A Prawn's Life

Is this for the little one? asks the server.

Yes, says Margaret.

The server places a plate before Terence.

On the plate is his potato spun prawn.

Gaius, Margaret and Katherine eye it sideways.

Where's the prawn? asks Terence.

Wrapped inside the strings of potato, says Katherine. There, see its tail?

Where's its head? asks Terence.

It's probably been cut off, says Gaius. I wonder how they do the potato?

They use a potato curler, says Katherine. Then wrap it round and round the prawn and deep fry it.

Hello little prawn, says Terence, I'm not going to eat you. 

The little prawn has had enough things go wrong in its life to appreciate this concession, if that were possible.

After dinner I'll show you my frog picture, says Terence.

It won't be able to see it, says Katherine. No eyes.

Not to mention it's been deep fried, says Margaret. 

The two spaghetti bolognaises arrive at this moment.

Which shuts up the two ladies.

The surf and turf''s coming, says the server.

She goes away and comes back with Gaius's dinner.

A steak with three prawns arranged on it.

This is not what I expected, says Gaius, when the server has left.

What did you expect? asks Margaret.

Perhaps a steak stuffed with crayfish, says Gaius.

Are you going to eat them? asks Terence.

Yes, says Gaius. I am.

Boo! says Terence. They could have been best friends with my prawn.

Gaius gobbles the prawns and then starts on his steak.

See that? says Terence. He ate your best friends.

But no, his prawn did not see. 

Terence watches the grownups eat their dinner.

How long will they take? 

Can I get down? asks Terence. 

What for? asks Gaius.

To look around, says Terence.

I suppose so, says Gaius.

Terence grabs his potato spun prawn and gets down from the table.

The potato spun prawn is still warm.

Terence walks across to the next table where two people are dining.

Hello, little boy, says the woman. 

Have you got a black pen? asks Terence.

I do, says the woman. I keep one in my handbag. Why? Do you need it?

Yes, says Terence. For two things.

What are they? asks the woman.

Eyes, says Terence.

He probably wants to draw eyes on his potato spun prawn, says the man.

What makes you think that, Gerald? asks the woman.

He's not eating it, says Gerald.

Is that why you want it? asks the woman.

No, says Terence. I mean yes, that's why I want it.

Your prawn's greasy, says the woman. It'll ruin my pen.

Only the outside is greasy, says Terence.

He's right, says Gerald. I believe it could be done cleanly.

Oh, all right, says the woman. Will you let Gerald do it?

Yay! says Terence, giving Gerald the prawn.

Gerald takes the pen from the woman, and inserts the tip into the top of the potato spun prawn.

He draws two beady eyes on the place where the prawn was beheaded.

Potato Spun Prawn

Six o'clock, in Narrandera..

Margaret pulls up at the Gateway Motor Inn.

They get out of the car and enter Reception.

Welcome! says the person in Reception. Do you have a booking?

Yes, says Margaret. For a triple.

I see there are four of you, says the person in Reception. Are you wanting an upgrade?

Are there three single beds? asks Gaius.

Yes, says Reception.

Then no, says Gaius. Three beds will suffice. This boy doesn't sleep.

Reception looks hard at the boy, who is Terence.

What does he do then? asks Reception.

I look out of the window, says Terence. 

Fine, says Reception, as long as you don't disturb the other guests.

If I'm bored I'll finish my frog, says Terence,

What's this about a frog? asks Reception.

It's an illustration, says Katherine. Would you happen to have a black pen we could borrow?

We no longer use pens in Reception, says Reception.

But surely you have your own personal pen, says Margaret.

It's a blue one, says Reception. So, sorry. Is there anything else I can help you with before I give you the door card?

Where can we get dinner? asks Katherine.

We have our own restaurant, the Lazy Lizard, very popular with the locals, says Reception. Shall I book you in?

Please do, says Katherine.

Reception books them in to the Lazy Lizard and gives Margaret the door card.

Room ten, says Reception.

They head off to Room ten.

Dump their things. 

And make their way to the Lazy Lizard, where they are shown to a table.

Margaret, Katherine and Gaius look at the menu.

Potato spun prawns, says Gaius. What can they be?

Can I have one? asks Terence.

No, says Katherine. Red drink only.

I won't eat it, says Terence.

All right, says Katherine. At least we'll see what it is.

As for me, says Margaret I'll have the spaghetti bolognaise.

Me too, says Katherine.

Gaius feels he should have something different. 

Surf and turf. What could that be?

Margaret goes up to the counter to order.

Returns with three beers and a red drink.

Am I getting a potato spun prawn? asks Terence.

Yes, says Margaret. 

Terence tries to imagine what it might be.

