Five days have passed after Charlie's grandfather Yamato revealed his encounter with FBI agents and not only did that surprise everyone. But both Anne, Sprig, Polly, Hop Pop, Charlie, Anne's parents, Charlie's mother, his aunt and the ladies of the house were all advised by Yamato and Yoruichi to keep a low profile now that the FBI has encountered both Anne, the Plantars and Charlie and that Mr. X is going to try and find them and expose them.
But they knew that they had Mr. X thrown off their trail for now and that many of the FBI troops were still laughing at Mr. X when they given him the slip and made it look like he mistaken real frogs for frog aliens.
"Do you think Hop Pop's alright after Polly ripped that tracking device off him that was tapped to his chest?" said Anne.
"Oh yeah, he's alright. A few hours with the ice pack and he was alright. He's at least doing better than Mr. X." chuckled Charlie.
"So true." chuckled Anne.
The Fifth Day
Anne was sitting in her bedroom while reading a red book that was "Dante's Inferno" which she was probably reading it to see if it had any information on how to get the Plantars home. She closed it after reading it for a while as she was sitting in a seat near her desk in front of her computer.
"Hmmm... I give Dante's Inferno a B+ for story, and an F- for helping us get home." said Anne turning to Sprig and Charlie. "How's it going on your end... guys?"
"I found nothing in this book." said Charlie who just put down a manga book that read "Monster Rancher" on the cover. "I may love a good anime but this one didn't give me any answers to how to get back to Amphibia."
That's when both Anne and Charlie looked up and saw Sprig sitting on the top of what looked like a pile of books that as stalked up to look like a giraffe.
"Pretty good. I think I'm really getting somewhere." said Sprig with a smile. "It's a giraffe."
"Sprig, get down from there." laughed Charlie.
Sprig obeyed and hopped off the stalk of books as he landed in Charlie's arms but the stack of books fell into a pile on the floor.
"Did I do that?" said Sprig rhetorically.
"Just like that guy from the old sitcom but this is real." said Charlie.
"Okay. I can see we need a break. Finger football?" Anne suggested.
"You know it." said Sprig and Charlie in unison.
For the next ten minutes. Anne, Sprig and Charlie were playing paper football while Anne and Charlie would take turns flicking the triangle folded piece of paper and each time they did. The triangle folded piece of paper would go through the arch that was Sprig's long, thick, wide frog like tongue.
They were laughing a bit from this which that's when Hop Pop and Polly entered the room. Their suspicious facial expressions caught the attention of the three kids.
"Hey, what's gotten into you two?" said Anne with a raised eyebrow.
"And what does Polly have behind her back?" said Charlie chuckling.
"Did you delve into my mind?" asked Polly giggling.
"No I did not." chuckled Charlie. "So what's going on with you two? Is it someone's birthday or what?"
"Oh, nothing. We're just looking for a place to put this MUD CROWN!" said Polly as she pulled out what she actually just said.
Polly shown them what was literally a mud crown as Hop Pop struck a festive pose. The mud crown looked like it had tiny rocks on the pointed tops, a couple of stick in one side, a leaf on the other side and a live worm wiggling around from one side of the center. Sprig looked on with a smile while Charlie smiled as well. Anne looked on with confusion.
"What is that? What's going on?" said Anne looking confused. "Char Char, do you know what's going on?"
"This is one thing I wasn't informed on about Amphibia's customs and culture but it looks like they're celebrating something." Charlie said truthfully. "The only time I know when people wear a crown on their head is if during Christmas when people pull out the Christmas crackers during Christmas in England, Ireland and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa."
Hop Pop and Polly walked over to Sprig and as Hop Pop pulled off Sprig's hat. Polly placed the mud crown on top of Sprig's head.
"Well, in Amphibia, it's customary to put a mud crown on somebody's head when it's their BIIIIIIRTHDAAAAY!" said Hop Pop with a grin.
Sprig had an excited expression in his eyes while Charlie smiled and knew this was something he could be into since both him and Anne knew how birthdays work but they also wondered how they did birthdays in Amphibia.
"What?" said a surprised Anne.
"Aaaaalrighty then!" said Charlie looking excited.
Hop Pop, Sprig and Polly took each other's hands while Sprig made a cute face with his tongue sticking out as both Hop Pop and Polly did a little dance and song.
