A Fable

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs.

These pigs lived on a farm, but each had various responsibilities outside of the farm. One of the pigs worked as a candle-stick maker, one worked at a paper factory, and the other sold quality propane and propane accessories.

The propane seller had lived on the farm the longest. In fact, this little pig had had to leave a case full of kernels of corn with the farmer as an assurance that he wouldn't trash the place. This little pig wasn't the fondest of corn, but he appreciated the fact that it was a valuable tool to exchange for goods and services.

The other two pigs had moved in at later times, and had not left any corn with the farmer.

The three pigs were generally well natured, and they got along together well. However, the farm became grosser and grosser, as the mud that the pigs liked to roll around in got everywhere.

A few months passed, and each of the little piggies decided that they wanted to go live on other farms, and so they oinked to the farmer that they wanted to move. The farmer agreed, but reminded the piggies that they needed to have the part of the farm that they lived on cleaned up, and looking as good as when they had moved in.

As is often the case with piggies, they readily agreed, but quickly got distracted with other concerns. As the day that they had agreed to move by grew closer, they each started moving their belongings. The farm became slightly cleaner as the amount of stuff lessened, but it was still filthy, as pigs like to roll in the muck.

The pig who sold propane would have liked to have been gradually cleaning the place the whole time, but in addition to his job, he was involved with different activities in the community that demanded his time and energy, and so by the time that he got back to the farm, he was too exhausted to do anything but sleep.

Fortunately, the propane selling pig's family had come down and helped him move all of his belongings to the other farm, and had even started cleaning some of the mess, due to their love for him. He loved his family greatly, and was sincerely grateful for their help.

It got to be the night before the pigs were to move out, which was the last available time to do any cleaning, and the candle-stick maker was nowhere to be found. The propane seller assumed, and rightly so, that he was already sleeping at his new farm.

The pig who made paper was still at the farm, but he was asleep due to the fact that he had just gotten home from a long trip. The propane-seller felt badly for this pig, but he wished that the paper-seller had spoken up when they had decided on a date to leave the farm.

So, this left the propane selling pig alone to clean up the farm. Fortunately he had a girlfriend who was so good natured and loving, that she volunteered to take on the mess with him.

And so, though they were both exhausted from work and their various non-work related activities, they cleaned from ten at night until at least two in the morning. This was not moving personal belongings; these hours were spent cleaning the mud from places like the kitchen that the propane selling pig had not even used in six months.

How the propane selling pig wished that he had made the two other pigs give up some of their corn to the farmer so that they too would be concerned with getting it back! How much did he wish that he had done things differently!

However, by this time, it was too late to do anything about it. So, with the smell of "Pig-Sol" in his snout, the pig kept cleaning, his only consolation being that he was moving to a better and happier place. He made a mental note to never be put in the same situation again, and with any luck, he never will be.

The End