Croak
My entry for Jammin July. For joshysleo, who prompted me with 'frogs'.
“Get a pet.” That had been Chris’ suggestion when JC called him yesterday. “I never see you guys anymore. I’m like, lonely man.” That was what JC had said. But instead of Chris taking that to mean, “we should hang out”, which was the pretty obvious meaning if you asked JC, Chris seemed to think that JC was calling out a desperate plea for love and companionship. JC cursed the faculty at that college for ever letting Chris major in psychology. They should’ve known better.
Of course, JC really wasn’t one to talk. Despite the promise he’d made to himself to never take Chris’ advice again, especially after that peanut butter and lube incident, here he stood, looking for a pet. Of course, Chris had probably meant a dog, but JC really wouldn’t be able to care for one of those. He barely remembered to feed himself most days, forget ever having to train the poor thing. Nah, something low maintenance would suit him better. He’d considered fish, but everyone had fish. Fish were so cliché.
JC was busy examining the parakeets when he spied the amphibian and reptile tanks through the cage. Snakes freaked him out, but lizards were kind of cool. But it was a little frog that caught his attention. He wasn’t brightly colored or really all that cute, but he commanded JC’s attention by sitting right in front of the glass. Its beady eyes seemed to look right at JC. One small “ribbit” was all it took for JC to bring him home.
JC set the frog’s aquarium on an end table in his living room. Sure it wasn’t a shark tank or anything monstrous enough to take up a whole wall, but it fit in nicely with the décor. Especially with the hot pink pebbles JC had put in. The frog never did much, usually just sat on the rocks or went for a swim. But he didn’t require much attention, just the daily feeding and occasional tank cleaning.
JC called Chris to let him know about his purchase. “A frog totally defeats the purpose of getting a pet!” Chris protested. God, Chris was picky. “And how do I know you’re not just making shit up and avoiding actually leaving your house to get to a pet store, hm?”
JC groaned in reply, “Come see it for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Which is exactly what Chris did.
Chris stared at the glass aquarium. The frog was hopping back and forth between the water and the rocks, almost as if it were trying to impress Chris. “I don’t know man. It’s kind of boring. It’s a frog, what more does it do besides hop? And how is that supposed to keep you occupied, really?”
It was after that, that the noises started coming. JC thought he was hearing things at first. The frog never made much noise before. JC was pretty sure nothing else in his house had a throaty sound to it, but he still wasn’t sure the noise was coming from the frog. When it had made noise, it simply croaked a little. It definitely wasn’t croaking now; it was more like, warbling. He’d never heard a frog warble before. It wasn’t quite as melodious as a bird’s song, but it was interesting in its own froggy way. JC stared at it to see if it really was his frog he was hearing, and after he determined that it was, to see if it would keep going. The frog seemed to catch on to JC watching it, stopped, and stared back. It freaked JC out. JC ran quickly off to his studio, hoping to forget all about it.
The next day, things seemed to be back to normal. The frog ate, swam, and lounged on the rocks most of the day, just like frogs should do. JC, by evening satisfied that he was probably just imagining things yesterday, sat down on his living room couch to read a book. He’d only gotten a few pages into it when he heard that strange warbling again. JC’s first instinct was to ignore it. That plan didn’t work very well, as the frog only got louder.
It was then that JC realized the frog wasn’t warbling, it was singing. He even recognized the tune. JC didn’t know why his frog would be singing “Help Me”. He didn’t remember playing Nick Carter’s cd recently, though he did tend to forget what he’d had in his player after a few hours. Still, if the frog had been able to copy the song that quickly, it must be a pretty smart frog. Genius frog even. Wait til Chris heard that.
The very next night, the frog started singing again. JC watched it in awe as it belted out a second rendition of “Help Me”. JC applauded when the frog finished. He was pretty sure it didn’t care, since it was just a frog, but he felt it deserved the praise anyway. JC expected the frog to stop and go back to doing normal frog things, but it kept going. In fact, it started into a low pitched version of “Do I Have to Cry For You.” JC scratched his head, then shrugged it off. “You know, it hurts to have your own pet be a fan of a member of your rival band,” he joked. JC swore he saw the frog glare at him.