" Froggy little birthday here It's crystal clear you were born this hoppy time of year "
The two of them kissed Sprig on his cheeks and he felt touched by this.
"Aaw, thanks, guys. You shouldn't have." said Sprig with a grin.
"Sprig, I had no idea it was your birthday!" said Anne as if not knowing was rude on her part.
"To be honest. I didn't know when his birthday was ether. Sprig, did you talk about it at some point?" asked Charlie curiously.
"Neh. Don't worry about it. I don't think I ever mentioned it. But I probably should've said something in hindsight." said Sprig.
Anne placed her hands on Sprig's shoulders with wide eyed shock in her eyes.
"BUT I'M YOUR FRIEND! I'm supposed to know these things! Even Charlie needs to know these things!" said Anne after calming down. "Well, we're not doing any more research today. We're doing whatever folksy frog traditions you do. Whaddya got?"
"Well, the mud crown represents every frog's humble beginning as an egg in the muddy waters of the swamp." explained Hop Pop.
"And all that's left is for the birthday frog to wear his crown and... reflect." Polly explained further.
"Reflect? On what?" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"On his life until this point." said Hop Pop. "We can give ya a visual right now."
They turned to see Sprig was sitting up on Anne's bed while looking out the window. He looked out the window as if thinking deep in thought about his life from when he was little to today. It was a long moment till Sprig turned to back to face them.
"OK. All done." said Sprig.
"Welp, that's that. Hoppy birthday, kiddo. Pretty quick this year." said Hop Pop as both him, Polly and Sprig were about to leave Anne's room..
Polly mentioned something about streaming services which as Sprig hopped off Anne's bed was when Anne and Charlie looked on with puzzled expressions. Is this how they celebrate birthdays in Amphibia? Anne and Charlie knew that when they had a birthday it was spending time with their family and there was a party with your family, balloons, cake, a few party games or they'd go to a local restaurant to celebrate one's birthday, singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the birthday candles while making a wish. But this was how people in Amphibia celebrate their birthdays? Anne felt a little shocked while Charlie felt like they should do more than what was just done.
That was when Anne and Charlie got in front of the Plantars and stopped them in their tracks.
"Wait. Hold on. That's all you frogs do for your honkin' birthdays? Sorry but is that the usual way you celebrate one's birthday in Amphibia?" said a shocked Anne.
"Yes. This is starting to feel a little culturally insensitive." said Hop Pop with a suspicious face.
"Hold up. Hop Pop, there's nothing culturally insensitive about what we're about to say and we don't mean anything by it but when it comes to birthdays. Well, the way we celebrate birthdays is, well, there's a party with family, party games if one does that, cake, good food, sometimes people go to a fun place to celebrate a birthday if they wanna, they blow out the birthday candles and make a birthday wish but they always say that we can't say what we wish for or the wish doesn't come true. It's a birthday tradition we do. Doesn't anyone do birthdays like that in Amphibia?" Charlie explained while reassuring Hop Pop.
"Uhhhhhhh, actually that's how we do them in Amphibia." said Hop Pop being honest.
"Unacceptable. Birthdays should be fun and memorable like Charlie described! Especially when you're turning... uh... um... uh..." said Anne getting stumped for a guess.
"Eleven." said Sprig helping her out.
"I think I know where this is going." said Charlie as if he understood.
"What did you two do when you guys turned eleven?" asked Sprig curiously.
"My family and me went all out like that birthday scene from Mrs. Doubtfire but we decided to do without the petting zoo because we thought the animals would be a bit dangerous." answered Anne. "What about you, Char Char? When you turned eleven, what did you and the fam do during your eleventh birthday...oh."
Charlie given them a slightly nervous expression as Anne, Sprig, Hop Pop and Polly knew that Charlie did tell them what went on during his eleventh birthday when he mentioned that his biological father, Dante, was a no show and he came to the conclusion that Dante wasn't coming back. They felt like they just reopened old wounds But Charlie reassured them.
"I probably answered my own question, didn't I?" said Anne rhetorically.
