Kowhai displaying his tongue
“Kowhai’s lonely,” I said. “We have to give him back.”
Rick looked horrified. “What?! Get rid of Kowhai? How can you say such a thing?!”
I shrugged. “Well, he doesn’t really belong to us.”
Kowhai had served as Old Lady Lucy’s strapping young boarfriend and companion in the last year of her life. Towards the end he kept guard outside the gate to the hayshed hospital where we cared for her. He lay there in driving rain and scorching sun just to be near her.
After we buried Lucy, I let Kowhai inside the hayshed so he could see she was gone. He wasn’t convinced, and for the next three days he continued lying in his spot at the gate, as if waiting for her return.
It was heartbreaking. Pigs need company, and we had to do something.
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough 
