Run, Fig Pig, Run!
Fig Pig swung his pickaxe up high. 'Today is the day!' he said. 'I will dig so deep, I will find the best coal this mine has ever seen!' He held up his little lamp and marched straight into the dark. Fig Pig was not scared. Not one tiny bit. Not even a little. He was tough enough for any old mine, or so he thought. Down he went, step by step, deeper and deeper into the black, with a big brave grin on his face.
Down, down, down Fig Pig crept, until the tunnel opened wide. Old lamps glowed on the stone walls. Rusty rails stretched off into the dark shadows. Stone arches rose so high that Fig Pig had to tip his head all the way back to see the tops. 'Someone built all this,' he whispered. 'And though they worked so hard, they left it all behind.' His voice sounded very small in the huge empty space. He puffed out his little chest to make up for it. His legs felt a bit wobbly, but Fig Pig would not turn back now. Not yet.
Around the next bend sat a big wooden chest, its lid flung wide open. Fig Pig peered inside. Gold coins. Red rubies. And one very sharp sword. 'I am not a thief,' he said firmly. He reached in and picked up the sword. 'I am just borrowing this one. For safety.' Although the chest did not say a word back, Fig Pig hurried off before it could argue. He brought the shiny sword along with him, just in case. After all, who knew what was waiting around the next dark bend?
Then Fig Pig saw the web. It stretched from the floor to the roof, thick as rope and sticky as jam. Right in the middle sat a spider the size of a wheelbarrow. Its eyes were shut tight. Its eight legs twitched in its sleep. Fig Pig held his breath and took one step. Two steps. Three steps. The spider snored. Four steps, five steps, six steps, go! Fig Pig slipped through the gap, though his little heart was pounding. Tough as he was, he did not want to wake that big spider. Not for all the coal in the mine.
The tunnel ended at a steep drop. Down below, lava bubbled and popped, orange and angry. The only way across was a narrow wooden walkway with old mine rails running along it, hugging the cliff wall. 'I am not scared,' said Fig Pig, gripping his sword tight. His little trotters said otherwise. They wobbled with every rough step. Don't look down. Don't look down. He looked down. He wished he hadn't. Even though his legs were shaking, he kept going, one trotter at a time. He hummed a little tune to keep his mind off the hot lava bubbling far below.
Safely across, Fig Pig snatched a flaming torch from the wall to light his way, and at last he stumbled out into the fresh open air. Daylight! Sweet, safe daylight! Then he spotted a sign right by the mine entrance. Big red letters that said Beware. 'Beware?!' Fig Pig squealed. He gripped his torch in one hand, his sword in the other, and ran. He ran so fast that his little legs blurred into a pink streak. Fig Pig did not find any coal that day. But he did find out one very important thing. Always read the sign before you go through the door! That was quite enough adventure for one little pig.