"Well, even that deadbeat Dante was a no show and last time we saw him. We gave him what he was asking for. Still, during my eleventh birthday, we had it at a local area. This karaoke joint. Me, my mom, aunt Hayami, the ladies of the house, Yamato, Yoruichi, and a few friends, a few cousins of mine. This karaoke joint had a restaurant, good food, good drinks, played some games in the arcade area, we even had a few of us singing karaoke. I sang a couple of songs from The Beatles." Charlie explained. "I'll admit, at the time, I did hold in the pain from Dante being a no show till the party was over and we all went home which of course my mom and I slept in the same bedroom, she thought it would comfort sting that Dante left. But after bonding with you guys and Dante got what he was asking for a long time. I got over my dad issues which you guys being there for me and being supportive towards me helped out. So you guys don't have to worry about bringing up Dante in a conversation."
Anne and the Plantars breathed a sigh of relief as they knew that Charlie wasn't bothered by bringing up Dante anymore which they probably forgot for a moment but they did know that he got over his "daddy issues" from how he's bonded with them.
"That's good news. We forgot for a moment." said Anne as she looked towards Sprig. "Sprig, you said you're turning eleven today?"
"Eleven years old, yes." said Sprig confirming it.
"Eleven! And I knew that because I'm your friend." said Anne as she had a nervous look on her face for a moment but had her hands on Sprig's shoulders when her voice briefly got distorted. "And this friend's about to give you the best birthday you've ever had in your life! Capisce?"
"Anne." said Charlie.
Anne looked towards Charlie who had an eyebrow raised a bit.
"A little extreme?" guessed Anne rhetorically.
"A little." answered Sprig.
"Well, I'm intrigued! A little scared, but intrigued. Let's do it." said Sprig as he grabbed the mud crown and tossed it which went out Anne's window.
As they suddenly heard the mud crown hit something. Both Anne, Sprig and Charlie went to look out the window and saw that Mr. Boonchuy was laying on the ground in the front yard, he appeared to be dizzy and dazed.
"The mud crown hit Mr. Boonchuy over the head by accident, didn't it?" guessed Sprig rhetorically.
"Sorry, Dad! Love you, Dad!" called Anne apologetically.
"Mrs. Boonchuy! Your husband is gonna need an ice pack, some pain killers and he'll probably need to lay down." Charlie called.
Forty-five minutes later was when Charlie and Mrs. Boonchuy got Mr. Boonchuy to lay down on the couch with an ice pack on his head. He took some pain killers for his aching head and Charlie did advise them on what to do while Mr. Boonchuy was in recovery. Sprig apologized for the mishap which they've forgiven him kindly.
Anne, Sprig and Charlie went out outside as Anne rode on her bike and Charlie rode on his alongside them. Sprig was riding in the basket up in front of Anne's bike as they were riding their bikes to the local mall.
"I can't believe Hop Pop and Polly didn't want to share this basket with me. I feel perfectly.." Sprig began.
"Potholes up ahead!" Charlie warned.
Both Anne and Charlie rode around the oncoming potholes by briefly riding around on the nearby sidewalks and once they've passed up the potholes, they were back to riding their bikes on the road.
"Everyone alright?" said Charlie.
"Still in one piece." said Anne and Sprig in unison.
"Listen up. Earth birthdays are about fun, presents, cake. It's basically a day that means you tell people what to do and get what you want." said Anne looking excited about today.
"She's the fun, presents and cake thing about birthdays down. Not so sure about telling people what to do and get whatever you want on those whims." Charlie said to himself.
"Wow. In Amphibia, it's all about respecting those around you and being grateful for the time you have left alive." said Sprig looking surprised.
"Sprigs got most of that down but being grateful for the time you have left alive is a little blunt. It should be celebrating the time you have with family." said Charlie in his head.
"Man, talk about brainwashing." said Anne with a smug grin.
Charlie cleared his throat and as Anne looked at Charlie. He had a serious facial expression about what Anne just said which she immediately caught onto what he meant.
"Strike my last negative statement." said Anne apologetically.
"Are you talking about me or you?" asked Sprig.
"Earth birthday montage engage!" said Anne powerfully.
"We're about to do something crazy, are we?" said Charlie looking as though he expected this.
"You know it, soul brotha." said Anne.
"Let's party like wild animals!" said Charlie in excitement.
