It was a little past eight o’clock in the morning when the pigs woke up.  “We better hurry”, Bobby told Billy, “Dads going to be upset. It’s our first night out on our own and we over slept.”

“Bobby, do you think mom will still have some breakfast left?” Billy asked, “I’m starving.”  

“I don’t know, but if we don’t get our chores done quickly, we won’t have a lot of time to work on our cabin.”

The pigs ran across the meadow as fast as they could. As they got close to the farmhouse they could smell breakfast cooking.  They ran up onto the back porch and in the kitchen door.  “Whoa! Stop right there, did you boys wipe your feet? That meadow has some mud holes and I don’t want it on my clean kitchen floor,” explained their mother.  

“Sorry mom” Billy replied, “I’ll clean it up.”

The boys sat down to eat breakfast and as they did their father came in.  “Good morning boys” he said. “You must have had a late night, you almost missed breakfast.”

“Yes dad” Billy answered. “We’ll make sure we’re on time tomorrow.”

“That’s fine” their father replied. “I think I’m going to give you some time off from your chores.”  

“How come?” Billy asked.

“You boys are going to need some time to get your cabin done, so I’m giving you the next two weeks off.”  

“That’s great” Bobby replied. “Well if you don’t need us we’re going to get started on the cabin.”

The pigs kissed their mom goodbye as she handed each of them a bag. “Just some lunch” she said.  

The pigs hurried off across the meadow. “What are we going to build our cabin out of?” asked Billy.  

“I’m not sure” his brother replied. “I guess we’ll need some wood, sticks, and straw for the roof.”  

The pigs worked most of the morning gathering all the things they thought they might need to build the cabin.  They found a spot by the stream that looked like a good place to build a cabin, and started working.

They were only working a short time when they heard a voice from behind them ask “who are you, and what are you doing?”  The voice startled the pigs and they turned around to find a wolf standing there.  

“Who are you?” Bobby asked.

“I asked the question first” the wolf said, “and it’s not polite to answer a question with a question.”  

“I’m Bobby Hoggs and that’s my brother Billy, and we’re building a cabin to live in.” 

“Well,” the wolf said, “It’s nice to meet you Bobby and Billy Hoggs. My name is Mr. Fir, but most of the animals in the Woodland call me Professor.  I guess it’s because I’m older and have lived in the Woodland longer than most, and know quite a lot about these mountains, and I might add, you’ll be in trouble if you build your cabin there.”  The wolf pointed to the spot where Bobby and Billy had started to build their cabin.

“Why is that?” Billy asked.

“Well,” the wolf replied “when the rains come, that lazy stream climbs right out of its bed and up the banks on both sides.”  

“Well I think we’ll be O.K. Bobby replied. “We’re back away from the stream; the water won’t come up that high.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” the wolf said as he tipped his hat and walked away.

“Bobby do you think he’s right?” Billy asked. “You know he is a lot older than us and has lived in the Woodland a long time.”  

“We’ll be just fine Billy,” Bobby told him, “now let’s finish the cabin.”

The pigs worked very hard all day and as the sun started to set the cabin was starting to look like a home.  The floor was in, and the walls and most of the roof were finished.  They didn’t have any doors or windows yet, but at least they were not going to be sleeping on the ground. They made a campfire the way their father showed them so it would be safe, and cooked some soup for dinner.  After dinner they cleaned up, rolled out their sleeping bags, and got ready for bed.  They crawled into their sleeping bags and quickly fell asleep.

They were only asleep for about an hour when a crash of thunder woke them. “Wow! What was that?” Bobby yelled.  

“Only thunder” Billy answered, “it looks like it is going to rain.”  

Well that night it did rain.  It rained so much that the little stream got bigger and bigger until it was at the front door of the pigs cabin. The wind and rain was blowing in the open windows and door and the pigs were getting soaked.  They wrapped themselves in a large waterproof blanket, and tried to keep dry as the water from the stream splashed through the door and onto the floor.  

“You know Billy; I think the wolf was right about the stream.”  

“He was Bobby” Billy replied.  

The pigs realized that someone who is older might also be a little wiser.  They cuddled closer to keep warm as they made plans to rebuild the cabin.  The rain and wind stopped and the stream returned to its bed and being tired from a long day the pigs drifted off to sleep thinking about what the wolf had said.