It was a calm down at the Piggy Household, Picky Piggy was making herself a sandwich. She was adding typical ingredients, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and was about to add some more when she heard the doorbell ring. Walking over to answer it and found Bubba, hauling a wagon behind him.
"Hi, Bubba," Picky said, "What brings you here?"
"Hi, Picky, I was just trying to work on something," Bubba explained. He pulled his wagon inside and showed off some parts in his wagon. "Could you help me set this up?"
Picky wasn't too sure what this was, but she helped her friend regardless. The pieces looked like something to hold bottles, some handles, and a tray that slid in and out. When it was finished, Bubba explained what the contraption was.
"This is my condiment dispenser," Bubba explained, "I tried making it as a way to speed up adding condiments to sandwiches. I was hoping you would be able to test it."
"You have perfect timing, I was just about to make lunch." She placed her unfinished sandwich under the machine as Bubba looked. "So how does it work?"
"What kind of condiments do you have?"
"Hmm, I think I have some mustard." She showed the mustard bottle, which Bubba attached to clip he had installed onto the invention.
"Now, we just have to push down on the lever, which will squeeze the mustard," Bubba proclaimed. He pressed down on the lever behind the machine to squeeze on the bottle when there was a bit of a snap. Bubba's contraption suddenly fell apart, much to the shock of both critters. "Ah, no!"
"Are you okay?" Picky cried.
Bubba simply sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have used those secondhand boards from Crafty's mom," he muttered.
"It was still a nice idea." Picky pulled out her sandwich which did have a lot of mustard on it. "Besides, it worked."
"Just made more of a mess than planned." Bubba started cleaning his mess as Picky placed her sandwich to the side. They cleaned up the mess of parts and loaded them back into the wagon. "Well, I'll see if I can get some stronger materials that don't rot apart. See you later, Picky."
The pig waved goodbye to her friend as he left. Once Bubba was gone, she returned to finishing her sandwich. Though it had some extra mustard, Picky didn't want the food to go to waste. However, there was something buried within the condiment. A hex nut had fallen into the sandwich, but Picky was unaware of it. The pig just finished making her sandwich and took a big bite. The nut missed her teeth long enough for her to swallow. Picky thought something was wrong with the sandwich, but lifting up the bread she couldn't see anything wrong aside from too much mustard. Little did she know what she was in for.
Later that night, Picky and her family were having dinner. It was quite a nice feast, but the littlest pig was eating rather slowly. "Are you okay?" her mother Penny Piggy asked.
"I don't think I'm that hungry," Picky guessed. "I had a sandwich earlier today."
"How soon was that before dinner?" Heavy Hog, the father, asked.
"I think it was around one."
"Hmm, then you shouldn't be full at this point," Penny noted.
Picky just tried to keep eating, but she held her stomach as she didn't feel right. "Can I be excused?" she asked. Her parents allowed it and Picky slowly walked to the bathroom.
She was feeling a little icky as she brushed her teeth. She only felt like this when she ate too much, but she had barely eaten dinner. The pig just finished with her bedtime routine and got into her bed. Picky held her stomach as it wasn't agreeing with her.
She had a hard time sleeping that night, Picky felt like something was messing with her inside. Only halfway through the night, she was starting to feel sick, groaning as she tried to sit up. "Ugh, what's wrong with me?" Picky questions. Soon things went from bad to worse.
Both parents were sleeping soundly until the sound of vomiting woke them up. Both got up to find where it came from and they thought they smelt something foul. They entered Picky's bedroom, to find their daughter was on the floor close to a puddle of vomit.
"Picky!" the parents cried. They kneeled down to their little piggy, who only groaned in response.
Penny touched Picky's head and was concerned. "You're burning up," she gasped.
"I don't feel so good," Picky moaned.
"We need to get her a doctor," Heavy proclaimed. Heavy went to get the phone while Penny helped clean their daughter up.
The sun was only rising as Heavy drove Picky to the medical clinic. The young pig was still feeling ill as they got inside. It only took a short while before they were seen by a nurse.
"Okay, Picky Piggy," the nurse announced, "Follow me, please." The father and daughter did so, with Piggy struggling to keep up. They had her sit down in one of the rooms as the nurse checked her notes. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"Picky woke up in the middle of the night after vomiting," Heavy explained, "And she had been eating slower before then."
"I was fine this morning," Picky groaned.
"So these effects started this afternoon?" the nurse asked. Picky nodded as she felt her belly again. "Have you ingested anything you don't normally consume?"