On the third night, the frog gave an encore performance with an additional rendition of what may have been “I Got You.” JC picked up the frog halfway into its third song. “Listen frog,” he told it, “you seem to be real good at copying that cd, but I’ve had Purple Rain on all day trying to get you to pick something else up. Seriously, I’m gonna go nuts if I have to listen to 'When Doves Cry' one more time. Can you please try something not on Now or Never?”
JC didn’t actually expect the frog to change its tune. It was a frog, it wasn’t supposed to understand him. But when the frog went into a throaty version of “Quit Playing Games With My Heart”, JC felt a little freaked out. He set it back in the aquarium and quickly left the room.
JC had forgotten that hiding in his studio wasn’t going to make the frog return to normal. In fact, when he returned from the depths of his basement, the frog began singing again, louder and more obnoxious, as if he really wanted to toy with JC. JC was almost tempted to put the lid down on the aquarium, but that would cut off all the air, and JC really wasn’t that mean. Instead he just turned on the tv and cranked up the volume. It worked for a while, the frog seeming to sense that it couldn’t be heard, until a beer commercial aired. JC turned down the volume and walked back to the aquarium to be sure that he was really hearing what he thought he was. Sure enough, the croaks emanating from the frog sounded just like “Bud. Weis. Errr.” It also appeared to be smiling at him.
JC wondered who he knew that might want a possessed singing frog.
“Hey uh, Brian,” JC said, aquarium in hand. “I um, bought this frog from the pet shop a little while ago. Turns out I really can’t take care of him. You know, real busy and stuff. I know you like animals, so um, he’s all yours.”
Brian took the aquarium from JC’s arms. “Yea, uh, sure,” he replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Thanks,” JC said. He took one last awkward glance at the frog before scampering away.
Brian scooped the frog out of the aquarium, raising it up to eye level. “Nick, I told you I’d give you to a pet store if you hopped in my bed one more time. You’ll get your kiss when I feel like it.”
“Get a pet.” That had been Chris’ suggestion when JC called him yesterday. “I never see you guys anymore. I’m like, lonely man.” That was what JC had said. But instead of Chris taking that to mean, “we should hang out”, which was the pretty obvious meaning if you asked JC, Chris seemed to think that JC was calling out a desperate plea for love and companionship. JC cursed the faculty at that college for ever letting Chris major in psychology. They should’ve known better.
Of course, JC really wasn’t one to talk. Despite the promise he’d made to himself to never take Chris’ advice again, especially after that peanut butter and lube incident, here he stood, looking for a pet. Of course, Chris had probably meant a dog, but JC really wouldn’t be able to care for one of those. He barely remembered to feed himself most days, forget ever having to train the poor thing. Nah, something low maintenance would suit him better. He’d considered fish, but everyone had fish. Fish were so cliché.
JC was busy examining the parakeets when he spied the amphibian and reptile tanks through the cage. Snakes freaked him out, but lizards were kind of cool. But it was a little frog that caught his attention. He wasn’t brightly colored or really all that cute, but he commanded JC’s attention by sitting right in front of the glass. Its beady eyes seemed to look right at JC. One small “ribbit” was all it took for JC to bring him home.
JC set the frog’s aquarium on an end table in his living room. Sure it wasn’t a shark tank or anything monstrous enough to take up a whole wall, but it fit in nicely with the décor. Especially with the hot pink pebbles JC had put in. The frog never did much, usually just sat on the rocks or went for a swim. But he didn’t require much attention, just the daily feeding and occasional tank cleaning.
JC called Chris to let him know about his purchase. “A frog totally defeats the purpose of getting a pet!” Chris protested. God, Chris was picky. “And how do I know you’re not just making shit up and avoiding actually leaving your house to get to a pet store, hm?”
JC groaned in reply, “Come see it for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Which is exactly what Chris did.
