The Worst Place

Crumpled paper? Expanding by the minute? What's going on in the lunch box?

It started like this.

Quiet-tartus and the knowlesi each had their folded paper.

With which they were happy.

They placed their papers side by side at the base of the lunch box.

This will make us comfortable, says Quiet-tartus. I'll sit on mine. You sit on yours, knowlesi.

What will I sit on? asks the rana.

You can sit in the middle, says Quiet-tartus. In between us.

On the join, says the rana.

Try it, says the knowlesi. 

The rana sits on the join.

As he suspected. He can feel the join. Before long it will irritate his pale yellow underparts.

How about we take turns in the middle? says the rana.

Why? asks Quiet-tartus.

The middle is the worst place to sit, says the rana.

Shall we take turns? asks the knowlesi. That seems fair.

But, says Quiet tartus, you and I need to sit on our own paper. So we don't forget which one is ours.

We'd still be half on it, says the knowlesi.

But half on the other half, says Quiet-tartus.

What difference does it make? asks  the rana. You told me you don't know which is which.

But we were taking turns, says Quiet-tartus. One of us had the poem, the other had no poem. Until we swapped over.

How do you know you're sitting on the right one now? asks the rana.

It doesn't matter, says the knowlesi.

So we can take turns in the middle, says the rana.

I suppose so, says Quiet-tartus.

It seems the problem is solved. The frogs sit on their papers, with the rana in the middle.

All is calm.

Quiet-tartus thinks about what he is sitting on.

Is it the poem? Is it even his turn to have the poem?

What if, before, he didn't have the poem? 

And now, he still doesn't! 

Which would mean the knowlesi has had it twice.

He hops up, pulling his paper out from under the pale yellow underparts of the rana.

Hey! says the rana. As if sitting on the join isn't bad enough! 

Gotta see which one it is! says Quiet-tartus.

What's this? asks the knowlesi.

Quiet-tartus explains.

The knowlesi panics. So which one is he on? He starts unfolding his paper.

The rana can't see why it matters, if they didn't know before.

He tries to stop them madly unfolding the papers. 

Which only crumples them more.