The Little Pig Who Wanted To Fly - From the top of the barn, the cockerel crowed in the

new
day. As usual, he was late but no one minded. Dotty had been up for hours and was relaxed in
the mud pit. Rolling in the mud was Dottys favourite thing to do.

Laid out on her back, Dotty gazed up at the sky. Her eyes followed the swallows as they danced
around the faceless clouds. She was hypnotised as they plunged and climbed, circled and dived
and her mind started to wander. How much fun would it be to move so effortlessly? To see
everything? To go anywhere? Flying, now that would be something special. She slapped her
trotter into the mud, her mind made up - she was going to fly.

Dotty left the mud pit and went in search of her friends. She found them in the farmyard. Im
going to fly, she announced.

All the animals looked at Dotty, their expressions showed their surprise as they chorused, Fly?

Rooh, the wise old cockerel spoke, Everyone knows that cockerels are pink, hens are purple,
pigs are green, horses are blue, sheep are orange and cows are red. Its the way things are and
pigs do not ever, under any circumstances fly.

Well, Im lime with orange spots, Dotty indignantly called after Roohs retreating pink plume
as he strutted his way to a group of purple hens.

Dotty huffed her way back to the mud. She knew, deep inside her round belly, that Rooh was
wrong. She knew that she had the potential to fly. Dotty decided that she was going to show
Rooh that pigs really could fly.

A quartet of violet hens wandered over to Dotty and pecked at the grass which edged the mud
pit. Between pecks they suggested hen-power may be the solution.

Puzzled, Dotty asked, Hen-power?

As the foursome explained, Dotty imagined attaching one hen to each trotter and then running as
fast as she could as they flapped. Dotty was game. Hen-power was indeed an option.

After much argument over which hen should have which leg they eventually fastened
themselves, with bale twine, to their allotted limb. In a confused mix of dust, feathers, grunts and
squawks they thundered along their makeshift runway. Before they managed to lift off, the fence
stubbornly blocked their path. Dotty was forced into an emergency stop. Let me tell you that was
not a pretty sight. Hens and pig in a panic with broken feathers, wings that had gone into over-
flap and eggs. Yes eggs, the abrupt stop had set off some rapid laying and in the scramble
everyone got covered in sticky mess. The rest of the farmyard helplessly rolled around the
ground as their sides all but burst as they laughed themselves silly.

The jumbled troop of failed flyers untangled themselves and slunk to the water troughs to get
clean. As they floated on their backs they looked up at the birds. There had to be a way to get
Dotty airborne. They had to find a way. Rosie, a cow named after her unusual colouring, called
over and suggested the farmers food delivery system. Dotty squealed with anticipation as she
splashed around the trough.

With the hens in tow, she headed over to the five barred field gate. They all peered through the
bars and gasped in wonderment. There, in front of the barn, was the food chucking machine.
With renewed enthusiasm, Dotty squeezed under the gate and galloped over to the contraption.
She checked it over with her snout and declared that this was the launcher they needed to get
them off the ground. The hens started pecking and backed away. Dotty followed them and tried
to herd them back but they clucked their departure.

Alone, Dotty went back to snorting over the kit and caboodle. Now that she had a launcher she
needed wings. The sheep in the next field bleated, the cows mooed and in the distance she could
hear the squeals from her clan. Maybe they would help? Dotty remembered her mother and the
traumatic horror of their separation. Rasher, the leader of the boar, had called at her home with
his Enforcers. Dotty had been taken away and was thrown out from the clan. Cut off from her
family all because of her orange spots. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her
skin. The mud baths had helped but her bright orange spots remained. Dotty was even more
determined to fly, to show them all that even spotty pigs had value.

Dotty turned away from her family and focused on the food catapult. Maybe she could try it
without wings? Foolishly, Dotty clambered into the food bucket and pulled the release lever. The
catapult sprang forwards launching Dotty into the air as she squealed to the empty field, Look,
Im flying. No one looked as no one heard.

What they did hear was Dottys crash landing. All the animals in the fields fell silent. In the yard,
the hens were the first to react. They scuttled over to where Dotty lay grounded and dazed. Rosie
followed and nudged Dotty. The hullabaloo alerted the farmer, who came out of his house to find
out what the commotion was. When he saw Dotty he shook his head and went for the tractor and
trailer. The other animals silently cleared the field.

The farmer came back and loaded Dotty onto the trailer, What were you trying to do Dotty? he
asked.
Dotty opened an eye and a tear slipped out as she replied, I was trying to fly.
The farmer smiled Dont you know that pigs dont fly?
So Rooh says but I so wanted to fly. Dotty closed her eye and snorted up her tears.
Lets see what we can do, the farmer replied, as he drove them back to the barn.

The farmer was from a long line of inventors and he had a plan. Inside the barn there was a vast
array of contraptions or, as he liked to call them, inventions. He banged and clattered around the
barn for quite some time before he found what he wanted. He emerged from the barn with a
motorised set of wheels attached to a set of wings and a tail fin. Youre not the only one with
dreams Dotty.

Dotty raised her head and her heart lifted. Her injuries forgotten, she jumped off the trailer and
her tail wriggled with excitement. The farmer went back inside the barn and returned with a can
of fluid, a harness pack and some goggles. He poured liquid from the can into a tank that was
towards the rear of the machine. He held out the harness pack and goggles to Dotty, Here, put
these on.

Once Dotty was ready the farmer kicked the starter and the machine groaned, coughed then
spluttered before it fell silent. The farmer tinkered with the engine and kicked the starter again
and this time the machine sprung into life. There, he said in satisfaction.

The farmer pushed the machine further out into the field as Dotty trotted on behind. Hop on
Dotty, the farmer encouraged.

Dotty jumped into the seat and the farmer strapped her in. Over the top of the noise from the
machine the farmer pointed to two levers and shouted, You steer with these, then he pointed to
a button as he continued, and when youre ready to land press that and shell bring you home.

Then the farmer pressed the launch button and stepped back.

The machine set off and sped across the bumpy field. It was a very rough ride for Dotty and she
hung on as best she could, thankful that she was fastened on. The machine gained speed and the
wings above Dottys head started to flap. Fearful of another crash Dotty closed her eyes tightly
and gritted her teeth. When the ride became smoother, Dotty sneaked a peek through one eye.
Her mouth fell open and both eyes almost popped out of her head as she saw the ground had
started to disappear below her.

Im flying, Im flying, She squealed.

The whole farmyard looked up, as did the sheep, the cows and the pigs in the fields. Dotty was
definitely flying! They watched her as she climbed, dived and looped the loop in the sky. The
swallows swooped down to join her and in formation they all plunged and climbed, circled and
dived together giving the whole farm an acrobatic display to rival any professional team. Dotty
looked down at the patchwork of fields below her and smiled like shed never smiled before.

All too soon it was time to return to the farm. Dotty waved a trotter in farewell to the swallows
and then pressed the land button. The flying machine took over, turned around and descended
back to the farm. As they landed a small parachute flowed out behind them and slowed them to a
standstill.

The farmyard animals cheered and from the fields the sheep bleated, the cows mooed and the
pigs grunted their loud praise of the little pig who had dared to think she could fly. (Kathryn
Glynn)