Chris stared at the glass aquarium. The frog was hopping back and forth between the water and the rocks, almost as if it were trying to impress Chris. “I don’t know man. It’s kind of boring. It’s a frog, what more does it do besides hop? And how is that supposed to keep you occupied, really?”
It was after that, that the noises started coming. JC thought he was hearing things at first. The frog never made much noise before. JC was pretty sure nothing else in his house had a throaty sound to it, but he still wasn’t sure the noise was coming from the frog. When it had made noise, it simply croaked a little. It definitely wasn’t croaking now; it was more like, warbling. He’d never heard a frog warble before. It wasn’t quite as melodious as a bird’s song, but it was interesting in its own froggy way. JC stared at it to see if it really was his frog he was hearing, and after he determined that it was, to see if it would keep going. The frog seemed to catch on to JC watching it, stopped, and stared back. It freaked JC out. JC ran quickly off to his studio, hoping to forget all about it.
The next day, things seemed to be back to normal. The frog ate, swam, and lounged on the rocks most of the day, just like frogs should do. JC, by evening satisfied that he was probably just imagining things yesterday, sat down on his living room couch to read a book. He’d only gotten a few pages into it when he heard that strange warbling again. JC’s first instinct was to ignore it. That plan didn’t work very well, as the frog only got louder.
It was then that JC realized the frog wasn’t warbling, it was singing. He even recognized the tune. JC didn’t know why his frog would be singing “Help Me”. He didn’t remember playing Nick Carter’s cd recently, though he did tend to forget what he’d had in his player after a few hours. Still, if the frog had been able to copy the song that quickly, it must be a pretty smart frog. Genius frog even. Wait til Chris heard that.
The very next night, the frog started singing again. JC watched it in awe as it belted out a second rendition of “Help Me”. JC applauded when the frog finished. He was pretty sure it didn’t care, since it was just a frog, but he felt it deserved the praise anyway. JC expected the frog to stop and go back to doing normal frog things, but it kept going. In fact, it started into a low pitched version of “Do I Have to Cry For You.” JC scratched his head, then shrugged it off. “You know, it hurts to have your own pet be a fan of a member of your rival band,” he joked. JC swore he saw the frog glare at him.
On the third night, the frog gave an encore performance with an additional rendition of what may have been “I Got You.” JC picked up the frog halfway into its third song. “Listen frog,” he told it, “you seem to be real good at copying that cd, but I’ve had Purple Rain on all day trying to get you to pick something else up. Seriously, I’m gonna go nuts if I have to listen to 'When Doves Cry' one more time. Can you please try something not on Now or Never?”
JC didn’t actually expect the frog to change its tune. It was a frog, it wasn’t supposed to understand him. But when the frog went into a throaty version of “Quit Playing Games With My Heart”, JC felt a little freaked out. He set it back in the aquarium and quickly left the room.
JC had forgotten that hiding in his studio wasn’t going to make the frog return to normal. In fact, when he returned from the depths of his basement, the frog began singing again, louder and more obnoxious, as if he really wanted to toy with JC. JC was almost tempted to put the lid down on the aquarium, but that would cut off all the air, and JC really wasn’t that mean. Instead he just turned on the tv and cranked up the volume. It worked for a while, the frog seeming to sense that it couldn’t be heard, until a beer commercial aired. JC turned down the volume and walked back to the aquarium to be sure that he was really hearing what he thought he was. Sure enough, the croaks emanating from the frog sounded just like “Bud. Weis. Errr.” It also appeared to be smiling at him.
JC wondered who he knew that might want a possessed singing frog.
“Hey uh, Brian,” JC said, aquarium in hand. “I um, bought this frog from the pet shop a little while ago. Turns out I really can’t take care of him. You know, real busy and stuff. I know you like animals, so um, he’s all yours.”
Brian took the aquarium from JC’s arms. “Yea, uh, sure,” he replied, raising an eyebrow.
“Thanks,” JC said. He took one last awkward glance at the frog before scampering away.
Brian scooped the frog out of the aquarium, raising it up to eye level. “Nick, I told you I’d give you to a pet store if you hopped in my bed one more time. You’ll get your kiss when I feel like it.”