04-21-2013, 05:40 AM
This is Day Six
This creature is a(n): Sus Aries Marmota; colloquially, "Woolly Pig"
This is its story: The adorable woolly pig was imported to Duval nearly two hundred years ago by Captain Jack Harkwell of the royal navy. Harkwell claimed to have found the creature stowed away on his ship about six months into the voyage; as he stopped at no fewer than seven ports worldwide before the discovery was made, Harkwell was never able to determine whence the creature came. Frequent searches, some done by Harkwell himself have produced no evidence of the woolly pig's existence anywhere else in the world.
Perhaps Duval is lucky, then, that the woolly pig that sneaked onto Harkwell's ship-- named "Jack Junior" after its tendency to follow Harkwell everywhere-- was a pregnant female that gave birth to no fewer than fifteen live offspring before the ship docked back at home.
Since it landed in Duval, the woolly pig has become a beloved housepet, a useful source of wool, and a handy truffle finder. No fewer than fifteen such creatures work as therapy animals in the Duval Insanity Institute next door, and at least three have successfully become circus performers, dazzling children and adults alike with their grunted melodies and ability to stand on overturned buckets.
The woolly pig has, to scientific knowledge, never been wild; no woolly pig has ever attempted to escape human custody since the Jack Junior adopted Captain Harkwell. Perhaps this is because the woolly pig prefers a diet of vegetables, bread, and truffles and is not a fast runner. Perhaps it is the creature's tendency to produce eight to fifteen offspring once a year. Perhaps it is the creature's natural intelligence, or perhaps it is its incredible loyalty. Once the woolly pig has formed an attachment, it will do anything it can to please and protect the object of its affections.
During his lifetime, Captain Harkness liked to tell a story about one of Jack Junior's offspring, an unusually small woolly pig called "Caroline": "I'll not forget what Caroline did for my daughter. It was near two o'clock in the blessed a.m., and Caroline came a'squealin' and a'gruntin' and a'stompin' into our room. Of course, we yelled at her, and my wife even threw a pillow at her, but Caroline wouldn't take no for an answer. She just kept squealin' at us until we finally listened and followed her to where the trouble was. And so she brought us to our daughter's room, and there she was, sittin' on the floor, eatin' five of my favorite truffles! Oh, we punished that girl good, and she never did it again. We'd never have even known about it if it weren't for Caroline."
|