During part of the day was Anne, Charlie and Sprig celebrating Sprig's eleventh birthday as they arrived at the local mall. After parking their bikes and locking them so prevent anyone from stealing them. They walked inside and there was a local store in the mall that had the sign above it read "party village" in various colored lettering. They eagerly jogged their way in which they had some fun with Sprig trying on various outfits. They laughed but when Sprig was about to fall over. Charlie caught him before he hit the floor.
The next stop they took was riding their bikes to the Santa Monica pier. They saw that there were a few people who took a ride on a rollercoaster from above near them.
"The Santa Monica pier is one of the perfect places to spend time on your birthday. I should know. I spent my twelfth birthday here." said Charlie after both him and Anne parked their bikes.
"How'd it go?" asked Sprig curiously.
"I was happier than when I got introduced to the cartoon that featured the samurai from the past." answered Charlie showing optimism.
Anne, Sprig and Charlie went off to try one of the rides at the place after Anne and Charlie parked their bikes. As they approached the first ride that Anne suggested which was a rollercoaster ride. They were stopped by a slightly heavyset man wearing black sunglasses and a mint green baseball cap who pointed to a sign to them.
The sign read "all ye scallywags must be yay tall" in red painted lettering which there was a gold pirate's hook on the top of the sign which of course indicated how tall someone had to be to be allowed to ride on the rollercoaster. As Anne gotten an idea. Charlie looked on and he thought "why do I feel like the crazy part is about to live the train station?" which Anne picked up Sprig as both Anne and Sprig shown the man a big innocent eye look while Anne shown a puppy dog pout. Sprig even was wearing his "birthday shirt" which the man blushed and nodded his head.
"Anne, are you sure about-whooooaaa!" Charlie said stopping at mid-sentence.
Anne pulled Charlie along with her as both Anne, Sprig and Charlie were eagerly going towards the rollercoaster ride and got into the seats. Anne and Sprig were in the front seat, Charlie was in the second seat behind them while there was a blonde lady sitting next to him on his left.
"Anne, I think that sign about being yay tall to ride this rollercoaster is there for a reason." Charlie began.
As the over their shoulder restraints came down on them to secure them like a seat belt. That's when the ride started and took off at breakneck speed. While everyone was going "Woo" in excitement. Sprig screamed in surprise as he was nearly thrown out of his seat by the speed of the rollercoaster which of course Charlie went to grab hold of him.
"I got ya bro!" cried Charlie grabbing hold of Sprig.
They went over a few hill parts of the ride as Anne and Charlie breathed a sigh of relief that Charlie had Sprig in one of his strong arms while his other arm held onto the over the shoulder restraint which during the ride was when a camera light flash was seen.
Afterwards, both Anne, Sprig and Charlie were looking at themselves in a picture they had of them on the ride. It shown Anne looking up at Sprig and Charlie while it shown Charlie holding onto him with one arm and his other arm holding onto the over the shoulder restraints. All three of them were smiling. At the bottom of the picture on the right it read "Hi from Santa Monica" with "Santa Monica" in pink lettering while on the left corner of the picture shown a part of the sun with a smiley face on it.
Both Anne, Sprig and Charlie were laughing about the fun time but Charlie did feel like there was a risk during the ride that needed to be addressed but he decided to let this one slide.
"That was totally sick." said Charlie looking thrilled.
"I think my mask came off during the ride." said Sprig.
After stating that, both Anne and Charlie looked at the picture and knew Sprig was right. The two ladies in the picture that were from behind them were now standing nearby with surprised looks on their faces. Charlie reassured them that he had an idea as he went to the two shocked older girls.
As Charlie made up a perfectly well thought out lie to the two of them about why Sprig looked different in appearance. What he told them seemed to have worked as they were relieved. The two girls blew Sprig a kiss and walked off with a smile. Charlie returned to Anne and Sprig.
"What did you tell them?" asked Sprig curiously.
"I just told them that the reason why you look different was because you're from a foreign country and that we're spending the day with you on your birthday. And they totally bought it." answered Charlie with a reassured face.
"That's a relief." said Anne and Sprig with a sigh of relief.
Later on was when Anne, Sprig and Charlie went to a Mexican restaurant which the time they've spent there was stuffing their faces. They had satisfied grins on their faces afterwards.
"I can see why Sonya, Selena and Elena said how good Mexican food is. That tasted good." said Anne.
