Episode 2 of 4

Joanne tried to look into the hat. “What do you have in the hat? Where’s Janet?”

          Lucy shook her head agitatedly. She grabbed the gin and tonic and drank half of it. “You won’t believe what I just saw.”

          Ruth put her hand on Lucy’s sleeve. “Calm down. Where’s Janet?”

          Lucy turned her hat over on the table and lifted it off. “Here she is. It’s Janet.”

 A frog sat quietly on the table. It moved slightly to get comfortable.

          Ruth pulled Lucy’s drink toward her side of the table. “You’ve had too many gins and been out in the hot sun too long.”

          “No, no, it is Janet. She was on the corner talking friendly to this guy. I turned to look at someone. When I turned back in just a few seconds, he was gone and she was like this.”

          Ruth and Joanne stared at the huge frog.

          “That’s not Janet. That’s a dumb ugly frog.”

          “Talk to her. She knows you guys.” Lucy drank half of the remaining gin and tonic.

          The frog eyed a cockroach on the edge of the table. In a split second, its tongue extended ten inches, retracted and swallowed the cockroach.

          “It might be Janet. She never did have good eating habits.” Joanne looked down at the frog. “Janet, is that you?”

          The frog sat still, its green skin glistening. “Buuullruuum.”

          Lucy jumped up and down in her chair. “It’s her. Did you hear that? Janet answered you.”

          Ruth and Joanne were three feet from the table. They slowly pulled their chairs back to the table.