Pigasso

“It’s a pig,” Lily said blankly, staring at the wriggling buddle in her mother’s arms.

“Yes.” The squirming was intensifying now.

“It’s a pig,” Lily stressed again, as if her mother hadn’t quite grasped the fact yet, “Why do you have a pig?”

She smiled widely and held out the flailing mass, “It’s a present. I thought it might cheer you up.” Her smile faded slightly at the look of disgust on Lily’s face before she continued, “You haven’t been outside since-…well I thought you’d like the company but…”

“I don’t want to go outside,” Lily’s voice was strained like she was trying to hold back tears and her fists were clenched tightly in her lap.

“You’ve gotten the hang of the chair now. It might be good for you to get a bit of fresh-”

“I’m not leaving the house.”

Her mother stared at her for a moment, the heavy dent between her eyebrows betraying her worry. “Alright, well, I didn’t want you to be lonely.”

“Why didn’t you get something normal?” asked Lily bluntly, “Like a puppy?”

“I thought this was more unique. I’ve always wanted a pig. They’re really great for lots of things.”

“Like bacon?” Lily muttered. But her mother went on as if she hadn’t heard.

“They have an incredible sense of smell, you know. And they’re supposed to be highly intelligent and easy to house train.”

Lily threw a skeptical glance at the pig, which was now repeatedly trying to squeeze its head under her dressing table despite clearly being too big.

“Well I better go start dinner,” her mother’s happy tone sounded slightly forced as she headed out the bedroom door, “I’ll let you two get to know each other.”

At the sound of the door closing, the pig looked up and seemed to notice Lily for the first time. She observed it with annoyance. It was roughly the size of a small cushion, covered in short gingery hair speckled with black spots. With a squeal it rushed towards her, crashing into the side of her wheelchair, and stumbling back slightly dazed.

“Idiot,” she scoffed, turning back to her computer.

Half an hour later she wheeled into the kitchen, followed excitedly by the pig. Her mother had her back to the door, talking on the phone as she stirred a large pot. “No, she still refuses to leave the house… I know Julie but I can’t force her…that’s what she said but you know I’m allergic to dogs-”

Lily cleared her throat aggressively and her mother jumped, quickly saying her goodbyes, and putting down the phone.

“Julie Dresden says hello.”

“Discussing me with the neighbors now, are you?” Lily asked coldly.

Her mother had the decency to look a little guilty as she doled out two hearty positions of food. But she protested, “It’s only Julie, she’s known you since you were three.”

“It’s none of her business,” Lily scowled.

“She’s worried about you.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “She’s just looking for some gossip to-”

“Lily! That is enough! I am sick of your-”

Just as a fight seemed about to break out, the pig let out a loud squeak and peered up at them with a somewhat admonitory look that made Lily’s mother laugh, diffusing the tension.

“Did you pick a name for him?” she asked fondly, reaching down to scratch behind his ears.

“I don’t care,” Lily muttered into her pasta.

“How about Pigasso?” her mother chuckled after a moment, “Like the painter?”

Lily shrugged dismissively, “Whatever.”

“I like it.”

Pigasso squealed at them from under the table, seeming to agree. They ate in silence for a few moments before her mother asked hesitantly, “Have you talked to any of your friends recently?”

“No,” said Lily shortly, hoping her mother would get the hint that she wasn’t in a talking mood.

Apparently, she didn’t. “I saw Anna at the post office yesterday, she said they really miss you at school.” Lily’s kept her eyes glued to her now-empty plate. “I’ve been talking to your teachers and we think you might be able to go back soon and- Lily! Where are you going?”

Ignoring her mother calling after her, Lily hurried back to her room, slamming the door before Pigasso could follow. However, after a few minutes of frantic scratching she conceded and opened it, huffing irritably as he danced in and immediately propped his front legs on her knees.

“What do you want?” she asked grouchily. Pigasso was kicking up his hind legs repeated like he was trying to jump up. “You’re not sitting on my lap.” She whirled around to her desk watching with a sort of guilty satisfaction as the sudden movement flipped the pig onto his back, leaving his legs scrabbling in the air. He looked at her reproachfully and then curled up at her feet when she ignored him. Her phone was lying beside the computer, flashing green with new messages. With a sick feeling in her stomach she opened the first couple and began to read. All of them were much the same… ‘We miss you Lily x’…‘Are you coming back soon?!’…‘You haven’t answered my calls?’…‘We haven’t seen you since the accident’…‘Why won’t you talk to us?’ They had been getting increasingly less frequent as the months dragged on.

Pigasso scrambled up as she shoved the phone angrily into her pocket and swung back. Usually her mother helped her through the ordeal of getting into bed but tonight she didn’t feel like asking for help. Using the recently installed bar for support, she dragged herself forward, twisting on to her back. Her arms strained as she pulled her legs up one by one, her breath drawing out in pants until she lay back sweating on the pillow. Three months of practice seemed to have yielded very little improvement.

