A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

The pig was eating corn when suddenly he saw the two magpies flying towards him. They landed on his back and started to peck at his ears, but he didn't mind because he liked their company. He turned around and looked at the two magpies who were sitting on his back. One of them was a male and the other one was female. Both of them were wearing long black feathers. Their beaks were blue-grey. They were sitting side by side on his back and they were both looking at him.

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'Hi,' said the female. 'We are your new neighbours.'

The male nodded in agreement. 'Yes, we have just moved here from far away.'

'Far away?' asked the pig.

'Yes,' replied the female. 'We came from the mountains. We live there with our friends. We don't like the city much so we decided to move somewhere else.'

'I'm glad you did that,' said the pig. 'It's nice living here.'

'So what do you think about us moving here?' asked the male.

'You can stay as long as you want,' answered the pig.

'Thank you!' exclaimed the magpies. 'That means a lot to us.'

The pig scratched his ear with his hind leg. 'What do you think about me?'

'Well,' said the female. 'You're quite big.'

'Yeah, I know,' said the pig. 'But I'm not fat. You can see that I have muscles under my skin.'

'Oh, yes,' agreed the female. 'I noticed that already.'

'And I am strong too,' said the pig. 'You should see how fast I can run. And I'm very smart.'

'Really?' asked the female.

'Of course,' said the pig. 'Why do you ask?'

'Because,' said the female. 'We don't know anything about you yet.'

'Ah, right,' said the pig. 'Okay then, tell me something about yourself.'

'Well,' said the female. 'Let's start with this. What is your name?'

The pig thought for a moment. 'My name is Piggy.'

'Piggy?' repeated the female. 'That doesn't sound very impressive.'

'I know,' said the pig. 'I guess I'll have to change my name.'

'Okay,' said the female. 'How about you call yourself "Honey"?'

'Honey?' asked the pig. 'That sounds even worse than Piggy.'

'No, no,' said the female. 'It sounds sweet.'

'Oh, well,' said the pig. 'Then maybe I'll go with that.'

'Great!' said the female. 'Now we can get to know each other better.'

'Sounds good,' said the pig. 'What is your name?'

'My name is Magpie,' said the female.

'Magpie?' asked the pig. 'Isn't that a bird?'

'Yes, it is,' replied the female. 'But I'm also a magpie.'

'Oh,' said the pig. 'Well, okay then. That makes sense.'

'Are you sure?' asked the female.

'Sure I'm sure,' said the pig. 'I mean, you look like a magpie and you are called Magpie.'

'Right,' said the female. 'I'm a magpie.'

'Cool,' said the pig. 'So what do you do?'

'Well,' said the female. 'We are magpies. We fly all over the place and we collect shiny things. Then we put them in our nests.'

'Oh, wow,' said the pig. 'I've never seen a nest before.'

'You haven't?' asked the female. 'Where do you live?'

'In a farm,' answered the pig. 'We have lots of animals there. Horses, cows, sheep, goats and chickens.'

'Do you have any pigs?' asked the female.

'Not really,' answered the pig. 'They don't like me very much.'

'Why don't they like you?' asked the female. 'You seem friendly.'

'I guess I'm just different,' said the pig. 'There are some other pigs in the barn. But they always chase me away.'

'Why do you think that is?' asked the female. 'Have you done something bad?'

'No, I haven't,' said the pig. 'I don't know why they do that.'

'Maybe they just don't like you,' suggested the female.

'I don't know,' said the pig. 'That could be true.'

'What about the other animals?' asked the female. 'Do they chase you away too?'

'No, they don't,' said the pig. 'They like me. In fact, they follow me everywhere.'

'Wow,' said the female. 'That must be strange.'

'Yes, it is,' said the pig. 'It's kind of nice though.'

'Why do they do that?' asked the female.

'I don't know,' said the pig. 'I just found out yesterday. It happened when I went for a walk. I was walking along the road and suddenly I heard a horse neighing behind me. So I turned around and there was a horse standing next to me. He kept neighing until I got closer to him. Then he stopped. When I got close enough, he reached his nose towards me and sniffed. After that, he walked away.'

'That sounds pretty cool,' said the female. 'Did you like it?'

'Yes, I did,' said the pig. 'It felt nice. It made me feel special.'

'Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it,' said the female. 'I hope we can be friends.'

'Me too,' said the pig. 'I'd like that.'

'So what do you think about us moving here?' asked the male.

'Well,' said the pig. 'I'm happy you're here. You can stay as long as you want.'

'Thank you!' exclaimed the magpies. 'That means a lot to us.'

'Don't mention it,' said the pig. 'I'm glad you're here.'

'So where are we going now?' asked the male.

'I don't know,' said the female. 'We need to find some food first.'

'Good idea,' said the male. 'Let's go.'

'Okay,' said the female. 'See you later.'

'Bye bye,' said the pig.

The two magpies flew off together. The pig watched them leave. He was sad that they had left because he would have liked to get to know them better.

But he knew that he wouldn't see them again.

He sighed and went back to eating his corn.