It was a dark and stormy night! After that, everything went down hill! So, here is the deal... they are throwing a party for Signal. It is his tenth (that is similar to dog years) ... tenth birthday and all. Yes, he is a bit of a prima donna, but then, where would we all be with out him, right? So the amphibian wants a surprise party, he gets a surprise party. It is a frog for crying out loud, it does not take much to surprise him, and we agreed to it last year, and his memory, not so great.
We have the Powers-That-Be (Signal Committee Über Bash Association) organizing the whole thing. So, they are drawing straws, deciding which cachers are on the decorating committee, which ones are on food detail. Not like anyone is real anxious to be on that one, with Signal's proclivities towards bugs, worms, grubs and such. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there will also be finger foods for the cachers, but still - grubs? Even we do not do grubs!
Well, we get the short straw, uhmmm, what we meant to say, we get the honor and privilege to pick up Signal and escort him to the shindig. Partially, because we know where he lives, and that is a highly guarded secret, which only a few of us know. And well, people tend to think that all us pond dwellers get along like jam on toast.
So it is three nights before the party, we are all dressed up in our little tuxedo and evening gown. This here is going to be one fancy affair. It is not easy to get a good fit when you are pretty much oval in shape, but needless to say, we were looking quite dapper and we were excited for the event. We slowly started ambling towards the home of Signal, trying diligently to keep the swamp smell off the tux & dress, talking excitedly about the cachers we would get to meet. And of course, there would be the up front parking space we would have, due to having the guest of honor with us... and at our speed, this is definitely a plus.
We get to Signal's home and the door is ajar... so we let our selves in. Now let us tell you, we were there in plenty of time, giving ourselves an entire extra twelve hours to make it on time. Because sometimes ambling just is not what it used to be. What do we find; well first, there is no Signal, none, zip, nada. And apparently there has been a pre-party here, which we were clearly not invited to. The house is a mess, chairs turned over; lamp shades missing, unmentionables strewn hither and yon, confetti on the floor. Really it looked like debauchery gone mad.... and we were saddened to not be part of the festivities.
We checked the nooks and crannies, under floor boards, in the attic, dishwasher & the mailbox, still no frog. There was lint in the dryer, ice in the freezer and dust bunnies under the bed. Any way, figuring we would have a mob of angry cachers on our hands, we took photos for proof of the egomaniac's decadence, and proceeded to the party. Sadly, only the confetti pictures turned out any good, the rest of the pictures only slightly resemble a house being thrashed by angry ruffians, which is kind of weird. We have included the confetti photos below... and something about them stinks like two day old fish. Two day old dead fish that is!
It has been several days since the party... people are starting to get worried. NOTHING, NOTHING we tell you, is as easy as it appears with that frog.... NOTHING! Maybe you all can come up with some answers.
Sincerely, Constantinos Gavras & Chris Mooney - The Turtles .
Important Update: We just received a very odd phone call; the voice was scratchy and hard to understand. We think he said his name was Kee D. Napper; anyway this is what he had to say. "This is not what you think; it is not what it seems. A frog is missing, it is a puzzle, it is a mystery, it is a riddle, and it is cryptic - figure it out soon - the frog is drying out, it is not pretty and is starting to smell funky."
Please be sure that you rehide the cache as well or better than you found it so it is not visible to muggles. Please be kind to others and make them suffer as you have - gentle nudges, but please do not give them the answer.
Please do not hesitate to ask questions - if needed!
The final coordinate check-sum is N=25, W=31.
