Do you remember the quiet summer days as a child, when all you had to worry about were mosquito bites and how many pages you could read in one day in your favorite book? Those leisurely days that were lovely and calm and comforting, both then and to remember now.
What follows below is an excerpt from an unpublished book I wrote.
The book is called Sniffy & Piggy.
You can read more about the book here; My Pig Book. It sits there, in a folder, year after year and gnaws on me. You know? At this point, what the heck — here, read a bit of it “for free” as they say. If you have patience, please let me know what you think. After all, isn’t that what this Substack’s all about? Sharing our writing?
I do love these pigs and their world so so very much, and I hope you will too. It’s completely different than the usual sci-fi stuff you see here on Cabinet of Curiosities. Sniffy & Piggy drift into the Finnish forests and fantasy world of my childhood. A little bit of Moomin Trolls and little bit of Pippi Longstocking.
Here, I’m sharing the next chapter with you now, so you will get to know these diametrically opposed friends as they search for their inner pigs. I hope this brings you back to a warm breezy summer day in your childhood. Perhaps you’re sitting in the shade under a maple tree in your Grandmother’s backyard? A feeling of leisure surrounds you…
Managarm
"Managarm is expanding his territory, and he is near. His hunters are waiting for the full moon. Prepare for attack." The owl spoke clearly and then fell silent.
Sniffy was frozen with fear. What was this? An attack? Could this have something to do with him not being a "Prized Pig"? Aunt Frilly had mentioned that he was in danger somehow and had to hide in this cottage. Sniffy tried to speak but his mouth would not open. The owl stared at him and spoke again:
"Managarm is near. You and your friend do not have much time. Flee or prepare for attack."
Sniffy was a statue of fear holding a pathetic rake.
"Who is Managarm?" demanded Piggy in a strong but calm voice. He was standing behind the oak barrel and the owl slowly turned his head all the way around to meet Piggy's stare.
"Moon-Hound. He is expanding his territory and his hunters will be here soon. Flee or prepare for attack. They are looking for food and workers. Which one will you be?"
Piggy's hair rose on his body when he heard those words uttered by the enigmatic owl.
"Are you Managarm's friend?" asked Piggy.
"I am Strig and I belong to no one. I have seen Managarm and I have seen you. You will be good food or good workers. Which one will you be?"
"Did someone send you to us?" asked Sniffy with a shy voice.
"The Moose King lends me and he can lend any creature in the forest." The pigs were stunned.
"Now flee. Managarm is near."
"How soon? How long do we have?" asked Piggy.
"Moon-Hound hunts best in moonlight. When the moon is full he will be here," said the owl.
"Why are you warning us? Thank you, but why?"
"I have seen Managarm and I have seen you. I belong to no one but the wind borrows me. You belong to the ground and the hunters can borrow you. Flee or prepare for attack."
Sniffy was unable to move, but managed to whisper:
"Thank you, Strig. Thank you. We will remember you..."
"Yes," added Piggy who had quietly walked up to Sniffy and the owl, "we will remember you, and, and if we can help you in any way one day, we will, if we can."
It looked as if the owl might have nodded a little, as if to thank them, but the pigs were unsure of how owls show gratitude so they were not entirely sure if it was a nod or if the owl was looking down at its feet.
The owl lifted as quietly as it had landed, and began gliding back toward the forest where it came from. It was as if the spell of fear lifted off Sniffy the moment Strig took off, and he shouted sadly:
"Strig, we thank you, friend and stranger!"
They followed the owl with their eyes until they could no longer see it. Then, they walked inside and sat down at the kitchen table. Neither spoke for a long time.
"Moon-Hound, that word sounds like a large hound. A wolf perhaps. I have seen wolves a very long time ago. When I lived at the large house. They were too scared to come close to the house but I saw their eyes in the forest," said Piggy. Piggy was suddenly filled with an increasing fear. What if the wolves had followed him here to the cottage? But he had not seen wolves in a long time. It was all so frightful.
What did it all mean? The pigs were, each in his own way, simple pigs. They were never involved in any adventures or things of importance. One pig had spent most of his life roaming the forest while trying to stay alive, and the other pig treasured gardening and cooking jams in his cozy country cottage. Both far far away from angry Moon-Hounds.
"Well, I did wonder, I did wonder when this day would come," said Sniffy. But that was not true. Sniffy had not thought particularly much or often about these sorts of things. Ever since Aunt Frilly left he was too busy tending to his garden and preserving vegetables, and reading. These happier things made him feel better and he rather felt better than worse. And when he felt better he felt safe. This was his safe place. His home. Sniffy loved his home.
"Moonlight..." said Piggy. "How can we figure out when the moon will be full?"
Sniffy thought for a while and then walked toward the billboard and looked at his calendar. He counted something on it until he came to a square that had a circle in it.
He tapped on the circle, and looked at Piggy. His lower lip was trembling when he spoke:
"We have four days until full moon. Four days. Four days. How far away can we get in four days? Does this mean I have to travel? I don't travel. I don't travel at all. No. I have all I need here. This is where I belong. Four days. What should we do? Do. "TO DO" - yes, we must make a new "TO DO" list!"
This time Sniffy found a way out of his tangled web of thoughts. They looked at the "TO DO" list and Sniffy did something he had never done before. He ripped out the entire page of the day, and revealed a brand new empty page.
"Four days," they both said at the same time, and Sniffy took the pencil and wrote the following on the blank sheet of paper: "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", and "Day 4" and left space underneath each day for tasks that were yet to be determined.
It wasn't a lot of time to devise a plan, prepare and execute it. Especially for Sniffy and Piggy. But they decided to plough forward and give themselves three days. If they hadn't come up with anything useful in that time they would flee into the woods.
Flee into the woods was something Sniffy did not think about but Piggy knew what fleeing into the woods felt like. He looked at their empty "TO DO" list and wondered to himself how one prepares a list for how to flee from wolves.
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