"The last thing I had before I started feeling sick was a sandwich I made. The only thing wrong with it was that I put too much mustard on it. And that was mostly because of Bubba's machine."
"What did his machine do?" Heavy asked.
"It was supposed to help with putting condiments on sandwiches, but it fell apart when we tried to test it."
"Do you think that something was to fall off the machine?" the nurse asked. Heavy thought about it and it seemed possible. "Perhaps we should give Picky an X-ray."
Heavy agreed to this and they brought Picky into another room There they gave her a vest to wear as they took her X-ray. After developing them, they brought out the pictures to show what was going on inside. The nurse pointed to a hexagonal shape inside of the pig's stomach.
"See that?" the nurse asked, "That's not supposed to be in there."
"So a nut from the machine got into her stomach?" Heavy questioned.
"It seems to be."
"So, how do we get it out?" Picky asked, sounding scared.
"Well, the only solution is likely surgery," the nurse noted.
"When's the earliest we can have it scheduled?" Heavy asked. He and the nurse talked about the plans as Picky was feeling a little worried about what would happen.
"S… Surgery?" Picky questions.
Later at school, the Smiling Critters noticed someone was missing. Dogday looked around the class before he talked to Bobby. "Have you seen Picky?" he asked.
"No, I haven't," Bobby replied. "Do you think she's running late?"
"Maybe she's sick," Hoppy suggested, joining in with the conversation.
"She seemed perfectly fine yesterday," Dogday noted. "What could've happened?"
The class drew their attention to the front of the class as they saw Ms. Delight entering the room. "Morning everyone," she announced, "Please get out your math books so we can begin."
Most of the students did as they were told, but Bubba raised his hand first. "Ms. Delight, have you seen Picky?" he asked.
"I'm afraid she won't be joining us today," the teacher explained, "She's currently sick and all I know is that she's seeing a doctor as we speak." Ms. Delight tried to get the lesson started but this information wasn't easy for the critters to take in.
Some started to whisper to each other why Picky was sick while Bubba had a theory of what caused it. "I knew I was missing some pieces," he muttered to himself.
Later that day, the critters met up at lunch discussing the missing pig. Bubba would be the last to join them as he was thinking about everything that happened yesterday. "So what could've made Picky sick?" Bobby asked.
"Maybe she overate," Hoppy guessed.
"She usually does healthy diets," Dogday stated, "It's not likely for her to get sick from that."
"PB sandwiches are her favorite though," Catnap reminded.
"I still don't know how that would make her sick."
"Didn't anyone see her before she had to go to the hospital?" Kickin questioned. The critters mostly shrugged until they all looked toward Bubba.
"Um… Why are you looking at me?" he asked.
"Have you seen Picky before her hospital trip?" Dogday asked.
"I did… She was helping me test a machine that helped with sandwiches." He explained the details of it falling apart and the likelihood that a piece of the machine got into Picky's sandwich."
"Like what? A piece of wood?" Hoppy questioned.
"Or a bolt. Whatever it is, it's definitely not supposed to be in her body."
"If it's small enough to get inside, shouldn't it get out the normal way?" Crafty asked.
"It sure, but the fact that Picky is in the hospital means it likely got stuck. I hope she's alright."
"Me too," Dogday sighed.
The critters worried about Picky all day and it felt like forever before school was out. The smiling critters were wanting to see their friend immediately. All of them would ask their parents for a ride to the hospital, some getting permission, others having to ride with others.
Eventually, all of the smiling critters made it to the hospital and they quickly started looking around, or rather Hoppy did. The rabbit started running all around to find her friend while Bubba and the others did the reasonable thing and asked the reception desk on where Picky was located.
After getting the number, a nurse let them into the young pig's room. They found Picky on the bed, looking miserable, she only managed to crack a smile when she saw her friends walk. "Dude, what happened?" Kickin asked.
"I ate a hex nut," Picky sighed.
"A what nut?" Hoppy questioned.
"It's a part that goes on machines to help keep them in place," Bubba informed. He looked a little concerned as he looked at Picky. "How are you feeling?"
"Terrible," she moaned, "My stomach has been bothering me ever since I had that sandwich."
"How can one nut cause that much trouble?" Bobby questioned.
"It's kind of a complicated process," Bubba explained.
"They said stomachs don't digest metal as good as food," Picky explained, "Since he can't be broken down so easily…" She paused as she felt her stomach in pain again. "…It could get into the small intestine and get stuck."
"Are you going to be okay?" Dogday asked.