"If you thought that was good. Wait till you see the look on Sprig's face in a minute." said Charlie.
The three of them turned to see three Latin-American adults show up. One being a tall and slender man, another being a tall and slender woman and the third being slightly short but had a plump body. They were a mariachi band playing mariachi music as they sang out "Feliz cumpleaños, Sprig" which one of them placed a cake on the table that had candles that looked like sparklers that one would use during the fourth of July celebrations. Sprig gasped with a big grin on his face.
In no time at all, Sprig devoured the cake whole but as he let out a burp was when the fire from the candles blown out of his mouth like a fire breathing dragon but Charlie was quick on his feet as he grabbed a nearby empty metal pot and he used it to literally catch the fire inside the pot but placed the lid on top of it to put out the fire. The music had stopped for a moment as both the mariachi band, Anne and Sprig looked on in wide eyed surprise for a moment. Charlie opened the pot and they saw that the fire was out and a fire was prevented.
"Now that's what I call a flaming dessert." joked Charlie. "Buenas noticias, fuegos apagados."
As the mariachi band looked relieved. They switched their instruments from mariachi to instruments one would use when playing rock music which of course they were playing the Ohio Players song "Fire" which amused both Anne, Sprig and Charlie.
Later on, they went to the local park and they were riding on a swan boat that one could steer around with the foot pedals. They went to what looked like a nearby carnival while they rode on the carousel ride. Both Anne and Charlie were taking pictures of Sprig enjoying himself as he would playfully whip the reins on the fake horse he rode from the ride.
"Ride like the wind, Bullseye!" Sprig cried joyously.
"Yee-Haw! Giddyup, partner, we gotta get this wagon train a'movin'!" cried Charlie while perfectly mimicking a familiar male voice that he remembered from an old kid's film.
Later on, Anne, Sprig and Charlie went to see the Hollywood sign that people would go to see as a sightseeing destination if they were vacationing to the state of California. As they saw the Hollywood sign. They didn't see what was so hyped about it but only shrugged their shoulders and walked away.
The next place they went to was the Griffith Observatory while they were over there. They took in many of the activities that anyone would take part in where they took a look at the rotunda ceiling, they saw how the tesla coil worked and how it functioned, took some pictures of the Astronomers Monument, went to see the screening inside the planetarium, watched the Foucault pendulum go back and forth and knock over one of the round balls that appeared to be made of marble, had some fun at the Gunther Depths of Space and even went to the free telescope viewing which of course during that was when Sprig was climbing on it till a security guard called for Sprig to get down from the telescope as it was dangerous to be climbing on it. Charlie managed to catch Sprig when he jumped down.
Anne, Sprig and Charlie left the place after seeing everything they wanted to see while Anne placed a purple gift-wrapped box in her right front pocket of her shorts while both Anne and Charlie winked at each other from this. They were headed for Anne and Charlie's bikes.
"Whew! Man, that place had everything- big telescopes, crazy contraptions. And I met a new friend." said Sprig.
"That wasn't a friend. That was Security, yelling at you to get off the telescope." said Anne giggling.
"Good thing I calmed Security there and they totally bought it when I told them it's your first day in America." said Charlie with a chuckle. "Good thing the member of Security was able to relate since he's Swedish."
"Anne, Charlie, on your Earth birthday, everyone is your friend." said Sprig as he jumped up into the bike basket of Anne's bike.
"Now you're gettin' it." said Anne.
"The security guard at the Griffith Observatory almost disagreed till I calmed the situation down." Charlie told himself.
As both Anne and Charlie got on their bikes. They rode off while there were four balloons tied to Anne's bike as well as Charlie's bike. As they drove down the street was when random people were wished Sprig a happy birthday as the balloons and the festive surgical mask Sprig wore was what gave it away that it's his birthday.
"Wow. That was fun. Thanks for an incredible birthday, Anne. You know, at first, I couldn't understand why you'd make birthdays so special. And now I get it! Today was amazing." said Sprig looking like he had a blast.
"Happier than a mouse whose got a lifetime supply of cheese." Charlie chuckled.
"You know it. Booyah!" said Sprig in agreement.
"So was it the best birthday you've even had?" said Anne looking pleased.
"Oh! Definitely top three." Sprig blurted out.
