A Single Truth

The dead tadpoles have been cleared up by the cleaner. The floor is wiped dry.

A second Marzano bottle has been found for the live population.

The bus for Guaranda arrives.

This is our bus, says Simon. I'll ask the driver to let us off at the Chimborazo entrance.

Arthur picks up the boots that he dumped on the seat beside Saint Roley.

He and Sweezus get on the bus, with their ice picks and crampons.

The child and her sister can hardly believe this great piece of good luck.

This is their bus, the bus for Guaranda. They get on, with their mother.

Tilly, Lydia and Buzz get on with their frog-translocating equipment.

Gaius gets on last, with Saint Roley and Gastro, who is still in his reheatable plastic container,

And Princess Pacchu is still in a boot, under Arthur.

The bus starts up, and rolls out of the station.

Settled? asks Gaius.

No, says Saint Roley. This is not what I imagined.

In what way? asks Gaius.

I saw myself pointing out various truths to Princess Pacchu, says Saint Roley. By this means I intended to cheer her.

Waak-wak! comes a sound from the plastic container.

Cheer him up, says Gaius. I'll let him out for a moment.

He opens the container. Gastro hops out, and lands on the inside window ledge.

Saint Roley can't think of a single truth to point out to Gastro.

Gastro waits.

No. Nothing happens.

He hops forward to the next window. Now Gastro is beside Tilly and Lydia.

They ignore him, because they are looking at a list of birds that have come back from the brink of extinction. It's encouraging. If birds why not frogs?

He hops forward again. Now he's beside Buzz and Simon, and the two bottle of tadpoles, his siblings.

They don't look like him. Look at them, vacuously grinning.

He hops forward again, to the window of the child and her sister.

They are whispering about Arthur and Sweezus, the tops of whose heads they can see.

I don't think it's even a subject, whispers her sister.

It should be, whispers the child.

You could ask them, whispers her sister.

I'm too shy, whispers the child.

Look, the frog's got out, hisses her sister. It's on the window.

The child acts swiftly. She captures the frog.

Now you can talk to them, says the child to her sister.

Okay, says her sister. She taps Sweezus on the shoulder.

Excuse me!

Yeah what? says Sweezus turning round.

Here's your frog, says the sister. We found it on our window.

Cool, says Sweezus. Thanks heaps. How did you catch it?

My little sister caught it, says her sister.

Arthur turns round.

At last! The Poet!

The little sister anticipates what he might say.

Perhaps: I shall make a poem about the escape of the tree frog and its journey up the bus from window to window, and as the capturer, you shall be in it.

But Arthur doesn't. He was just wondering if the kids behind him had any snacks.

They don't, so he turns away again. Looks down at the stuff on on the floor.

Three boots. Where's the one with the guinea pig? Maybe he's kicked it.

He turns again.

The child has her head down. Something scrapes under his seat.

Seen my guinea pig? says Arthur.

Is it this one? asks the capturer child.