Alex was very excited because it was Christmas eve. He could not wait till tomorrow to open his gifts. He had been a good boy the whole year and was hoping Santa would reward him. Leaving milk and cookies next to the Christmas tree, he kept tossing and turning in his bed until he slept.

Next morning, as the sun’s rays touched him, he leaped out of his bed and slid down the stairs to the Christmas tree, all ready to unwrap the shiny gifts that welcomed him. Then there was something that caught his eye. It was not on his list that he sent to Santa. It was the  cutest little piggy with the fattest stomach. He picked it up and ran to his grandmother.

“What is it, Nana?”, he asked excitedly.

“It is a piggy bank Alex, I thought you should get it this Christmas. You can save all the pennies you get in this little piggy because he likes to eat pennies.”, Grandma said lovingly.

So the next time Alex fetched some water for his grandmother, she rewarded him with a penny. Guess where the penny went? Yes! the greedy pig swallowed it quickly. Alex named his piggy Oinky. Oinky and Alex became the best of friends. Alex fed Oinky at least 2 times a day.

When Alex helped his mother carry groceries home, he was rewarded with a penny. Oinky gobbled it up again.

Time passed, and Alex truly became an extremely helpful boy :). He loved to feed Oinky. There were times when Alex fed Oinky more than two times a day and Oinky gladly gobbled up all the pennies he was fed.

But one day Alex came to his father looking terribly sad, “My Oinky is really unwell as he is not eating anything, Can we take him to the doctor?”.

Dad smiled and said, “Well, why a doctor? “.

“Because mom takes me to a doctor when I stop eating” said Alex seriously.

Dad put down his newspaper that he was reading and said, “Let me play a Doctor and try to fix Oinky, he then pushed a button on Oinky and all the pennies slid down making a huge mountain of pennies.”

Alex just stared at the pile of glistening pennies.

Dad continued, “See Alex your greedy Oinky ate a little too much and that is why he could eat no more. Let us count these pennies and see how much money you saved “.

Alex had saved 20 dollars and 50 cents. He was a rich boy! Dad took the pennies and gave him money notes that he could keep safely in his cabinet. Oinky was fixed and was ready to eat more.

Oink ! Oink!