The Three piglets in business. The big game

“It’s just this Fox,” Junior said. “She is very… mean actually. She butters everyone up. She’s… stupid! And her poster is stupid! And… I’m not a misfit with a snout!”

“No,” Biggie said thoughtfully. “She’s smart. And her idea with a poster was good.”

Middle and Junior looked at their brother in surprise.

“You,” Junior asked suspiciously. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“I’m on our side,” Biggie replied. “And for us to win, we have to be honest with ourselves. We have to admit that someone can do things better than us. We have to learn from them. The jury liked Fox. She was really good. She had a great speech, and she knew exactly what she wanted to say… But we were not prepared and got confused.”

The piglets were silent.

“I didn’t like Fox either,” Biggie continued. “She’s arrogant and I don’t trust her. But if we want to build a house, win the competition and become real entrepreneurs, we must not criticize her, but work hard and improve ourselves.”

…After making a batch of cherry compote, they spent the rest of the day preparing a new speech.

In the morning Bear joined the jury at the Walnut Meadow, Otter did a talk about water houses, Fox repeated her sweet speech, and then the three piglets took the floor.

“Well,” Fat Ferret said skeptically, “after we’ve heard the brilliant presentation of ‘The Wise Fox’ residential complex, what could you possibly offer?”

“We would like to present our house, which will be called ‘The Friendly Animals’!”

Biggie stepped forward. Middle stood beside him, and Junior was holding little pictures in his hooves. He had been drawing them all the night, and was now ready to hande them to his brothers.

“So, our house will be called ‘The Friendly Animals’, ” the eldest piglet repeated. His voice grew stronger. “The biggest room will be the common room, where we can talk, play board games, and have tea with some cookies in the evenings.”

“There will be a lot of light light in the house,” Junior said. “We will make beautiful wooden furniture for everyone. When the weather is good, we can have breakfast on the terrace.”

“And when the weather is bad, we can close the windows,” Middle added. “And it will be a very warm house. And a very cozy one.”

“We’ll paint the walls in different colors, and make a little room under the roof and put cushions there, so that you can drink hot chocolate and read. And we’ll have a real pizza oven in the kitchen!” Junior finished the speech.

“What about the grounds?” Fat Ferret asked in a bored voice.

“We suggest to build the house in the Apple Meadow, where the big pine trees and raspberry bushes are. We’ll create vegetable patches and a herb garden next to the house,” the thrifty middle piglet said. “And there will also be a small pond with goldfish!”

Marten perked up.

“Just for decoration!” Biggie added sternly. “And around the pond we will plant tulips.”

“We’ll build a house,” Middle continued, “that will be fun to live in! And everyone will have plenty of space for their things. So that when you want to be alone, you can be alone, and when you are sad, you can easily find someone to talk to and play with.”

“Well,” Bear said. “To me it’s all clear. Despite the fact that Otter is a more experienced builder than the piglets, they are the ones who make it to the finals!”

Fox’s eyes sparkled.

“Honorable jury, much respected Bear,” she said. “I have a suggestion. The piglets indeed have little experience… and, as we all witnessed yesterday, they don’t always take the task seriously. I suggest we make a deal. If the piglets finish their constructing on time and their house turns out to be the best, they get both the piggy bank and the title of Chief Builder. But if I win, they give the forest residents their own, wonderful, very cozy brick house!”

Bear thought for a moment. That made sense. He nodded.

“We agree!” the eldest piglet exclaimed for all of them, being overwhelmed with their first victory.

Junior and Middle stood next to him shoulder to shoulder. Despite the tough new terms, they had won the competition today and they were very pleased!

And Fox was also very, very pleased…