31: Grunts and Squeals

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I awoke the next morning to the sound of voices coming from outside the carriage. At first I believed these voices to be the Jolly Hollyhocks making conversation, but my lighthearted assumption became removed when the voices spoke an odd language, one I had never heard before. In the harsh grunts and snarling squeals I became petrified with fear. Whatever creatures they were, I could make out two distinct voices; each growing steadily closer. Glancing next to me, I spied Owen. I prayed he was awake and alert and ready to handle the situation, but Owen still passed out from the night before reacted with nothing more than a large drop of drool upon his shirt.

"Grunt, grral, squeeeeal," came the pair of voices. I felt a tap on the carriage as though the creatures outside were checking to see if anyone was inside. "Gruel, squeew." They were sure to find Owen and I any minute. I had to react fast. Hearing another curious tap, I returned the noise with a loud bang of my foot. The creatures squealed in fright.

"Is some beasty in there?" grunted one rough sounding voice.

"Chu are surrounded! We want this carriage! So come out slowly with y'ur front legs up, and we won't hurt cha."

"Front legs," I thought. "What ever could they mean?" I cried out. "I don't have any front legs?"

"No front legs," said one voice to the other. "Did cha hear that, brother. Quite odd don't cha think?"

"Must be some legless beasty," said the other. "Probably trying to trick us no doubt. No. I bet it's lying."

"What would I gain from lying if you have me surrounded?" I responded.

"It's right cha know," said the other voice.

"Don't cha see, le beasty be confusing us, trying to trick us. We can't trust it. No."

"Then how do you expect me to trust you if you can't trust me," I cried out. "It seems we are at an impasse." I tried to see through a small hole in the carriage's floor at the creatures outside, but they seemed to be hiding out of view.

"An impasse!" snorted one of the creatures. "We will pass, no doubt. Yes."

"Come out, beasty!" cried the other. "We want the carriage! Yes."

"You can have the carriage," I said, "just let me and my friend go peacefully. It's all I ask." The two creatures deliberated once more.

"Alright," agreed one. "Just come out slow like. Be a slug. No funny business. No." I stood up, pushed open the door above me, and slowly with my hands above my head looked out. What my eyes saw next caused them to widen in amazement and amusement.

"Oh, a human! Stan! Brother! We forgot to change! Le beasty has seen us!"

"You're just pigs," I cried seeing two large pigs standing on their hind legs in gray vests. They stood a safe distance away from the carriage. "Two pigs in little vests. How cute!" Both pigs were spotted all over but the one on the left had one spot on its forehead, while the one on the right had two spots on its forehead.

"Le beasty called us pigs, Bran!" grunted the left one. "And cute. Ain't no cute pig here! No! We proud and prize winning hogs!"

"Calm down, it's just a wee little girl," oinked the right one. "She has probably never seen a couple of good looking hogs like us. Show y'ur tail, brother." The hogs spun around and flicked their long tails.

"Actually," I added smiling, "I have seen many hogs before, but never ones that talked or dressed in fine clothes."

"What should we do with le beasty?" asked the hog with one spot to his two-spotted friend. "A human has seen us in our true form."

"I don't know," shrugged the two-spotted hog. "We can't just let her go now. No. I told cha we should have stayed in our human form, but no, no, no, chu wanted to be comfortable. Now look! A human has spotted us."

"How was I suppos'd to know. This carriage looked abandoned. Yes. Besides, that form gets boring. Having to stay clean all the time. Never time to roll in the mud."

"Look around, dum dum," said the two-spotted hog hitting the other on the back of the head. "There be no mud here. No water. No." The word water made my mouth salivate. I had not realized how thirsty I was until that moment.

"I say we hit le beasty with a rock. Knock her out. Maybe she the one we suppos'd to get. What say? What do?"

"Oh, please don't!" I cried. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"We can't take that chance, no," grunted the one-spotted hog. "If she be a dark beasty in disguise, no. We cannot take that chance."

"No, don't hurt her," came the sudden tiny voices of the Jolly Hollyhocks. "She saved us from Mr. Caterpillar. She is kind, sweet, and a Mirrorbender."

"She the one!" cried the one-spotted hog. "She a Mirrorbender!"

The two-spotted hog looked back and forth from the flowers to me. Grouping together they began conversing in their language. After a moment, they spoke.

"Hollyhocks never lie, unlike them roses, so in that case—" The two hogs briskly stood on their hind legs and reached for the air. I watched wide-eyed as the hogs began to change shape. Their torsos' grew larger, their arms and legs longer, and their faces more human. In just seconds, the two creatures had transformed from hogs to two portly men with rather pushed up noses. The one-spot hog had turned

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