Just The Man

Freud comes back to where Gaius is squatting.

Gaius looks up.

What's that on the front of your trousers? asks Gaius.

Freud looks down at his trousers.

It's a stick insect. A big one.

It may be a Titan, says Gaius.

Indeed, says Freud. It looks like a Titan, but they don't normally frequent these parts.

He pulls the Titan away from his trousers, and drops it to the ground where it lapses into a state of catalepsy.

Pity, says Gaius. It's not a new species. But here! Take a look at these eggs.

Freud peers at the eggs. They look like carved seeds.

How do you know they're not seeds, asks Freud doubtfully.

They have characteristic knobs, says Gaius.

Freud bends down to examine the knobs like the knob connoisseur that he is.

..........

Arthur has finished his coffee. He heads back to the house via the fire track. A black kangaroo hops away into the forest. In the row of back gardens dogs yap and swings creak.

He reaches the house and goes in.

Where have you BEEN? says Mrs Hume crossly.

Drying my shorts in the air, says Arthur. But they still smell of pee.

I'll rinse them out for you, says Mrs Hume, if you'll take over here.

Arthur sits down at the table where Butterfly and Fish are making cards for their mummy and daddy, poking sparkling sequins into vast blobs of glue plastered onto sheets of graph paper.

You've used far too much glue, says Arthur.

More glue, says Fish.

Arthur sighs.

Would you children like to bake a cake for mummy? says Mrs Hume, sticking her head round the door of the laundry. Arthur, can you organise that?

Arthur is trapped. He does not want to help the children bake a cake for mummy, but he can't leave. He's not wearing pants.

.........

At Middleton, the water is flat.

Belle et Bonne sits on the beach with Farky.

Midge comes over.

Hi, says Midge. No surf until Tuesday. It sucks.

I know, says Belle et Bonne. Why don't we go back to Victor?

It's the same there, says Midge.

But we could go on the island, says Belle.

I can't, says Farky. No dogs allowed.

I forget you're a dog, says Belle et Bonne.

That's insulting, says Farky.

He goes off to find Sweezus.

Farky! says Sweezus. Just the man!