Sophie came up with the idea of a Pigasus, and it seemed like such a great idea that there had to be a story there. So I started with "Once there was a pigasus" and let it go where it would from there. Sophie thought it was good, and said she'd draw the pictures if I typed the story.
It turns out that the pigasus had lots more adventures during her travels, which are only hinted at here, and Rose and Sophie have been asking me to tell them about them at bed times for a while now. Perhaps I'll write up some of those too, if Sophie is willing to draw some more pictures for them.
Once there was a pigasus. She was small and round and pink (except, or course, when she’d been playing in the mud holes, when she was small and round and muddy brown). She had a round snout and floppy ears and a little curly tail. And, on her back, she had two large, white, feathery wings.
Her name was Oink, and she lived in a magical land, full of magical creatures. There were unicorns, and griffins, and trolls, and fairies, and a magical slug named Erold. But, so far as Oink knew, she was the only pigasus.
This meant that Oink was very busy. When a princess wandered down to the local frog pond, and a frog asked her for a kiss, she would invariably say “Not until pigs fly!”. At this point the frog would call up Oink, who would do a fly-over. “Oh well,” the princess would say, and bend down to kiss the frog. Then, in a poof of magic, the princess would turn into a frog, and the two would hop away to live happily ever after.
This sort of thing happened very often, which meant that Oink was always on call. But still she was lonely, and wanted, more than anything, another flying pig to play with.
And so, one day, Oink decided to set of in search of another pigasus. She packed up her belongings in a spotted red handkerchief, which she slung over her shoulder, and off she flew.
Oink flew many months; she flew many weeks (four weeks to the month you may mark). She flew over valleys and streams, forests and lakes, mountains and hills. She flew over the ocean to strange tropical islands, full of brightly coloured birds and screeching monkeys. She met flying horses, and flying squirrels, and even a flying penguin. (The penguin was in a hot-air balloon, but Oink thought that counted.) She was attacked by a huge giant with one eye, who tried to swat her out the sky, but fortunately the giant had very poor depth perception and missed.
And so, one day, tired and hungry, she landed in a village to drink from the public trough. The she noticed a poster on the wall:
One Night Only
THE CIRCUS!!!
Featuring:
Clowns
Jugglers
Acrobats
and…
THE FABULOUS PORCINI BROTHERS
FLYING PIGS!
Oink was very excited. Partly because she loved clowns and jugglers. But also because of the prospect of seeing flying pigs.
She checked the date and time on the poster. The circus was in a town five miles away and started in an hour. Though she was tired, she flew as fast as she could, and got there just in time.
The huge circus tent was almost full when Oink arrived and took her seat. The Ringleader entered, and, one after another he announced the acts, each one more fantastic than the last. There were clowns, who tripped over their enormous shoes, threw pies at one another, and landed flat on their faces. There were jugglers, who juggled balls, flaming torches, and then one juggler juggled two other jugglers, who in turn juggled flaming torches. And there were acrobats, and a lion tamer who put his head in the mouth of a lion, and then put the lion’s head in his own mouth.
Then the light dimmed, the crowd hushed, and the Ringleader announced, “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…. THE FABULOUS PORCINI BROTHERS!”.
The lights shone reached up to the top of tent where, balanced on a small platform a hundred feet above the ground, stood two pigs. One pig took hold of a trapeze bar and swung from one side of the tent to another. The second pig took a turn, and the first caught him by the trotters and swung back again. The two pigs swung back and forth; jumping and twisting and turning somersaults in the air. They caught one another by the trotters, the ears, the tail.
Oink was spellbound. “They’re not actually flying pigs,” she thought, “but they really are amazing”.
When the show was over, Oink went round to the trailers parked behind the big tent. She found one with “Porcini Bros.” painted in gold, curly letters on the side, and knocked on the door.
A large, handsome pig opened the door. “Hello,” he said. “I’m Porkus Porcini. Can I help you?”
“I’m Oink,” said Oink shyly. “I’m a flying pig. I’d like to join your circus”.
And so Oink joined the circus. They found that a flying pig was very useful in helping set up the big tent, and, before each show, she would check all the ropes and fastenings for the tightrope walkers and trapeze at the top of the tent. She would help with collecting tickets and selling lemonade, and occasionally helped out the clowns with her act.
After the performances, she and Porkus would talk. She would tell him of the magical land where she came from; the unicorns and trolls and fairies; and of all the adventures she’d had. He would tell her of life in the circus and all the they visited and the many different people for whom they performed. Soon they fell deeply in love.
Then, two weeks after Oink had joined the circus, Porkus asked her to marry him.
“Yes,” said Oink, “But what shall we do for a ring?”
“I have one on the end of my nose,” said Porkus.
“That’s lucky,” said Oink. “I knew an owl and a pussycat who had to sail away to look for one once. That was a year and a day ago and they’re still not back.”
And so Oink married Porkus and travelled with the circus, and together they had many piglets, some with wings and some without, and lived happily ever after.
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