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