless birds. Another had made a long river journey as a boat. Yet another had become the first airplane (or perhaps we should say potatoplane) to land at the Potatotown airport. One time he had ridden one to victory in a race. Of course the potato hadn't run itself, but had been powered by Hickory Hog's friend, Whizzer Worm, Whenever folks thought of potatoes they thought of Hickory Hog, and vice verse, too,

Anyway, back to the morning. It hadn’t snowed yet, but people were expecting it to do so any day. That was one way that they knew Christmas was just around the comer, Potatotown was one of those places that always had a white Christmas. If it didn't snow they would just open a couple of packages of Hickory Hog's dried potato flakes and create a blizzard of their own. Once the flakes were pressed down they made real nice sledding, and of all the sledders in town none enjoyed it as much as Hickory Hog. This year, though, it seemed pretty certain there'd be no need of that. Any day now the white flakes would come tumbling down and cover the land with a pure white blanket of snow.

Hickory Hog went out to check his barn. He wanted to make sure that his supply of corn was snuggly settled in for the winter ahead. He only ate a hundred ears a day, not to mention a few odd bushels of turnips and Brussels sprouts along with one or two thirty pound potatoes for dessert. His harvest had been plentiful and he had shared with his neighbors, but still he liked to check his stock to make sure that everything was safe. You could never be too careful.

He looked over the pile of corn. There seemed to be still about the same amount as the day before. There'd be enough to last him until the harvest next year, especially if he was careful. There might even be some extra to make corn syrup out of to go with his potato pancakes. So, he went back into the house to bundle up for the cold days ahead. He wasn't there to see something strangely move around deep under the pile of corn.

© 1989 Kevin Don Levellie