Seventy Plus Ten

Katherine may be, like, seventy, but she does have a surf rack.

Arthur had forgotten.

Cool, says Sweezus, going back inside to pick up a couple of surfboards.

And coming out again.

It is dark, hardly even the morning.

Know the way? asks Sweezus.

Yes, says Arthur. Up the freeway to Murray Bridge, then Tailem Bend, Meningie, Coorong, where we locate Gaius, on to Kingston to pick up Margaret's car, drive back in two vehicles. In a straightforward world, that is.

Yeah, but it isn't, agrees Sweezus.

No it isn't, says Arthur.

The morning turns purple. They are now on the freeway. Arthur drives fast.

.......

Gaius is waking up in the Coorong, to the sounds of his new acquaintance.

Craawark.

The sun has not yet risen over the sandhills. The sand is cool, the dune shadows are long.

Saint Roley has been awake for ages. What is there to eat?

He has assessed the Growling Grass Frog as too risky, for several reasons:

1. The Growling Grass Frog is ten centimetres long.

2. The Growling Grass Frog is a brother, although not a bird brother.

3. Gaius has invited the Growling Grass Frog to come with him to Newcastle, and he has accepted.

4. The Growling Grass Frog is awake.

Good morning, says Saint Roley.

Crawaark! Good morning, says the Growling Grass Frog. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I am joyous.

That's the attitude, says Gaius. I should take a leaf out of your book and feel joyous as well, but I am worried about Margaret. Perhaps she has met with foul play.

Saint Roley has a brain wave.

I'll go and look for her, says Saint Roley. I'll fly over the sand dunes, and follow the road to Kingston, then report back to you.

Good man, says Gaius. I'll wait here with the Growling Grass Frog. I shall fill him in on the current dangers that threaten the amphibian community.

Saint Roley flies off.

Gaius explains how the chytridiomycosis fungus releases zoospores into frogs' skin, disrupting the flow of electrolytes and resulting in a heart attack.

The Growling Grass Frog's day becomes ninety percent less joyous.

In other words, he is only ten percent joyous.

But, says Gaius, if a simple preventative measure is taken, elevating salt levels in the water very slightly, an increased survival rate of seventy percent can be expected.

The Growling Grass Frog's joy level leaps back up to eighty.

(Seventy plus ten).