Week 13 Story: Ain't No Little Pickle

(This is sort of how I imagined Pickle looking like when I wrote the story.)

Long ago, there was a little dog living in a small town named Pickle. Pickle had a family, but he had always been the runt. Everyone still loved him and assured him that his size did not matter. Still, Pickle always felt very insecure about this. One day while Pickle was drinking water from the lake, a magical genie appeared.

"Why hello little man" said the genie.

"I'm not little" answered Pickle.

The genie responded, "If you so desire, I can grant you a wish. It can be anything."

Pickle replied without hesitation, "Yes please sir. I would like to be bigger."

The genie questioned, "Little one, it is not my place to judge your wish, but are you sure? I find in past experience that this does not bring as much happiness as you think"

"You are right, my wishes are not your personal concern and I would still like to be taller" said Pickle.

Within an instant, the genie whipped up a magical gas that made Pickle taller and wider. Pickle was ecstatic with his new form. He ran home to show his family. They were happy for him.

The next day, Pickle went to the market for some food because he was in charge of the family's meals. Typically he begged for his and his family's food. He noticed no one gave him any food, despite the strength of his puppy-dog eyes. He went from corner to corner, but no luck. Finding food was never this much of an obstacle. Pickle then oversaw a chef who used to regularly feed him food feeding another small dog. Pickle then realized how his previous size had made him unique and had its benefits. Because of this special trait, he was able to feed his entire family. He realized the grass was not greener on the other side. 

Author's Note: I based this story on jakata tale, The Ox Who Envied the Pig. In the story, there is a little ox that, as the title suggests, envies a pig on his farm. The farmer is feeding the pig more delicious meals to fatten him up for his daughter's wedding feast. This information is unknown to the little ox. The little ox's brother informs him the real reason the pig is being fed nice meals is to later be killed, making the little ox grateful for what he has. I tried to adapt my story on the principle of gratefulness. Pickle had benefits from being small but did not realize it.  His experience helped him to realize everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses so he should accept his. When there is something you want, it can be hard to be grateful for what you have until you have that desirable thing. While there is nothing wrong being tall, his change presented new challenges Pickle was not prepared for. There is some foreshadowing of this when the genie double-checks about his his final wish. Still, Pickle does not take any caution and precedes.

There is no symbolic significant to Pickle's name or his animal species. I was writing the story and needed a dog name. I did not want to choose something that sounds too human nor is something too common. I've always thought Pickle is a cute name for a pet. However, I was intentional on keeping the main character an animal. When I was a child reading Aesop's fables, I remember all of the stories being centered around the lives of animals. There is some consistency having animals for all the stories, but it also humanizes animals by giving them personalities when we are so used to not being able to understand them.  

Bibliography:

Title: The Ox Who Envied the Pig

Author: Ellen C. Babbit