That was when Anne stopped her bike by using the breaks which she slammed on the breaks of her bike, making a tire screeching sound as she had a shocked expression while Charlie stopped his bike and he knew that what Sprig just blurted out was probably not the best thing to say out loud.
"Uh oh." Charlie said under his breath.
"What? That's it? I pull out all the stops, and I'm still third place to a couple of mud crowns?" Anne said outraged.
"Anne, let's hear the little guy out." said Charlie chiming in.
"This will not stand! It is my duty as your friend to keep this party going until it's in the number one spot!" Anne stated sharply.
"But haven't we done everything by this point?" said Sprig believing they have done everything.
"Makes me wonder what's next. We're gonna go riding in a hot air balloon?" joked Charlie.
Anne looked towards her right and she saw a flyer one a powerline pole that had been a flyer taped on there for hot air balloon rides which the flyer read "utter balloon-acy" in black lettering with the flyer's background showing to be the blue sky with white clouds and on the left of the flyer read "Yes, we do birthdays!" and it read "see the city from the heavens above!" on the bottom with a hot air balloon in the center of the flyer. Anne shown a devious grin.
"Not everything." said Anne looking as though she was ready to do something crazy.
Somewhere outside the city
Mr. Boonchuy was driving the car while Anne, Sprig and Charlie rode in the car as Mr. Boonchuy drove them down a dirt road that led them to a wooden gated parking lot. He parked the car in one of the spaces.
"I wonder who cut one on the way over?" asked Anne with a chuckle. "Was that you, Sprig."
"That wasn't Sprig." chuckled Charlie.
The kids laughed as they got out of the car.
"You okay Mr. Boonchuy? The collision to your noggin from earlier left us worried." asked Charlie showing some compassion.
"I'm okay. One ice pack, some pain killers, a lay down for a few minutes to an hour and I'm back on my feet." reassured Mr. Boonchuy as he shown he was feeling and looking better afterwards.
"Thank the lord for that." said Charlie with relief.
"Thanks, Dad. Be back soon." said Anne as the kids got out of the car and headed off.
"No worries. I'll just be over here, reading great American literature." said Mr. Boonchuy as he pulled out a book that had a stoic looking purple cat on the cover that read "Monday Cat" which he uttered a chuckle as he began reading it to pass the time. "Simply brilliant."
The three kids ran across the field and they stopped on a hill that shown them there were other hot air balloons there and others would go on them for a ride. Some were on one to ride them while other hot air balloons were still on the ground and properly nailed down in the ground with large metal hooks and rope tied to them. Sprig looked on with an excited twinkle in his eyes while Charlie was slightly awestruck.
"Whoa! We get to ride in one of these?" said Sprig getting excited.
"Welcome, my friend, to Paradiso." said Anne looking impressed.
"Excuse me while I express my euphoria." said Charlie.
Charlie sucked in a big amount of air and once he let it out. He uttered a powerful operatic note that sounded like he was opera singing at an opera house. His operatic note he sung lasted a full ten seconds till he stopped afterwards.
"That excited, huh?" said Anne rhetorically.
"Luciano Pavarotti has nothing on me." said Charlie with a proud grin.
"I'm gonna get a bird's-eye view of another world in a flying machine that's powered by fire? Whoo-hoo!" cheered Sprig as he ran towards the field.
"Yo, wait up Sprig!" said Charlie following after him.
Anne uttered a victorious response but then heard Sprig screaming which brought Anne back to reality. She came running towards Sprig and Charlie.
"Sprig, what is it? What's wrong?" said Anne in a panic.
"What the frog?" said Sprig.
Anne looked towards the hot air balloon that they stood in front of and the hot air balloon that was inflated already was designed to look like a scary looking clown that looked like it had a maniacal grin on its face. That's when the balloonist came out from the basket as it looked like the balloonist was a skinny male adult with blue hair, clown make up on his face, wearing white gloves, a puffy mauve bowtie with light pink spots all over it and a sky-blue shirt.
"Ah! Don't be startled, child. This balloon only looks scary because it was re-purposed from a horror movie promotional piece." reassured the male balloonist. "I'm Blair."
"The balloon was re-purposed from a horror film promotional piece?" said Charlie with a raised eyebrow. "Makes me wonder if it's from that remake of a famous horror film about that evil clown that goes after children once every twenty-seven to thirty years."
