He had once rented an entire mountain to raise 30 pigs, then abandoned the place for five years. Upon his return, what he saw left him completely petrified.

How they survived

Roger had a hard time believing it.

“How did they survive?” he asked.

Mang Tino was sitting on a nearby rock.

“When you left, some pigs jumped the fence and escaped. I thought they were going to die in the forest.”

“But they didn’t do it.”

Behind the pigsty, a small stream had formed.

Wild bananas and sweet potatoes grew in abundance.

There were coconuts and wild plants everywhere.

“They learned to survive,” explained Mang Tino.
“And they continued to multiply.”

A large pig slowly approached the fence.

Her skin was reddish.

He had a scar on his ear.

Roger’s heart sank.

“That one…” he murmured.

“That was the very first pig I ever raised.”

For a moment, he was speechless.

Everything he thought he had lost… was still there.

Alive.

Stronger than before.

Mang Tino looked at him.

“So… what are you going to do now?”

Roger gazed at the mountain, the pigs, and the land that had survived without him.

Then, for the first time in years, he smiled.

“Perhaps,” he said softly,
“my dream is not yet over.”