Once upon a time, there was a curious and adventurous child named Jackson. Jackson had curly black hair and big, bright black eyes. He was only five years old, but he was very brave! Jackson loved to go on walks through the forest. He would dream about dragons, his favorite thing in the whole world. One day, Jackson was exploring a grassy clearing when he saw a line of ants carrying little pieces of food. He crouched down to watch them carefully, and suddenly, he heard some voices!
“Hey! What should we do now?” one voice said.
“We’re so hungry! I’m so tired,” another voice said.
Jackson's ears perked up. He knew that the voices were coming from behind a big tree, and he was curious. He was brave, so he decided to peek behind the tree.
He saw three little piglets! The first piglet, who had a pink curly tail, was munching on a leaf. The second piglet had a long, floppy ear that bounced up and down as she walked. The third piglet, the youngest, had a tiny white nose.
The piglets immediately saw Jackson.
“Hey, are you a little boy?” the youngest piglet asked. “Do you live in a house?”
Jackson was confused. “Of course, I live in a house! I live with my mom and dad in Denver. It’s a cozy house with a big backyard.”
The youngest piglet giggled. “Oh, we were just talking about houses. We left our mother’s house because we grew up. Our mother said we should build houses, because the forest is dangerous! There’s a wolf that likes to eat piglets!”
Jackson was worried. “A wolf? That sounds scary!”
The youngest piglet nodded. “Yes! My sisters and I are going to build our own houses. We’ll be safe!”
Jackson thought for a second. “I can help you!” he said.
The piglets were excited! “Really?” they asked.
The first piglet, with the curly tail, ran off. “I’m going to build my house with straw! I’ll tie it up in big blocks! It won't have a door or window, but that’s okay! I want to go play!” She didn’t even wait for Jackson to say anything!
Jackson shrugged. “We’ll help everyone, a little bit at a time. We can all play together.” He really loved to play with his superpower, breathing fire.
The second piglet started gathering wood from the forest. She built a cabin with a roof, doors, and windows. She put in some nails, but she wanted to play too. She ran off to find her sister.
The third piglet was going to build a house just like their mother’s. She wanted to build a house with bricks, cement, glass windows, and a secure roof. It took a long time, and Jackson and the piglet got very sweaty, but they laughed the whole time.
When they finally finished, the piglet invited Jackson to stay for dinner. “We can cook something on the wood stove we built,” she said.
Jackson was excited! He loved to eat!
That night, the wolf appeared. He sniffed the air, his nose twitching. He saw the three houses and his tummy rumbled. He went to the straw house first. With one big blow, he knocked the whole house down! The piglet who lived there ran through the dark forest, the wolf right behind her.
“He’s going to eat her!” Jackson cried. “I wish I could breathe fire! We could go to Dragon island!”
The wolf, who was very hungry, didn't want to waste time. He went to the wooden cabin. It took two strong blows, and the house fell apart. The second piglet ran to find her sister.
The wolf, who was now getting irritated, went to blow down the third house. It was made of bricks, and a delicious smell was coming from the chimney. He blew, blew, blew, but nothing happened. The house didn't fall! He decided to go down the chimney. It seemed like a good idea! When he started to descend, he smelled something burning! His tail was on fire!
This time, it was the wolf who was scared. He quickly ran away!
The two hiding piglets laughed when they saw the wolf running away. They came back to their sister’s house, and Jackson was there too. They had delicious soup, and it felt good to be warm and safe inside the house.
And so, Jackson and the three little piglets enjoyed that night, realizing that sometimes, good things take time!
