Fredericton — This past weekend, Marnie Babbitt could hardly believe her eyes when she spotted a bright turquoise frog hopping across her lawn.
While of the fairly common northern leopard frog species, this particular creature’s florescent colour was unique indeed.
As is typical in small towns, the anomaly was quickly chalked up to magic, and so single women from across the province have lined up around the block to give the frog a big ol’ smooch on the lips.
The reason for this?
“Me? I’m hoping it’ll turn into a rich, handsome Irving man,” said 26-year-old grad student Alyssa Parent.
She is not alone. More than 234 women women gathered around Babbitt’s northside home in order to kiss the frog, which they believe will, at some point, transform into an Irving heir and whisk them away into a life of comfort and good fortune.
But how was this conclusion reached?
“Well, see, turquoise is sort of like a blue, right?” explained Babbitt. “And blue is the official colour of the Irvings, so, like, it’s not that much of a logical leap, if you really think about it.”
Since discovering the animal earlier this week, Babbitt has chosen to perpetuate this rumour as best she can, having her husband Phil build a small display to house the frog (i.e. superglue its legs to), with colourful cardboard signs surrounding it that lists the frog’s possible heritage and the $5 price point for kissing it.
“I know that this frog is an Irving, one hundred percent,” said one hopeful romantic who wasn’t great with statistics. “It’s just a matter of finding the right girl.”
The Irvings themselves, however, strongly disagree.
Irving Patriarch James K. assured The Manatee during a phone interview that the family knows of no potential beneficiary of the Irving fortune who have been turned into an amphibian of any kind. “We do not have any frogs in our family tree,” Irving admonished.
“A couple snakes maybe, but no, no frogs,” he joked.
Still, despite it all, these women choose to believe.
“Iff been comfing here for free dayfs now, wiff no luck,” said 36-year-old Angela Patton, struggling to speak through puffy, wart-covered lips. “Buff tofay mighff be the fay!”