The Rise of the Thinking Pig
by G. Michael Smith
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Table of Contents parts 1, 2, 3 4 |
conclusion
Intruders
The sky was orange by the time Paulina returned. She had two full baskets hanging from her snout. She was walking slowly so as not to spill the contents. She stopped at the base of the ladder and dropped the baskets. “Vi,” she whispered. “Viola, are you up there?”
Viola’s snout appeared at the edge of the cradle. She stood up and called down. “Paulina, get up here and bring the food.”
“I can’t. You come down and get the baskets.”
“What do you mean, you can’t? Of course you can. You did it once. You can do it again,” scolded Viola.
“I can’t. You have to take the baskets up. Come down and get them.”
Viola came down head first. She had been practicing and was quickly at the bottom. She picked up the baskets and scurried back up to the cradle. “Now come on up. I have made an emergency ladder and a couple of harnesses. They won’t hold our weight, but they will wake us up if we get too close to the edge.” Paulina stared up at her. “Come on! It will be dark in a few minutes.”
Paulina placed one foot on the first step. She took it off and looked up at Viola. “I can’t. I just can’t. You will have to stay by yourself.”
“You will get knocked up. Do you want that?”
“I will hide in the studio.”
“That won’t work. The moment you go out to get food they will jump you or you will give in to the imperative.”
“It won’t be so bad.”
“You are right. It won’t be bad but it will change everything for you.” She paused. “It will change everything for us.”
“How?” she asked apprehensively.
“You know how. Now, either climb up or go. I have to get the ladder up before the sun disappears,”
“You going to be okay up there?”
“I will be fine, and I will not be pregnant.”
“Okay.” She turned to go. “See you soon. I will come by tomorrow morning to see how your first night went.”
“No, I don’t want you to come near here. When my cycle has ended, I will come down. I will need this kept a secret for next time. Now go.”
Paulina turned and walked back down the path to the village. Viola slipped the safety harness woven from bamboo branches over her shoulder, snuggled down in the pile of leaves, and tried to sleep. The night sounds were very different up high in the tree. The insect noises were interrupted by a whisper of bat wings over her head. Rodents scurried along the branches. An owl swooped and screeched. Viola ignored them all and finally drifted off to sleep.
It was close to dawn when she was awakened by whispering near the trunk of the oak tree. She sat up and was about to yell at Paulina for coming back to the tree when her brain translated the words. The accent was new to her but she understood. She froze and listened.
“How much farther is the center of the village?”
“Why are you asking me? I’ve never been there before.”
“Must be close.”
“That’s why we were sent here. We have to scout out the best route and see if there are any sentries. The scuttlebutt is that they have become lazy and fat. These woods are plentiful. I want a piece of that.”
“Don’t be stupid. They don’t call themselves the Sharp Tusks for nothing. The last couple of hungry boars that ventured into their village were butt-gored and kicked out. If the raid is to be a success, we must surprise them in their sleep.”
“Do you think the dozen boars in our group will be enough?”
“I don’t know, but that is what we’re supposed to find out. Now let’s go.” The two boars walked slowly down the path. The second boar stopped and stepped off the path. “What are you doing?”
“I have to go.”
“Hold it. Your spoor might tip them off to our presence.”
“I can’t. I’ll go just off the path. You know I have to go when I get nervous.”
“Well, hurry up. It will be light soon, and we have to be gone by then.”
The pigs disappeared. Down the path. Viola considered dropping the ladder and climbing down but decided against it. The three boars were here just to spy. They would come back the same way they came. She would wait until they passed under her hiding spot on their way out of the woods.
She did not have to wait long. She could hear their hoof beats. They were running. She peeked down at them as they approached the tree.
“Let’s go. Hurry. The sun is nearly up.”
“Did you see those burrows on the hill? Pretty fancy.”
“I didn’t see any sentries. I think we could kill their chief and any big boars before they even knew we were there.”
“For sure. Tomorrow night we might be the proud owner of a lovely burrow on the hill.”
“Let’s go. I need to rest if we are to raid this place tomorrow night.” The two strange boars walked under her hiding place and slipped through an opening in the dense bracken on the far side of the clearing.
Viola was shaking. She waited until the sun was up before she lowered the ladder and climbed down. She pulled the rope to raise the ladder out of sight. She knew she had to warn the mayor of the impending attack. She quickly trotted down the path and headed to the village center.
* * *
The Hero
Viola was in full estrus. At least her body was. Her brain, not so much. She trotted into the village as fast as she was able. Several young males instantly smelled her scent. By the time she was outside of the nayor’s burrow, three males were staring at her and looking at one another. The smell of testosterone was thick. Their tusks scraped the ground and they flicked earth into the air. The rear hooves kicked out as they strutted closer to Viola.
She turned toward them and spoke in a harsh tone: “Not now, boys. I have something important to tell the mayor.” She turned and flicked her tail up. “Maybe later,” she cooed.
“What do you want, Viola?” growled MacDuff. He came out of a small burrow beside the mayor’s and approached Viola.
“MacDuff, thank the Great Boar. I must talk to the mayor. Now.”
“Why?”
“Just believe me. It is extremely important.” MacDuff snorted. Viola took two steps up the path toward the Burrow at the top of the hill. She could see her doors at the top.
“Stop!” shouted MacDuff.
Viola would not be stopped. She blurted the first thing that came to her mind. “The doors need to be fixed. They could fall off and hurt someone.” She continued up the path until she was standing in front of the swinging doors. She pushed them open and stepped inside. “Mayor, Mayor,” she shouted. “I need to inform you of something.” There was no response.
