Fiction: “Piggy Wiggy” by Natalya Malick
Piggy wiggy! The crowd cheered. Then the television screen shut off, and Harry was left alone. He stared at himself in the TV screen. He squinted and watched himself mouth the words “Piggy wiggy.” The contours of his cracked lips looked supple and poised for victory. His expression quickly soured when he saw who was standing behind him.
Leonard…
“Leonard!” Harry exclaimed. Leonard, the real Piggy Wiggy…
Harry pulled the hood part of his hoodie overtop his head and shrunk into his Eton School 1994 hoodie.
“Eton School 1994,” Leonard said, “I used to know someone who went there…”
“Don’t say it,” Harry pleaded, “Don’t say their name.”
Suddenly, someone knocked at the window.
Leonard looked over at the window, saying “I’m going to say it, I’m going to say it no matter what.”
The knocks grew until they become a cacophonous roar, the outside mob banging and pleading and shouting.
Harry, in a swell of courage, jolted up from the couch and looked directly into Leonard’s largely bearded face.
“You fuck,” Harry said, the crowd beating on the window, “I know you know Billiam from high school; I know you know Big Billy, as he was called, and I know another thing too.”
“Big Billy! Big Billy!” The crowd chanted outside, their energy reaching a fever pitch.
A small, redheaded woman shattered the window with her knee.
“Piggy…” Harry said, watching the bloodied redhead crawl now on the broken glass, inside his house, “Piggy… wait.”
The crowd started to crawl through the window, moaning and…was that a squeal?
This time, it was going to be different. Harry would not give in to the mob’s demands, he resolved; he would not sacrifice a pig.
The crowd parted and a robed Anglican priest walked forth, cradling a tiny piglet in his arms.
Harry turned on the television and everything—the Anglican priest, the crowd, Leonard and the memory of Big Billy—disappeared from Harry’s living room, and appeared on the television screen, just where they belonged.
This had been happening a lot lately—ever since Harry got the vaccine.
