“CHOP!” Everyone, including Sarah, shouted in perfect unison. There was a swish as Ed brought the axe down hard and fast then a thud as it hit the wood beneath. Sarah was confused. Had he missed? Was the axe not sharp enough? She had felt a slight pressure on the back of her neck but that was all. Maybe it had been blunted by the two others going before her and had just bounced off? She was confident that Ed would know what to do. He would sharpen it quickly and come back for another go, she was sure. But then she felt herself falling towards the straw, landing with a bump then rolling a little.

Silly piggy! She thought to herself. It had worked after all! Ed was good at his job. He wouldn’t have made a mistake like that! She tried to turn her head to see her body being hung up but without a neck and shoulders to move it on, she found she could not. Fortunately, Ed picked her up at that moment with both hands and, to her surprise, gave her a sweet kiss on the lips then tucked her under his arm, from where she could see the lovely meat that had been her body being hung up to drain. She wanted to wave goodbye to it but remembered she didn’t have a body any more! He picked up the bucket with the two heads in with his other hand and headed out towards the tree to hang them up.

All around her, the other piggies were cheering, celebrating her big moment, but she was sleepy now. It was still quite early in the morning but she supposed being harvested must be tiring. Besides, it seemed to be getting dark and the sounds of celebration were fading. In fact, everything was getting quiet. And dark. With the tingle of Ed’s kiss still on her lips and thinking about how much he was going to be enjoying her meat later on, Sarah closed her eyes and drifted away into happy, contented, forever-sleep.


The End