"Oh, you watched that too?" said Blair taking notice.
"What? How could you think that was a good idea?" said Anne looking worried for Sprig as if he was afraid of clowns.
"Well, we weren't about to waste a perfectly good clown balloon. Anyways, the name's Blair, the balloonist. I take it you're ...here for the birthday package?" said Blair making a good guess as he pointed at Sprig.
"Yep." said Anne looking optimistic.
"I'm eleven now." said Sprig revealing his age.
"Awesome little dude." said Blair with a grin. "Also, who was singing opera earlier?"
Anne and Sprig pointed at Charlie which he was pointing at himself as well. Blair was impressed that Charlie, a teenager, could sing opera so beautifully.
"Those are some strong lungs." said Blair as he opened the door that led into the hot air balloon and revealing the baggy mustard-colored pants with lemon yellow spots all over them and his big clown shoes that matched his puffy bowtie. "Well, hop aboard, explorers! Couple of quick safety rule before we-"
They heard a beeping sound that interrupted Blair's words and he pulled out his phone from his right pocket and looked at the screen that shown him a weather news update. He looked at both Anne, Sprig and Charlie with disappointment.
"Oopsie! High wind alert. Sorry, guys, but it's too risky to fly just now." said Blair expressing his disappointment in his failure.
Sprig's eyes began to look as though he could cry at the sound of the news as he let out a disappointed whine and hung his head down.
"I really wish I could say a curse word right now but since there's children nearby and we have a young one with us. I need to exercise restraint." said Charlie showing stoic sadness.
"But it's his birthday." said Anne looking shocked.
That was when Charlie had an idea. He came over to Blair and pulled him aside while he whispered something unknown to him in his ear which Blair heard every word that Charlie whispered to him which left Blair wide eyed slightly and he nodded.
"You guys can at least sit in the basket and imagine you're flying." suggested Blair. "Heck, you don't even need me for that. Just give me holler when you've had enough."
Blair walked out of the basket and Anne suddenly had a devious grin on her face as both her, Sprig and Charlie climbed into the basket of the hot air balloon.
"Charlie, what did you tell Blair?" asked Sprig curiously.
"I told him the same thing he told us just now." answered Charlie. "Figured it was better than nothing."
"Wow! We get to use our imaginations? Neat!" said Sprig as the door to the basket was closed.
"Forget that!" said Anne.
Anne reached up to grab the handle to the hot air balloon's engine and pulled it down. The fire flashed up from the engine as Anne uttered a psyched up "wha-bam!" which Charlie looked up and the smile quickly faded from his face. The hot air balloon began to fly up into the air.
"Anne! What are you doing?!" Charlie cried from shock.
"Whoa! Isn't this risky? Charlie has a point when he states how risky or dangerous something is." said Sprig making a point.
"Relax. We're still tethered to the ground. What's the worst that could happen?" said Anne showing she's chill about it.
"Do I have to answer that question?" said Charlie looking down.
"Come on. Let's seal the deal and make this the best birthday ever!" said an excited Anne.
"Anne, this is not something I'd suggest to..." Charlie stopped mid-sentence.
The three children looked to their left and their eyes shown a sparkle of excitement when they saw the perfectly beautiful view of the city nearby. They saw the sun was close to setting, the lights in the city buildings were on, they even saw the mountains that went beyond the city. They saw the beautifully perfect view of the city of Los Angeles. Any fear or worry Charlie or Sprig had vanished.
"I think we can see Berkeley from here." said Charlie with a grin.
"Wowza!" said an impressed Anne.
"Unforgettable." stated Sprig.
Anne and Charlie moved a hand in one direction which their hands accidentally bumped into each other's hands, both of them blushed when they saw it was their own hands they touched. Both of them grasped the other's hand which Anne leaned against Charlie's muscular chest.
"I gotta admit. This is one of the most awe-inspiring sights I've ever seen in my life." said Charlie looking relaxed.
"Hey soul brotha. You thinking what I'm thinking?" said Anne giving Charlie a flirtatious expression.
"Hey soul sista." said Charlie with a blushing grin.