"They say I should be fine after the surgery. I will have to eat softer food though."
"We hope that you'll be okay," Bobby informed.
"Yeah, me too." Catnap decided to help Picky keep comfy by fluffing her pillow. It managed to help the sick pig smile a little bit as she lay down. "Thanks, Catnap, I needed that."
"Anything else we can do to make you feel better?" Bobby asked.
"The doctor said I just need some rest before the surgery. They say I'm not supposed to eat anything before it, which I wouldn't be able to do anyway." She groaned again as the critters weren't sure what else they could do.
"Maybe it best if we leave so Picky can get the help she needs," Dogday suggested. He and Catnap walked out of the room, with Kickin' and Hoppy following shortly after and soon by Bobby. Craftycorn was about to leave, but she stopped and saw that Bubba was the only critter that hadn't left yet.
"Bubba, should we wait for you?" Crafty asked.
The elephant jumped a little when he heard his name called, he quickly turned to see his friend in the doorway. "Um… Be right there," he called. Bubba took one last look at Picky, who gave a smile and a wave. Bubba waved back before he left with Craftycorn, who could tell her friend was upset as they walked down the hall.
"Are you worried about Picky?"
"Of course, I am," Bubba proclaimed, "I'm the reason she's here."
"Because of your invention?"
"All because I cheaped out on a couple of parts."
Crafty was trying to think of how to cheer him up. "Maybe you could help me design something to help cheer Picky up."
"Like a card?
"We could do that. Come on, art might help get your mind off of this." The unicorn and elephant left the hospital with their friends, hoping to find something that would make them happy.
Later, Bubba visited Crafty's home so they could make something for Picky. The artistic critter had gotten some paper to make a card as she looked to ask Bubba something. She could see he was writing down a couple of notes, Crafty took a closer look to see if they were about ingesting foreign objects.
"Bubba, we're making this for Picky, remember. It'll help her feel better before her surgery."
"I know it's just… She shouldn't even be there to begin with."
"It was an accident, we all made them. A card like this should help Picky feel better."
"Just wished there was an easier way to get that bolt out of her."
"Like someone just shrinking down and getting the bolt out of her themselves?"
"Sounds kind of wild and unrealistic."
"It could be magical." This idea got Crafty thinking as she grabbed another piece of paper and started drawing.
Bubba walked her drawing herself and himself, along with a few of their friends. He was a bit perplexed as to why she was starting to draw astronaut helmets on them. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"I just had an idea of what we could give to Picky." She drew a little more before she showed her idea. "How about we make her a little story about critters who shrink down in a sub to fix what causes others to be sick."
Bubba looked at Crafty's drawing of a submarine, which was inside of a stomach. The clever critter thought about this as he grabbed a piece of paper. "If we're going to write a story about exploring the inside of Picky's body, we need to make sure we get some key points right."
He got out a book about the critter body and took notes as he and Craftycorn started to think about their idea about this adventure story.
Early the next morning, Picky was still feeling sickly in the hospital. She didn't know when her surgery was but this and she didn't sleep well. She heard the door open and could see two familiar critters walking in.
"Oh, morning guys," Picky sighed.
"Hi, Picky," Crafty said, "How are you feeling?"
Picky held her stomach and sighed. "Scared," she admitted. To help her feel better, Bubba and Crafty handed her a couple of papers they had stapled in one of the corners. The cover on the front page shows a big Picky with all of her friends being smaller and in suits similar to astronauts. "What's this?"
"It's a book we've made to give a more magical solution to your problem," Crafty informed. "We're a team that shrinks down and flies down into the bodies of sick critters and takes out the problems."
"Oh… That's cool."
"We hope it'll cheer you up," Bubba said, "I wish we could stay longer, but we got here early so we could make it to school. We better get going now." They were about to leave if it wasn't for Picky calling out to them.
"Guys wait!" she cried, "Can't you just stay a little longer?"
Crafty wasn't sure as she looked to Bubba for input. "We can't be in the same room as you when you have your surgery," he said. "We would have to leave regardless."
Picky looked down, still feeling scared about her surgery. "We made this story just for you," Crafty informed. "It could help you feel better about recovering."
Picky looked at the cover of the custom book and took a deep breath. "Okay, you head on to school," she sighed. Crafty and Bubba waved goodbye to their sick friend before trying to make it to school. A minute after they left, Picky read what they made for her.
Once there was a young pig who got very sick. Somehow a melt nut had gotten into her stomach making her sick. To help with this her friends came up with a plan. They were going to use their clever friend's submarine, shrink down to size, and go inside the stomach to get that bolt out.
