However, as things would have it, the adolescent chicken of the bunch decided that he was unhappy with his life and living arrangements and felt that there was something else better out there for him. The teenage chicken was becoming unhappy and anxious about what his surroundings were and wanted to see what was beyond his chicken wire fence. He talked to his brother and sister about his problem of being depressed and asked for their advice. After a while, they were all convinced that there was no reason why they should not go on an adventure and see what was beyond the perimeter of the barn that their pen was in. After the man and woman had come in to clean out their pens, the two boys and one girl began to gnaw their way to freedom. The chickens pecked and pecked and pecked until they could make a big enough hole to squeeze out and get through safely. They made sure that their parents were asleep in the pen next to them so that they would not get in trouble for going on their adventure.
The three little chickens hurried as fast as their feet could let them go and within five minutes they were on the outside of the barn. They decided to wobble down towards the large oak tree near the fence. It was going to take a lot of energy and awareness to get all the way over to the tree without getting noticed by the large golden retriever who was napping on the wooden patio behind the house. They knew that the dog was able to cause trouble because he was always barking so loudly. The dog also did not know that it was wrong to eat innocent little animals, which he was known for doing.
As the sun was beginning to set, the three sibling chickens had arrived at the oak tree. They were relieved yet still on alert because they noticed the dog was no longer on the patio and he could be anywhere in the yard! The chickens talked amongst themselves and decided that it was smart to start building a small house to sleep in for the night. They found a nice-sized hole inside the trunk of the oak tree so the only thing they really needed were a few small sticks and twigs to place in front of the hole so that nothing could get inside while they slept.
The chickens finished building their home in the tree trunk right when the darkness had overtaken the sky. They were exhausted from what they had accomplished that day and were beginning to doze off when a loud sniff was heard outside the door to their new home. The three chickens jumped up and looked at each other frantically because they did not know what was outside their home.
The chickens felt the loud sniff again and the sister chicken squeaked, “Who’s out there?”
The golden retriever was startled that there was something alive in the tree trunk and it was not his squirrel friend’s voice that he was hearing. “Well who are you?” asked the dog.
One of the brother chickens peaked his beady eyes through the twigs and saw that there was a black, wet nose outside his house. With the heavy air coming from the nostrils of the black nose, he could tell that it was the family’s pet golden retriever and they knew he was not someone they should be messing with. The chickens had made a game plan to not talk to the dog if they met face-to-face with him. This circumstance was no different so the chickens remained quiet, hoping that the dog would walk away and leave them alone.
The dog sniffed once more and then said, “Well, I guess I am going to huff, and puff, and blow your little house down.” So he did just that and the house of twigs was scattered all on the dirt floor beneath the large oak tree. God must have been watching over the chickens because as soon as the dog saw the three chickens huddled in the back corner in the hole of the tree, the owners walked outside and saw that the dog was messing with something that he should not be. The owners yelled and the dog immediately ran inside.
The chickens decided that it was best to leave the tree because when the dog would come ack out there to go to the bathroom for the last time that day he would know exactly where they were. The chickens ran with all of their might to the lattice that was beneath the patio deck. The chickens found some mulch that was in the flowerbed next to the deck so they covered themselves up and tried to fall asleep. An hour later, the chickens heard the back door open and heard the clicking of the dog’s paws running across the deck. The chickens were not aware of the ball that was sitting next to their temporary home and they knew they were in trouble once they heard the dog squeak the toy. The youngest brother chicken was still asleep, however and his leg began to itch while he was dreaming, so the mulch that was lying on top of him began to go everywhere once he started to scratch. This drew the dog’s attention to underneath the deck and he knew exactly what was underneath there.
The dog demanded, “Come out come out wherever you are, or else I am going to huff and puff and blow your house down.” The chickens froze and did not make a peep so the dog sneezed and blew the mulch in all directions, revealing the three little chickens out in the open. There was no stopping the dog now because the owners were still inside the house. The golden retriever took each chicken in his mouth and finished each one off in three bites. This is what happens when we think the grass is greener somewhere else; we get eaten alive.
Author's note: The original, The Story of the Three Little Pigs, was about three little pigs who each went off in his own direction to build his own house. One pig found straw, one found furze, and the last found bricks to build their homes. The wolf is able to blown down the first two houses, but the third pig builds a house of brick and when the wolf came down the chimney the pig boiled him up and ate him. I decided to keep the idea about the huffing and puffing and blowing down the homes but I switched the animals and the setting from the original. I included animals that were introduced in my first story such as the golden retriever, the squirrel, and the owners of the farm. I did not have room to keep adding different homes for the chickens so I Iimited it to two temporary homes. I included a lesson at the end, which the original did not. Also, the trickster in the original gets tricked in the end but I had the dog eat all three chicks in my version. I think the original story is extremely famous so once someone reads my story and sees the saying, “I’ll huff, puff, and blow your house down,” they will immediately refer to the story The Story of the Three Little Pigs.
"The Story of the Three Little Pigs" by Joseph Jacobs, from English Fairy Tales (1890). Web Source: The Story of the Three Little Pigs
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Image Information:
Picture of Three Chicks. DK Images