In Warty Blotches

The frog's eye isn't ruined, says Gaius. 

But I don't have a black, says Terence.

Use my pencil, says Gaius. And press hard. But not too hard or you'll go though the paper.

Just keep going over it and over it, says Katherine.

Terence takes Gaius's pencil.

He darkens the frog's eye.

He can still see the yellow line underneath it.

He does some more shading.

How does it look? asks Gaius.

Good, says Terence. See?

Gaius looks at the dark grey eye with a trace of yellow running through it.

That's better, says Gaius. 

Let me see, says Katherine.

Terence hands the frog illustration to Katherine in the front seat.

Hmm, says Katherine. What you really need is a black pen.

I knew it, says Terence. 

We'll get one in Narrandera, says Katherine.

The shops will be closed, says Margaret.

At the motel, says Katherine. They're bound to have one.

Yay! says Terence. Hear that Froggy? Your black eye is coming. 

Meanwhile you may as well colour the rest of its body, says Gaius.

I'll start on the blotches, says Terence.

He hands Gaius the lead pencil and takes a brown one from his box of coloureds.

Are the blotches supposed to be blotchy? asks Terence.

There's an intelligent question, says Katherine. Are they?

The upper blotches are generally smooth and shiny, says Gaius. The lower blotches are warty.

Woo! says Terence. Two kinds of blotches.

Do the warty ones first, says Katherine. 

Why? asks Terence.

It won't matter if Margaret hits a rock or another dead possum, says Katherine.

I'm doing my best, mutters Margaret.

I didn't mean that, says Katherine. But a few bumps won't affect warty blotches.

It might make them better, says Terence.

We'll see, says Margaret. Have you started?

Yes, says Terence. 

He is soon covering the lower parts of the green and golden bell frog in warty blotches.

All the time hoping Margaret will hit a dead possum.

And Margaret is hoping the same.

So Much For Black

Next stop Narrandera, says Margaret.

Mint? asks Katherine.

Yes please, says Margaret.

The smell of mints permeates to the back seat, where Gaius is annotating his notes with his pencil.

And Terence is colouring the green and golden bell frog.

He wants to get it right.

Which parts are green? asks Terence.

Those parts, says Gaius. And the blotches are brown or golden bronze.

I've only got two browns, says Terence.

But you have two yellows, says Gaius. You could add yellow to one of the browns, to produce a golden tint.

Okay, says Terence. 

And use the other yellow for the strip down its side, says Gaius.

Terence decides to do the strip first, with the other yellow.

Because it's narrow.

Can we drive slowly? asks Terence.

No, says Margaret. We have a schedule. Narrandera by six o'clock. So we're not going slower.

Okay, says Terence. Can you tell me when it's going to be smooth?

It is smooth, says Margaret. 

How long is it smooth for? asks Terence.

Hard to say, says Margaret. 

Are you colouring something small? asks Katherine.

Long and skinny, says Terence.

Why don't you leave it till last? says Katherine. 

She doesn't know much about colouring. You don't leave a long skinny thing until last.

Terence decides to go for it.

He lifts the other yellow pencil out of the box.

He begins to colour the strip from behind the eye of the green and golden bell frog to its lower body.

Carefully. 

Bump.

What was that? asks Katherine.

A rock, says Margaret. Or a  dead possum.

Or a RUIN! says Terence.

His yellow has gone over the line of the strip and into the frog's eye.

What colour are their eyes? asks Terence.

Black, says Gaius.

So much for that.

No Birds Do

It's not far to Hay.

Margaret is considering stopping.

Does anyone else need anything? asks Margaret.

Not me, says Katherine.

Nor I, says Gaius.

Me, says Terence.

But no one else, says Margaret. 

Actually, I could do with some mints, says Katherine.

Then we'll stop for two minutes, says Margaret.

She pulls up outside an IGA.

Come on Terence, says Katherine. We'll have to hurry.

She and Terence get out and go into the store.

Katherine finds her mints straight away, but Terence can't find the coloured pencils.

We'll ask the assistant, says Katherine.

Terence runs up to the checkout assistant.

Where are the coloured pencils? asks Terence.

Aisle four, says the assistant.

Come on, Terence, says Katherine.

You go, says Terence. I want to ask some more questions.

All right, says Katherine, heading off to aisle four.

What questions? asks the assistant.

Do parrots come here? asks Terence.

No, says the assistant.

What if they had money? asks Terence.

Parrots don't need money, says the assistant. No birds do.

What if they had ten dollars tucked into their feathers? asks Terence.

That wouldn't happen, says the assistant.

Katherine returns with the coloured pencils.

The assistant scans them through, with the mints.

Nine dollars eighty, says the assistant.

Katherine pays. 

She and Terence leave the store. 