MacDuff stood just outside the twin doors. He whispered as loud as he dared, “Come out of there this instant or things will not go well for you.”
Viola stepped further into the burrow and shouted as loud as she could. “Mayor, wake up and listen to what I have to say. The village is in danger.”
Macduff poked his head through the doors at the same time as the mayor approached Viola from inside the burrow. They both spoke simultaneously. “Danger? What danger?”
Viola sat on her haunches and breathed a loud sigh. “I overheard something in the woods this morning. A couple of strange boars were scouting our security. They talked about a raid that’s going to happen tomorrow morning. A dozen big boars are coming to kill you and anyone else that gets in their way. They want to take the village for their own.”
MacDuff came into the burrow. “Are you estrus-crazy? I’ve heard that some females go crazy and hear strange voices that are not really there.”
“Don’t be your normal, stupid, arrogant self, Duffy,” said Viola in exasperation. “This is real. We need to be prepared.”
The mayor glanced down the hill at the three young boars that had smelled Viola’s scent. He sat down beside Viola. “Let’s keep our voices down. If what you say is true, we do not want to cause panic. Now, where did you hear these strange boars?”
“I was looking for some new bamboo copses when they entered the clearing by the big oak tree. They came through the bracken. They went down to the village and returned a little later. Just before they left one of them said this...” Viola looked up as if she were trying to remember exactly what was said. “One of the boars said, I didn’t see any sentries. I think we could kill their chief and any big boars before they even knew we were there.”
“This is the silly talk of a stupid female,” spat MacDuff.
Viola looked at the mayor. “I swear it is true. If it turns out to be the ravings of an estrus-crazy female, you can...” She paused.
The mayor made up his mind. “Duffy, take some boars down the path to where she said this happened and check it out.”
“It’ll be a waste of time, Mr. Mayor.” He turned to Viola. “Are you sure it wasn’t a couple of local boars sniffing you out?”
Viola suddenly remembered an important detail. “I can prove it. One of the boars went into the woods and did his business. I know where. His smell will indicate a stranger. Come. I will show you and you can smell for yourself.”
They set off down the path. MacDuff called out to the young boars that were hanging about in hopes of mating with Viola. “You three. Come with me. I have a job for you.”
They soon arrived at the place on the path where the intruder had entered the woods to do his business. “Here,” said Viola and nodded her head in the direction the boar had taken.
MacDuff turned to the three boars. “Go into the woods and sniff about. Tell me if you find anything.”
“Like what?” one of the boars asked.
“Like the shit of an alien boar,” said Viola.
The three young males pushed their way into the underbrush, sniffing as they went. “Spread out,” ordered MacDuff.
After a few minutes, one of the boars spoke, “Found something. Whoever left this was not from around here.”
“Show me,” said MacDuff. He strutted into the woods and stopped at the pile of spoor. “Definitely not local. Whatever they have been eating is disgusting.” He came out of the woods. “Which way did they leave? I assume this is where they entered.”
“Just down here,” said Viola.
She showed them where the pigs had entered and left the clearing. She was careful not to look up and give away her hiding place. MacDuff sniffed around the opening in the bracken indicated by Viola. “They are super stinky.” He turned. “Let’s go. We have to prepare a special surprise for these intruders. They will think twice about ever attacking us again. That is, if they live.”
For the rest of the day and into the night, the village prepared for the attack. None of these alien boars were going to get out alive. The plan was to let them enter and head down the narrow path to the village. Once they were in a single file line, groups of village boars would attack. They would be split into groups of three and killed.
Viola knew she could not go back to the cradle in the oak tree. She met up with Paulina and waited in the village plaza with the other females. There was nothing to do but wait. They all drifted off to sleep as the night came on. No one was going to go home to their burrows and miss all the excitement.
As the dim light of the impending sunrise filtered through the trees, the air lost all the night sounds. The silence was soon broken by the snorts of the village boars and squeals of pain. The snorts grew louder while the squeals faded with the rising sun.
The females waited with anticipation as the boars came running into the plaza. They were tossing their heads and snorting. Their bloody tusks were flipping dirt into the air with excitement. The mayor climbed up the hill and addressed the village.
“We are victorious. The raiders have been vanquished.” The crowd cheered. The mayor waved his tusks from side to side. “We all have one pig to thank. She is no stranger to any of you. Viola gave us a warning of the impending attack. Without her courage, many of us would probably be dead. Everyone give a loud snort for Viola.”
The entire crowd snorted and called out Viola’s name.
Attention was not something Viola craved. She tried to slip away and hide out in her den. She was soon accosted by a crowd of pigs who wished to congratulate her for her bravery. It was mid-morning before they let her return to her burrow. The excitement was infectious. Viola lost herself in it to the point of not remembering she was at the height of her estrus.
On the way home a large young boar approached her at the entrance to the burrow. He nodded and flipped his still bloody tusks at her. She understood the signal. The need to mate was strong in her. She turned and flipped her tail.
* * *
A New Era
Thirteen weeks later, she gave birth to eight piglets. Three males and five females were suckling in the depths of her new den. She stroked the two nearest with her snout fingers. She smiled at the tiny black bumps her children had on their snouts. The largest male’s fingers extended from the bumps, and he pushed one of his sisters away from the teat she was suckling and claimed it for himself. She squealed, and her snout fingers, with tiny black nails, reached out and scratched her brother’s ear.
Viola knew her secret would not last. Her offspring would change the world.
Copyright © 2025 by G. Michael Smith
