The Pig on the Hill

A children’s variation on The Odd Couple

The pig lives all alone in a house on top of a hill. He’s very happy with his quiet life, until one morning he opens the curtains to find a duck has taken up residence on the tiny pinnacle of rock outside his window. The excessively friendly duck likes the spot and decides to build a house there. Confident and outgoing, the duck tries to be friendly, but the pig just wants to be left alone. Eventually, after a particularly loud party, the pig shouts at the duck, and the next morning finds a note pinned to the duck’s front door that reads: “Gone away.” At first the pig is pleased but gradually realizes that his life without the duck is quiet and slightly dull. He comes to miss the duck and regrets rejecting him. One day there is a knock on the door and the pig opens it to find the duck wearing a sombrero and carrying a pinata. He’d only been on holiday in the South. Maybe next year the pig will join him.

“The Pig couldn’t believe his eyes. The Duck was having a swimming pool installed. This was just too much.” — from the book