 A squeak on the floor alerted her to Pigasso struggling to climb up.

“No way are you sleeping in my bed,” she said outraged. But the squealing became persistently louder until she could hear it even with her hands clamped over her ears.

“Fine,” she growled frustratedly. Angling herself around as best she could, she reached out her arms to scoop him up. For a moment she teetered precariously at the edge of the bed and it seemed they might both fall to the floor. But then Pigasso gave an extra little kick and the momentum let her roll back onto the bed grasping the pig in her arms. Pigasso fell silent with a satisfied snort and snuggled into her chest. Defeated, Lily pulled the covers over them, still fully clothed. She heard the sound of her mother coming down the hall and squeezed her eyes shut as the door opened.

“Lily?” her mother murmured, “I’m sorry for pushing you. It’s difficult, I know it is- well, no, I don’t know what you’re going through. But it will get better. I promise it will.” When she received no reply, she evidently figured Lily must really be asleep because she bent down to kiss her softly on the cheek and switched off the light as she headed back into the hall. There was a slightly damp sensation as Lily felt Pigasso press his snout to her cheek. In the darkness she clutched him tighter to her chest as tears streamed slightly down her face.

When she woke up it was still nighttime. Dazed she blinked around the pitch-black room, wondering what had woken her up. A moment later her brain caught up as she finally noticed the scratching at her chest and the screeching, frantic squeals coming from Pigasso.

“Shut up,” she groaned, trying to clamp a hand around his snout but he continued to shriek, butting his head against her side repeatedly. “Stop it, what the hell is wrong wi-?” She cut off suddenly at the smell. Creeping under the door was the pungent, unmistakable smell of smoke.

“Mom!” she cried, her voice joining the cacophony of Pigasso’s screams as she reached forward blindly trying to grab the arms of her wheelchair, “Mom, fire! There’s a fire!”

Finally, her hand grabbed something solid and she struggled to pull herself forward. But the wheels gave way, rolling back and she collapsed on the floor. Insistent pressure came at her back. Pigasso had leapt off the bed and was attempting to push her onto the chair but he was too small to be of much use.

The door crashed open and the light flicked on suddenly, blinding them as her mother staggered into the room, spluttering and coughing. She grabbed Lily under her arms and together they managed to heave her back into the chair. They rushed into the hall, the chair catching slightly on the edge of the carpet as thick, acrid smoke billowed from the direction of the kitchen. And then suddenly they were outside, drinking in mouthfuls of the clear air.

“Pig-Pigasso,” Lilly choked, “Where’s Pi-?”

“He’s here, he’s here,” her mother said soothingly, bundling him off the ground and into Lily’s lap before she hurriedly called the emergency services. By the time they came, a small cluster of neighbors had gathered around them, several of them throwing the pitying looks at Lily that she had been trying to avoid for the past few months. Studiously ignoring them, Lily stroked Pigasso curled up on her lap while she watched the ruby flames lick the window.

The fire took a surprisingly short time to put out and when the firefighters reported back, they said the damage should be easily fixable. One of them reached down to tickle Pigasso behind the ears.

“This little guy’s a hero,” he crooned, “If he hadn’t woken you up…” He let the sentence trail off ominously. Plans were quickly made for them to stay at a Julie’s house until it was determined when they could return.

The next morning the news of the fire had trickled around, and Lily’s phone was filled with worried messages from friends. She opened a few as they sat at Julie’s table, all of them yawning from the excitement of the night before while they picked at their breakfast (Lily had refused the bacon in honor of Pigasso.) As she moved to put the phone down, Pigasso’s snout pushed urgently against her wrist from his perch in her lap.

“Fine, fine, I’ll answer them,” she muttered, “only because you saved my life.” Excusing herself from the table she wheeled back to the guest room she and her mother were sharing. She hesitated, wondering how to reply after months of silence, but with an encouraging snort from Pigasso, she set to the task. It wasn’t long before her phone was buzzing frenziedly with replies, expressing their relief that she was ok, their hope that she’d be back in school soon…

Two hours and many teary phone calls later, she joined her mother in the kitchen. Julie had gone out to get more groceries now that she had two extra mouths to feed.

“Mom,” she took a deep breath, “I was wondering if we could go to the park later?” Her mother put down her mug if tea in surprise, a delighted smile spreading across her face.

“Of course we can, I’d love that.”

“And I thought maybe we could talk about me going back to school…”

Her mother looked as though she might tear up, “Oh Lily, that’s fantastic.”

“Well, if Pigasso can come too.”

Her mother laughed, “We’ll see.”

“We can get him registered as my emotional support pig or something...”

Pigasso grunted happily in agreement.