Oink!
Jasper Morton was a pig farmer. He was an honest man, if a rather simple one. He would wake up every morning and go feed the pigs. They were all kept in a stable out behind the simple cottage he kept on the farm. He loved his pigs, and gave them all his time. He invested in all the machinery, nothing but the best for his pigs.

His latest extravagance had been the feed grinder. A huge funnel shaped container, you poured in a mixture of grain, soybeans and a little mutton, plus a few other secret ingredients that he didn't tell anyone about, and out came a paste from the bottom that was packed with nutrients. He had the fattest healthiest pigs in town. There wasn't much that he could brag about but he certainly could be proud of his pigs.

His brother on the other hand, was a problem.

Andrew Morton had gone to college. Andrew Morton was educated. And Andrew disliked the pigs. Their father had been a pig farmer too, and died when Jasper was eighteen, and Andrew was twelve. Jasper started to look after the pigs, sending Andrew to the big city to study. That was ten years ago.

Andrew had not done too well at school, and the brother's couldn't afford to pay for college, so Andrew had taken up odd jobs in the city, always coming back to his brother for money. Jasper meanwhile had become mildly successful. All the love he gave his pigs paid off, and it was always with a sad pang that he finally sent them to the butchers.

Each time Andrew came to the farm Jasper asked him to start helping out instead of bumming around in the big city. Andrew though, never agreed, taking some money and leaving.

Jasper had had enough. He had decided that he wasn't going to give Andrew any more money. In his hands was a telegram from Andrew.

Help STOP Am broke STOP Have great plan for making money STOP Need some first STOP Coming now STOP Andy

He lit his cigarette a little angrily, and took a deep pull to calm down. Just then the doorbell rang. With a frown on his face, Jasper went to the door. When he opened it, he saw Andrew, who had a big smile on his face.

"Jasper! I have the most fantastic idea, we'll be rich I'm telling you," Andrew said exuberantly, stepping in and waving at one of the neighbours with whom he'd hitched a lift. Shutting the door, Jasper walked in behind him without saying anything.

"I've been thinking of a scheme that'll make us a bundle, I've got this amazing idea, and I know it'll make us a fortune, but I need some money to start off Jasp, and I know you have it. Just fifty thousand Jasp, and we'll be set for life," Andrew said.

Jasper looked at him, and then said, "Andy, business has been slow. The only way I could raise fifty thousand in cash is if I sell off that farm. And I'm not going to do that."

"Course Jasp, course I don't want you to sell the farm, but maybe there's something that can be done. I mean tighten the belt for a couple of years and then you're rolling in bacon?"

Jasper just sighed, and said, "It's time to feed the pigs. Come on, we'll talk in the hoghouse."

The two brothers walked out of the house, and when they reached the old stable, Andrew looked around, a calculating glint in his eyes. "What's that Jasp?" he said, pointing to the grinder. After Jasper explained, Andrew asked, "And how much was that for?"

"Thirty thousand," Jasper said, "and you still aren't getting any money."

The two began climbing the platform to the top of the grinder. "Why not Jasp? You could take a loan, use all this as collateral, and you know that I'm good for it?" "No you're not Andy, no you're not. I've given you so much money in the last six years that I've lost track. Why won't you just work here? We make enough, we can live comfortably, the neighbours are nice, but far enough that you can ignore them when you feel like. What more do you want?"

"I want a life Jasp, not pigs, you understand me?" Andrew said angrily, "I know I've not always returned the money I've borrowed before. But I'm your brother. You aren't married, you never will be, I mean look at you. You only think about your pigs. Why not give me some money that you don't even need? This schemes a winner, I'm telling you!"

"What is it then?" Jasper asked.

Andrew told him. And Jasper laughed. And laughed. "Goddamn. That's the dumbest thing I've heard in years. As if. You Andrew, are a fool, and you shouldn't be allowed anywhere near pigs, for their safety."

Not knowing what he was doing, Andrew lashed out at his brother, and punched his chin. The blow dazed Jasper for a while, and Andrew stood without saying a thing. Then Jasper, who was a farm worker and used to working with his hands, jumped up at Andrew and beat him with both fists. Andrew though was younger, and into the latest city craze of working out.

The two were well matched and beat each other mercilessly. Finally, Andrew knocked Jasper on the chin again, knocking him to the ground, bouncing off the corner of the control console for the grinder. Jasper lay still on the ground, and Andrew stared at him, waiting for him to jump again.

This time though, Jasper lay very still on the ground. After some time, Andrew noticed a thin trickle of red from behind his head. Leaning in he saw that Jasper was not moving. He was horrified, he realised that his brother was dead. And he realised, he had killed Jasper. He had committed a murder. Manslaughter at best.

He knew he had to do something. His first impulse was to run down, and take the keys to his brother's pickup, and drive off to the city. But he knew that that wasn't intelligent. Some neighbour would come visit in the morning and find the body.

An idea came to him.

He dragged his brother's body to the edge of the grinder, and toppled him in. Reaching for the controls, he saw the power switch. He pressed the button. The fan at the base started whirling, but there was so much feed on top that Jasper's body lay unmoving.

Just then, above the rising roar of the fan, he heard a moan. Then Jasper's hand twitched, and an eye opened, and looked right at him. He was still alive. Frantically, Andy looked for a way of switching off the grinder, then realised it operated on an automatic circuit.

By now Jasper was crawling across the quicksand like surface of the feed, the lower parts of it crumbling into the slurry and then the top layer caved in, dragging Jasper with it. Above the whine of the machinery Jasper's final death scream could be heard, then he was finally gone.

Andrew slumped back against the machinery, and though about what to do next.

Feed the pigs. That'll get rid of the evidence, for good. Then sleep. In the house. Take the pickup and leave in the morning. People will think we've both gone. He sat, dazed, on the platform, then took out his shirt. He'd take one of Jasper's later, he thought. Wiping the little blood off the platform, he tossed it into the grinder too.

After five minutes the spin cycle ended, and the grinder has poured out a thick paste into the pigs trough.

Climbing down, Andrew opened the gates to the pigpens and led the pigs to the trough, then slumped off to the side again, going over the fight in his mind. The last look, that last screech seemed burned into his mind. In front of him, the pigs chomped away with gusto. He held back his vomit.

Sitting weakly on the ground, he watched the pigs eat the last remains of his brother. Soon enough, they were done, and began milling around uncertainly. He didn't have the strength to get up and lead them to the pens just yet, and sat and waited.

He noticed that they weren't grunting much and seemed to be looking at him in a strange way. They started walking up to him and backing off, in a way they normally didn't. Andrew had always hated pigs, but he'd never been scared of them before. This time though, there was something menacing about them.

He looked at the way they were crowding around him, and decided he must do something. He stood up to start shooing them off. And that's when the first one bit him.