Day breaks in a small studio apartment lightly dusted with burger wrappers, empty fast food cups, and the occasional pizza box. As the sun shines through the windows you stir on your futon, pulling the covers with you as you turn away from the sound of your computer playing a seemingly endless loop of "Badger badger badger badger mushroom mushroom". You tightly shut your eyes, wanting just a little more sleep, but quickly decide that it's hopeless. As bad an idea as it almost surely is you decide that you're going to have to get out of bed and face the day. A day which will include a talking frog - sorry, toad - that apparently used to be a witch, or alternatively, a google search for psychologists in the area. That of course, assumes you can actually get to your computer.
"Have you been watching that all night?" you ask after standing up and pushing your futon into "Couch Mode".
"I've only got 1 hour left." the talking toad says, in a mesmerized voice as it sat in a cereal bowl filled with tap water, you're makeshift toad habitat. You plod over to the kitchen and pour a cup of coffee, thanking God for the timer function on your coffee maker. You dump a spoonful of sugar and a generous amount of non-dairy creamer into a faded Garfield mug and pour a hot cup of coffee. You approach the computer desk, stirring heavenly concoction with a spoon while you do. You lean over to look at what the toad's been looking at all this time.
"You've been watching Badger Badger Mushroom for nine hours?" you ask sleepily.
"Need to see how it ends." the toad says
"It doesn't." you say and sip your coffee "Besides I thought you were supposed to be researching ways to change back into you." you say.
"Already have a lead. I found someone I used to know in your phone book." she says, still watching the screen.
"I have a phone book?" you ask, genuinely surprised, sure enough you see a phone book placed to the right of the desk behind your desk lamp, the one shaped like a penguin.
"We have to go to a book shop in town, it's run by an old friend of mine. You get ready, I'll be here." she says "Oh it's a snake....I love the snake part." she says to herself. You shake your head and decide it's not worth arguing over. You pour a bowl of store brand cereal amidst sips of coffee and finish by heading into the shower. By the time you emerge, wrapped in a towel you see the toad looking angrily at the screen.
"I can't believe the badgers won." she says. You're about to ask how she came to that conclusion but you abruptly decide that you'd rather not know.
"Well, there were more of them." you say after rolling your eyes. You get dressed while she tells you the address of the place you need to go. Once you're read to head out you pick her up and place her on your shoulder, drawing a few odd stares from your neighbors as you head out to you car but they say nothing. Perhaps they don't want to know either.
During the drive, during which you answer numerous questions such as: "What is that?", "How can that be a phone, there's no mouth piece?", "Who is that reading you the directions?" and "What do you mean it's a computer?" you finally arrive at the bookstore she mentioned "Midge's Bookstore".
It's a used bookshop, sandwiched between a sandwich shop and men's clothing store on one of the major streets in your town. As you enter a small bell attached to the door announces your presence. The places is crowded with old bookshelves upon which old books rest. The cream colored tile floor near the door gives way to a deep maroon carpet, probably darkened from years of being trod upon. A woman with a pair of glasses and dark brown her hair done up in a loose pony tail looks up from a book she's idly skimming and then returns her attention back to her book. You see no one behind the counter, and no bell to call for attention. There is a door leading to what you assume to be a back office or some such thing, but there's a sign on it that reads
"Unauthorized Patrons Keep out. This means ewe.", and it bares a drawing of a cartoon sheep looking sternly at anyone reading the sign. Cute.
"Go on in." the toad whispers to you "Midge and I are old friends."