A full night as a toad was enough to convince James that he should not upset the wizard any further and when his nemesis returned with Kayla the following day he knew immediately what he had to do.
"So, what's it to be?" the wizard asked as his large face peered into James' fish bowl residence "a month of cooperation in return for your eventual restoration to humanity? Or would you rather spend the rest of your days like this?"
"Ribbit!" James answered quickly.
"Good" the wizard smiled with satisfaction "a sensible response at last!"
He gestured for James to hop out of the bowl and the toad did as commanded. The wizard waved his and over James and muttered an incantation. But once he had finished, nothing seemed to have changed. Had the spell not worked?
"There, all done" the wizard smiled satisfactorily.
"But wait. Why am I still.." James began confused before realising "Hey, I can talk!"
"How very observant of you!" the wizard snorted "After your behaviour yesterday I felt you may be a bit of a handful at your former size, and a talking frog may be a more impressive feat than an oversized amphibian. Nonetheless, the deal is the same - after one month you will be restored to your original form. As long as you continue to cooperate of course."
James was to scared of the wizard to argue, and he had to admit to himself that regaining the ability to talk was a huge bonus, but he still couldn't get used to being so small. Apart from anything else he felt extremely vulnerable at the size potential cat snack. Still, it was in the wizards interest to keep him safe and he figured a month may not be as bad as all that. It looked like for now at least he may have to go along with this crazy situation.