Picky was impressed with her friends' work. After a little bit of reading, Picky was interrupted by one of the doctors. "Picky Piggy," they said, "Are you ready for your surgery?" Picky placed down the book while nodding.
The little pig was taken into a different room where her surgery would take place. A mask with a hose attached to it was placed over Picky's mouth. "Alright, now we just need you to start counting backwards from five," the doctor said.
"Okay," Picky replied. "Five, four… Three… Two…". She was unable to reach one of the gas put her to sleep so the doctors could begin surgery.
When Picky woke up, she had a big screen in front of her, which was showing some kind of tunnel. The pig was confused as this tunnel looked like the walls were moving, it was kind of eerie.
"Picky, can you hear us?" called a voice. She looked around as there wasn't anyone else in the room with her.
"Who's there?" she called.
"Inside of you," called another voice, the screen changed to show all of Picky's friends. They each seemed to have a seat in some sort of spaceship with the outfits to match. "Hello," Crafty said while waving.
"Um… Hi," Picky responded, confused. "Where are you?"
"Currently traveling down your esophagus," Bubba explained. "In a few moments, we should be in your stomach and look around for the nut that's causing the trouble."
"Won't the stomach acid burn us?" Bobby asked.
"We have a special coating on the ship and our suits so the fluids in the body won't cause harm to us." They could hear a beeping as Dogday spoke up.
"We're about to enter the stomach!" he cried. The critter crew got to their seats as the camera changed back to the first-person view just as they dove into the stomach. After splashing into the stomach acid, Craftycorn, Kickin, and Hoppy prepared their diving gear.
"Catnap, do you see the bolt?" Crafty asked.
Catnap checked the ship's scanner and quickly pointed to something in the acid. "There it is," he cried. "Hook it up to the ship and we'll get it out of here!"
"Roger!" Hoppy replied. The three critters got their helmets, air tanks, and other gear on before they jumped throw the hole that opened in the bottom of their ship. They dove through the stomach acid, which their suit gave them plenty of protection from.
"Is that it?" Kickin' asked. He pointed to a hexagon-shaped object sitting close to the valve which lead to Picky's small intestine. They guided the ship closer to the nut so they could get it attached to a claw. With some special maneuverability, they nut was attached.
"Alright, reel it in!" Hoppy called. Dogday pressed a button in the ship which pulled the nut into its cargo bay. The divers swam back into the ship, where they celebrated their mission accomplished.
They were sprayed down to get the acid off before Crafty removed her helmet. "We did it!" she cheered.
"Now let's get this bolt out of here," Bubba proclaimed. The ship started to fly back the way it came, up through the esophagus. Picky smiled as she watched her friends making their escape just before everything went black.
"Picky? Picky," echoed a voice. The young critter slowly opened her eyes to see her mother and father looking over her along with the doctors. "There's our little piggy," Penny smiled.
"Ugh, did I do it?" Picky asked groggily.
"The surgery was a complete success," the doctor proclaimed. "Now, I'd recommend a certain diet, since you'll need sometime to recover. Having softer foods would be wise. Would you like a list?"
"I think that'll be wise," Heavy commented. After all of this was done, Picky left the hospital with her parents with Heavy carrying out the truck.
Later that evening, Picky received a visit from her friends. Bubba was happy to see her again. "So, how are you feeling now?" the clever critter asked.
"Much better," Picky responded. "Just have to stay on a diet for a little while until I'm all clear."
"We're happy that you're feeling better," Crafty commented. "What did you think of our book?"
"It was fun and it actually gave me a cool dream." She explained the event of the dream she had during her surgery.
"That sounds so cool!" Kickin' commented.
"Think we could actually do that?" Hoppy asked.
"...I highly doubt it," Bubba noted, "Let alone like the way we've written the story."
"Still, we're glad that you're back," Crafty said to Picky, smiling from the comment.
"Yeah, and no offense, Bubba, you should probably get help before you make any more machines to help with food," Picky added.
"Yeah, I've got my condiment dispenser shelved until I get the proper parts."
"Or you could just stick to the old-fashioned way. Leads to less problems that way." The conversation stopped when Penny Piggy walked into the room.
"Don't mind me, kids," the mother said, "I'm just getting something my brave piggy." She placed a milkshake in front of her daughter. "A nice little healthy fruit smoothie to help fill you up."
"Thanks, mom," Picky said. She took a sip of the smoothie, sighing relief of finally having something to eat without having an upset stomach.