(GK: Garrison Keillor, SS: Sue Scott, TK: Tom Keith, TR: Tim Russell)
(VERY LIGHT PIANO, IMPRESSIONISTIC, DEBUSSYESQUE, TO SUGGEST RAIN SHOWERS)
TR: Gribbet.
GK: Gribbet.
TR: Gribbet.
GK: Gribbet. (SEMI TRUCK APPROACHING FROM FAR OFF, PASSES, FAST) What do you think, Floyd?
TR: About what?
GK: Think we oughta go?
TR: Cross the road? We hafta.
GK: Gribbet. Why?
TR: I donno. We're frogs. We gotta. (SEMI APPROACHING, PASSES, FAST, HORN BLASTING)
GK: Truckers. Think they own the road. Hey look, it's Fred.
TK: Gribbet.
GK: Gribbet.
TR: Gribbet.
GK: Where were you, Fred?
TK: I sprained my ankle.
GK: Sprained it?
TK: Can't hop on it. Gotta creep.
GK: How you gonna make it across?
TK: I'll make it. Don't worry. Let's go right after this next truck. (SEMI APPROACHING, BLASTS PAST. PAUSE.)
TR: Let's go.
GK: Gribbet.
TK: Wait. (MOTORCYCLE PASSES. THEN TWO MORE. THEN SIX MORE.)
GK: Let's go.
TK: Wait. (ONE MOTORCYCLE PASSES)
GK: Let's go. (HE HOPS. TK HOPS, PAINFULLY. TR HOPS. EACH ONE DOES FOUR OR FIVE HOPS) Oh boy. Look out. Look out.
TR: Holy Mary Mother of Frogs, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our (SEMI BLASTS OVERHEAD) ----
GK: You okay, Fred?
TK: Gribbet.
GK: Floyd?
TR: Gribbet.
GK: Let's go. Gotta pick up the pace. (THEY EACH HOP THREE OR FOUR TIMES.)
TK: I can't go no farther. My ankle. (HE WINCES FROM PAIN) You guys go on. Leave me here. This leg is killing me.
GK: Come on. Try to hop.
TK: Can't. I'm all done for. You go on. Leave me.
GK: We can't leave you here. Come on. Put your arms over our shoulders.
TR: We got to leave him here.
GK: We can't. He's our brother. Oh no. Oh no. (APPROACHING SEMI) Put your heads down. (SEMI BLASTS PAST) Thank God. Fred? You there?
TK: Yeah.
GK: Let's get Fred off the road before another truck comes!
TR: Do it yourself.
GK: He's wounded!
TR: What's in it for me?
GK: What's in it for you? What happened to that old sense of creaturehood we used to have? One for all and all for one. Remember?
TR: Listen, it's a frog-eat-frog world out there.
GK: Gribbet. Gribbet.
TR: I have no idea what you mean by that.
GK: Gribbet.
TR: ( HOPS FOUR OR FIVE HOPS) Oh no. Oh no. (APPROACHING CAR, HITS BRAKES) Don't skid, don't skid, don't skid, don't skid, don't skid. (COMES TO A STOP, DOOR OPENS, RUNNING FOOTSTEPS, AND STOP)
SS: Ohhhh! Thank goodness I didn't run over you. You're wounded.
TK: Gribbet.
SS: You've sprained your ankle. Here---let me carry you----
TK: Gribbet.
SS: Ahh...You have beautiful eyes, you know that? They're so---- soulful. And your mouth is so --- expressive. You seem so--- thoughtful, so much more than just an amphibian. (PAUSE. KISS)
TK (GUY): Thanks, dreamboat.
SS: Oh my gosh. It's my prince.
TK (GUY): You got it, mama.
SS: You were a frog and now you're---- incredibly handsome.
TK: Thanks.
SS: Let's go live happily ever after.
TK: Let's go do that, angel. (FOOTSTEPS BACK TO CAR. CAR START. CAR PULLS AWAY)
GK: Fred's gone, Floyd. He found a woman.
TR: Lucky stiff.
GK: We got about six feet to go to the other side. Can you make it?
TR: Sure. (HE HOPS)
GK: Great.
TR: Look---
GK: What---
TR: A friend of mine. Mashed flat. Yorick. I knew him well, Horatio.
GK: We better get going. I see headlights.
(THEY EACH HOP, HURRIEDLY)
GK: Not much farther. We can make it.
TR: Almost there. (A COUPLE MORE HOPS) (SEMI APPROACHING)
GK: Come on, Floyd. Don't look in the headlights! Don't look in the headlights! Floyd! (SEMI BLASTS PAST) Floyd? I told him not to look in the headlights. You should never look in the headlights. Well, it's a lesson too late for the learning, I guess. Went away without a word of farewell. Gribbet. (HE HOPS)
It's a lesson too late for the learning
From a truck, from a truck.
In the wink of an eye, my soul is turning,
Just your luck, just your luck.Chorus:
Are you going away with no word of farewell?
Will there be not a trace left behind?
Well, I could've love you better,
Didn't mean to be unkind.
You know that was the last thing on my mind.You've got reasons a-plenty for goin',
This I know, this I know.
For the weeds have been steadily growing,
Please don't go, please don't go.Chorus
As I lie in my bed in the morning,
Without you, without you.
Each song in my breast dies a-borning Without you, without you.Chorus
(c) 2000 by Garrison Keillor