On A Sunny Work Day

Three Frogs were waiting for the rain to pass over them, it was a very heavy downpour. The three friends were excited to spend the day together hanging out in a nearby park. They had planned on doing lots of fun outdoor activities like flying kites and playing pickleball, and they even had plans to have a water balloon fight, if time permitted. The Frogs were happily on their way to the park when the storm hit and they were forced to take shelter inside a neighborhood pub.

“Well, I guess we aren’t going to have a water fight today, that’s for sure,” said Slane, the first Frog.

“I mean, we could still have a water fight if we really wanted to,” replied Dwight, the second Frog.

“I got water balloons ready to go,” Thistle, the third Frog, chimed in, “We could get these out of my bag and have a water fight inside the bar right now if it was cool with the bartender.”

“It’s not cool with me,” came a distant reply from the bartender, a Bear, “So, don’t even think about it.”

This statement confused Thistle. ‘Don’t even think about it?’ But she already thought about it, it’s hard to go back and unthink what had already been thunk.

But Thistle was always game for a challenge so he got to work trying her hardest to unthink her thought.

“You fellas want anything to drink?” The bartender asked.

“Well, I must admit, I was pretty excited to get a beer with you guys after our park day,” Slane began, “Do you think it would still be okay if we had a beer now and then had another beer after the rain clears and then we can go to the park?”

“I don’t know,” started Dwight, “I think if we start drinking beer we’re gonna want to stick around and have several more beers, you know?”

As a matter of fact, Slane didn’t know, she didn’t know at all. What exactly was Dwight getting at? Did he think she didn’t know her limits? What an absolute judgmental jerk! How dare he?

“How dare you!” Slane exclaimed.

“My name’s Stefan,” the Bear answered.

The three friends all understood the bear was hard of hearing. Probably from being a barkeep at this establishment for so long. The bar was well-worn, warm, comfortable, an heir of unpretentious sophistication. There is no telling what deep and wonderful conversations crossed these walls which the Bear never heard.

“My apologies, Stefan, but I think you must have misheard me, I was saying how dare you, not how bear you,” apologized, Slane, adding, “Besides if I didn’t know your name I’d probably try to get your attention by saying Bear-keep! Bear-keep! Do you get it? Bear-keep?”

The Bear got it. In fact, that was the loudest part of Slane’s apology so that’s also all the Bear got. Now that he *had* heard before, and it wasn’t his favorite.

“My name is Stefan!” Stefan yelled, “I am a good person and I am more than just a barkeep! I’m one of the pre-eminent Minecraft designers in the state and I just happen to also be a bartender!”

At this point, Dwight was sensing that things were about to get out of hand pretty quickly if no one tried to de-escalate the situation. He figured if everyone could just calm down, take a break, and drink some water that would be best for everyone.

Dwight reached into his bag and took out a water bottle. What he had forgotten was that he had modified these water bottles to be a hidden weapon during the water fight later. He had poked holes in the lid so he could squirt water on his friends when they least expected it.

Unfortunately, Dwight grabbed the water bottle and offered it to Stefan and well, there’s no nice way to put this, Stefan got sprayed. He was, as you’d expect not thrilled about this at all.

“Oh hey! Indoor water fight! What a great idea!” Exclaimed Thistle, as he pulled out some ready-to-go water balloons from his bag, “Dang, I wish I would have thought of that!”

“That’s it! You three are the worst customers that have ever walked into this daggum bar!” Stefan yelled, “Either you three get out right now or I’m going to throw you out!”

As things in the bar were starting to come to a head a stream of sunshine came through the window. The sun illuminated all four of them as the storm had clearly passed. The three Frogs gathered their things and got ready to leave.

“Hey,” Thistle said as he approached the door, “Since you’re already wet, would you want to come to the park with us and have a water fight?”

“I’m at work!” Stefan replied, angry.

But then he thought about it a little more. He was already wet. Worst case scenario he’d be able to exact a little revenge on these rude guests. Best case scenario they’d all become friends and come grab a beer after and likely tip him well.

“But, fine I’ll come for a little bit. Seems like this might turn out to be a nice day after all.” Stefan concluded.

The four went to the park and had some fun together.

When the sun comes out, everyone deserves an hour away from work to have a little bit of fun.