Here you are, dear, says Katherine, handing him the box of coloured pencils.

Margaret has already started the engine.

They get into the car.

Terence looks out of the window.

It would be good if a parrot looked in.

He would open the window and tell it where to find coloured pencils. 

Aisle four. And it wouldn't need money. No birds do.

Open your box of pencils, says Gaius. Let's see the colours.

Terence tears the box open.

There are twelve coloured pencils: Two yellow, one orange, one red, one pink, one purple, two blues, two greens and two browns.

Perfect! says Gaius. Two greens, two browns and two yellows. 

What about the red? asks Terence.

Not required for a green and golden bell frog. says Gaius.

What if it's eating a berry? asks Terence.

They don't eat berries, says Gaius. 

I'm sure they'd eat something that's red, says Katherine. A red butterfly, or perhaps a redback spider?

Perhaps. 

What delicious ideas.

Money Tucked Into Feathers

I wish I had coloured pencils, says Terence.

Well, you haven't says Margaret. Make the best of it.

If I had a parrot, my parrot would find coloured pencils, says Terence.

Where from? asks Katherine.

Where they were, says Terence.

Nonsense, says Margaret. A parrot wouldn't know where to find coloured pencils.

Perhaps the next town, says Gaius.

The next town is Hay, says Margaret, and we won't be stopping.

My parrot would be stopping, says Terence.

Indeed, says Gaius. You could send him ahead to locate coloured pencils. He could obtain them and rejoin us in Hay.

Don't you start, says Margaret.

I was merely conjecturing, says Gaius.

How would the parrot obtain the coloured pencils? asks Margaret.

We could have given the parrot some money, says Katherine.

Hah! says Margaret. And how would the parrot have carried the money?

A ten dollar note tucked into its feathers, says Katherine.

Terence is entranced, 

His parrot would have money tucked into its feathers, and would buy coloured pencils in Hay.

The parrot would wait for them in Hay.

Margaret would slow down and open her window.

No, not her.

Katherine would open her window.

No not her either.

Terence would open the back seat window. And Saint Roley would fly in, and drop the coloured pencils in Terence's lap.

Why did you need these? Saint Roley would ask him

To colour the green and golden bell frog in Gaius's notes, Terence would say.

Take care when colouring while the car is moving, Saint Roley would say. 

I'm always careful, Terence would say.

Which is true, in a way.

Not Killing a Fly

We must get going, says Katherine. It's a three hour drive to Narrandera.

Would you like me to take over? asks Margaret.

That would be nice, says Katherine. Do you know where we're staying?

Gateway Motel, says Margaret. I've already booked it.

A motel? says Gaius. 

Yes, says Margaret. A triple room. I hope you don't mind.

What's a triple room? asks Terence.

A room for three people, says Margaret. It's cheaper than a room for a family.

They walk back to Katherine's car.

Gaius is hoping there are three single beds in a triple.

Terence is counting the people.

Gaius, Katherine, Margaret and him.

That's more than three people.

Hey, says Terence. What about me?

You're small, says Margaret. You can sleep on a couch, assuming there is one.

Terence doesn't sleep, says Katherine.

I stay up all night, says Terence.

Katherine hands Margaret the car keys,

She nudges Terence.

What? asks Terence.

Katherine mimes holding a pencil.

Are you killing a fly? asks Terence.

Katherine whispers something to Terence.

Remember the pencil! says Terence.

Yes! Thank you, Terence, says Gaius. 

Margaret opens the boot. 

Gaius locates his backpack and feels around in the bottom for a pencil.

Yes. He has found one.

They all climb into the car.

Margaret starts the engine.

Soon they're back on the A20.

What did you want the pencil for? asks Katherine.

To highlight my notes on the green and golden bell frog, says Gaius.

I should like to see those notes, when you're done, says Katherine.

Certainly, says Gaius. Are you thinking of joining us in our frog observations?

Once I've seen all there is to see in Canberra, says Katherine.

Can I see the notes? asks Terence.

You can have the first page, says Gaius. There's a detailed illustration.

He hands Terence the first page of his notes.

This frog's black and white! says Terence.

You must imagine the colours, says Gaius.

What are the colours? asks Terence.

You should know this, says Margaret.  

Yes you should, says Katherine. What's the name of this frog?

Froggy? says Terence.

Proper name, says Margaret. 

Common name, says Gaius.

You've confused him, says Katherine. It's the green and golden bell frog.

I knew that, says Terence. Someone should colour it in.

That would be a fine use of your time, says Gaius. I don't suppose either of you ladies has thought to bring coloured pencils?

No, admit both the ladies.

Bumho....begins Terence. But remembers he's not allowed to say it.

So what happens now?