The Adventures of Orange the Pig

Orange Down Under is the first book of The Orange Chronicles.  Join Orange and Jes as they travel to Australia.  Learn about Australian geography, history, and animals.  But most of all – have fun!

They were all enjoying the picnic when suddenly they heard a sound that made them all freeze. It was a terrifying cross between a snarl and a yap, yap, yap and it wasn’t too far away.

“Shhhhh!” whispered Jedediah.

“What was that?” whispered Jes, so quietly he could hardly even hear himself.

“It was a dingo. Shhhhh.”

A dingo. Sezni and Lorenzi had warned them about the dingoes.

“Orange, what should we do?”

Jedediah spoke up. “I’d say Jes is in the most danger. The pigs can hold our own since there are so many of us. Quickly, Jes, roll up into a ball and we’ll surround you.”

Jes dropped to his knees, tucked his head under his arms and rolled into a ball as small as he could. The pigs all formed a closed circle around him. Jes could hear the dingoes yapping and knew they were getting closer. Finally, they were close enough to hear them speak.

“So, BaconBits, what are you guys doing out here?” the leader asked, rudely.

“Just having a picnic,” answered Jedediah. “No need to bother us – we’re not bothering you.”

“Oh, you’re not? I beg to differ. Just your presence here bothers us. Just watching you breathe bothers us. You’re a waste of space and I’ve suddenly got a hankering for some pork belly.”

“You should think again, Fang. Several of my boys have grown tusks since you saw us last. We can put up a pretty good fight.”

“Maybe so, but…say, I smell something different. You pigs are filling the airways pretty full, but – yes – I definitely smell something different. What have you got there in the middle of your circle?”

“Never mind about that. I’m warning you,” answered Jedediah in his deepest, gruntiest voice.

“You leave us alone.”

“No can do, BaconBits. I smell human scent and I’m coming for supper.”

Dingoes can rile themselves into a feeding frenzy when there is something they especially like, and their hunger caused them to leave common sense behind. They were greatly outnumbered by the pigs and some of the herd had become quite strapping hogs. Suddenly, the fight was on. All around him Jes could hear the yapping, barking, yelping, grunting, biting, and slashing of the fight. In spite of his fear, he couldn’t just sit there and let his friends do all the fighting for him. Suddenly, he stood up and started throwing rocks at the horrible dingoes. It really didn’t take very long. In just a few minutes the dingoes were all whimpering and limping away. Jes had hit the leader in the head with a big rock and he had called for retreat. The pigs chased them far back into the hills. When they returned, they found that not one of the pigs or Jes had a mark on them.

After that the group decided they had had enough excitement for one afternoon, and returned to the safety of the pigpen. Now Jes understood the warning the emus had given him and he vowed never to get close to a dingo again.