The Farm (Pheacker)

Part I - Barn

Philip had always wanted to visit a farm, ever since he was a little kid. The thought of seeing all the open fields golden with grain, the fences and barns full of cows and chickens and sheep and other amazing animals he never got to see in the city: it all excited him. He went to a fair before as a younger teenager to ride rides and try the fair food, but he was disappointed. When his pa told him there would be farm animals there, he was ecstatic, ready to see sheep and cows and chickens, but he was disappointed to find that the only animals in sight, besides the common songbirds and pigeons, were pigs. Philip loved all other farm animals and he wouldn't have been disappointed if there was even one other type of farm animal there. But it had to be pigs.

When Philip was thirteen, he realized how much he hated pigs. Pigs were dirty, smelly, noisy, and, worst of all, they reminded him of himself. Philip knew, and became even more aware of it as he got older, that he'd always been a bit of a glutton. If food was put in front of him on a plate, in a bowl, or just plain plopped right there on the table, he ate all of it. He couldn't help it; food just tasted too good, especially since his mother was such a great cook. But when he realized that eating like that made him no better than a stinky pig, he forced himself to stop eating as much. His mother thought there was something wrong with him, at first, and took him to the doctor. Nothing was wrong, of course, except for the fact that Philip now avoided food wherever he went. He still ate, but he didn't let himself eat too much. In fact, it was probably healthier than eating an entire plate, no matter how much food was on it, to eat a reasonable amount. So everything seemed to have worked out and the matter was dropped by his mother.

And so, Philip was healthy. But Philip wasn't really happy. All that food he saw being tossed into the trash after every meal, from his plate, made him feel bad. Perfectly good food, wasted. He thought that every time he "finished" a meal. And every time he felt bad for thinking it. It made him feel like even more of a pig, that he wanted to finish off all the food rather than throw it out. Because there was lots of extra food, and Philip knew that, if given the chance, he would've eaten it all, every time. So Philip hated himself for that and, in turn, hated pigs, because he saw the part of himself he hated in those smelly, greedy little things.

Today, Philip was excited because, at nineteen years old, he was finally going to a farm. He was willing to risk seeing pigs, so long as he didn't have to go near them, in order to see everything else a farm has to offer. He glanced out the bus window, amazed to see rolling hills of tilled fields and plants all lined up in perfect rows. The nearer the bus got to his destination, the more excited he became. He saw some tractors and a few barns and sheds along the way, and even some distant cows and horses.

Finally, the bus stopped at the bus stop near where Philip was going. He paid the driver and thanked him before getting off and taking a deep breath of the countryside air. It smelled like hay and... manure. Perfect. He smiled brightly as he walked along the road, looking at the directions on his phone that he'd screenshotted, since his pa told him to, as apparently, there's no cell service or anything out here. After a ten minute speed walk from the bus stop, Philip arrived at the front gate to his destination: Eacker Farm.

As Philip walked up the long, dirt road on the way to the distant farmhouse, he took in the scenery and thought about how lucky he was to be here. He'd won a lottery ticket for a tour here, which he'd entered from an ad in a newspaper that he'd found on the side of the road. It didn't seem like many people would enter, so he did it, and ended up winning the ticket for a tour. What luck!

Philip reached the farmhouse after a while and went up the stairs, onto the creaky, wooden porch. He turned to look back and realized he couldn't even see the main road from here. He was amazed at how remote this place was. He turned back around and knocked on the front door.

A few minutes later, a sweet-looking older lady wearing an apron answered the door, greeting Philip warmly. He showed her the raffle ticket and her eyes lit up. She called for someone and a young man, probably not much older than Philip, came to the door. "George, could you please go take this young man out to see the fields and the animals?" George looked confused for a minute before the woman, presumably his mother,  explained, "He's our raffle ticket winner."

"Okay," George mumbled, stepping out of the house and going down the stairs, not even waiting for Philip. "Come on, then."

Philip looked back at the mother, who gave him an apologetic smile. "You'll have to forgive my son, George's, attitude, dear. We don't often have guests here on our farm. We decided to do the raffle because all the young city folk deserve a chance to see the rural ways, and our farm is a bit short of profit these days, what with our shortage of livestock..." She then handed him a chocolate chip cookie, saying she baked it herself, and waved him off, leaving him to run to catch up to George.

The walk was awkwardly silent for a while, as Philip munched on the cookie. After the cookie was gone, he decided to break the silence. "So... George, right?" George just nodded. "Where are we going first? A field? The chicken coop?" he asked excitedly.

"The barn. The fields are all around us, so you can just look at them now. We're not stopping to see them," George said, a bit harshly, shutting Philip up. He seemed annoyed, like he didn't want to be doing this at all, but he also seemed a bit nervous, like he was hiding something.

So Philip tried talking again. "Do you like living out here, away from everyone? You must not have many friends, huh?" Only silence in response. "What kinds of animals do you have here? Sheep? Cows?"

"Yes, sheep and cows and chickens," George replied with growing frustration.

Just then, they passed a pen full of--you guessed it--pigs. The fences around the pen were wire mesh fences, taller than any pig, or even Philip, could hope to get over. The pigs were snorting and snuffling and rolling around in the mud. And they smelled disgusting. Philip made a face, and George let out a scoffing laugh. "Yes, we have pigs, too. What's with that face?"

"I just really do not like pigs..." Philip explained. "They're gross and smelly and dirty and they just..." He shudders, making George laugh again.

Philip jumped as a tall man suddenly walked out in front of them. George didn't seem fazed, but Philip was quite shaken up by the creepy man's sudden appearance. "You don't like pigs, eh?" said the man to Philip.

"N-no, not really... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--" But Philip didn't even get to finish his sentence before the man grabbed his wrist and dragged him over to the barn.

"Well, that's too bad." He threw Philip inside, him landing in a pile of hay, before he closed and locked the barn door. Philip heard whispers and footsteps walking away from the barn, but all he could see was darkness and a sliver of light from the crack in the door.

Philip was shocked, not sure what he was supposed to do now. He got up and brushed off the hay that stuck to his clothes, going over to the door and banging on it with his fists, shouting, "Help!! Let me out!!!" After a few minutes, though, he gave up, feeling like it was hopeless to keep trying. No one would hear him who would help him, he was sure. He went back to the pile of hay and sat down, pulling his knees up to his chest and feeling his eyes welled up with tears. He tried to call someone, anyone, on his phone, but there really was no service. Great.

After about half an hour of Philip having a mental breakdown, the lock rattled and the doors opened to reveal the man that threw him in there. Philip started to tremble in fear as the man approached him. He set a huge platter with tons of different foods on it on top of a crate. "You said you hated pigs, right? Well, get used to them. Because now, you're a pig, too." With that, the man left and relocked the barn door, leaving Philip paralyzed by fear.