Before the two teenagers could move in for a kiss. There was a gust of wind that was strong enough to push the hot air balloon around a bit. Anne, Sprig and Charlie held onto the basket and the ropes to prevent themselves from falling out. The spike that was nailed into the ground suddenly came lose as the wind was strong enough to pull it out from the ground as the tether pulled on it enough to disconnect it out of the ground, blowing the hot air balloon away with the children in it.
"Oh my fro-o-o-o-og!" cried the children as the hot air balloon was drifting off towards downtown Los Angeles.
Blair came back to the spot where the hot air balloon once was tethered to but to his unfortunate luck. He no longer saw it there and he saw that the spike in the ground was out and the tether was laying on the ground, no longer connected to the hot air balloon. He looked up to see the hot air balloon floating away into the distance towards the nearby city.
"Oh, I am definitely getting fired for this. Honk honk!" said Blair as he gently squeezed his fake clown nose.
Somewhere in downtown Los Angeles is where the hot air balloon took Anne, Sprig and Charlie deeper into the city. Sprig was panicking and so was Anne while both Anne and Charlie knew they had to think of something to get them out of the situation safely.
"Anne, if we get out of this in one piece. What will we have learned?" cried Charlie shifting the balloon to another direction to avoid hitting a building.
"Always listen to the one that says something is a bad idea!" Anne answered while keeping a hold on part of the basket.
"We're gonna hit something!" Sprig said in a panic.
"Not if we can help it." said Anne.
That's when Anne and Charlie thought of an idea that came to mind about how they all can get out of this alive and in one piece.
"Lightbulb!" said Anne and Charlie in unison.
"Sprig, I'll control the altitude." said Anne.
"You use your tongue to steer us. I'll keep a force field around us so we don't fall out." Charlie instructed.
Charlie clapped his hands twice and he conjured up a large gold, transparent force field around both himself, Anne and Sprig but he made sure the force field was big enough surround all three of them and the basket they rode in on.
"Got it!." said Sprig as he understood what to do next.
"Sign up ahead!" Charlie cried pointing nearby.
They turned to see a sign that looked like a billboard of a man who was probably a lawyer that handled people who got into accidents and got injured due to someone being purposefully negligent.
"Pull the lever, Anne!" Charlie instructed.
Anne pulled the lever that ignited more fire for the hot air balloon engine which allowed them go higher into the air as they flew over the sign by literally going over it. Before anyone could celebrate. That's when Charlie saw another obstacle.
"Crazy traffic ahead! Take it down a little lower!" Charlie instructed.
Anne gave the lever some ease as she let the lever go up and the fire from the hot air balloon's engine got smaller which the three barely went underneath the bridge that the road was built on. The balloon part of the hot air balloon brushed up against the roof of the bridge from underneath, making rubbery squelching noises as it brushed up against the underside of the bridge but once they passed the bridge. They saw that they were about to head for what looked like an apartment building.
"Fight the urge to say a swear word." Charlie said to himself. "Sprig, you know what you do!"
Sprig came over to the edge of the basket and out shot his long, thick, wide and sticky frog like tongue and just like having a superpower. Sprig used his huge tongue to stick to the oncoming building to push them out of its path as well as another building that he used his huge tongue to push them out of the building's path.
"Hang onto something!" cried Charlie.
"Hang onto something!" cried Anne.
As they held onto the basket of the hot air balloon. Sprig continued to use his tongue to launch out and push themselves out of the way of any buildings or anything that they needed to steer around. Various times his tongue would grab onto something like a lasso rope or stick to something in order to steer them passed anything that came their way.
He used his tongue to grab onto part of a nearby news helicopter's landing gear, stuck to a fire hydrant, the glass window of an office building. They were finally looking like they were out of the way of any buildings from the looks of it while Sprig's huge tongue was still out a little bit.
"Spider-man has nothing on Sprig!" said Charlie looking impressed.
"Wow! You're gettin' pretty good at that." said an impressed Anne.
"Thanks." said Sprig with a grin.
That's when they heard something that sounded like birds and they turned to see a flock of large birds that had to be a species of geese coming their way. Charlie knew that if the ducks bills pierce the hot air balloon. Then they'd be finished.
"And they say Melanie Daniels went through worse." said Charlie in a deep and low tone. "Brace yourselves!"
The flock of geese came towards them but Charlie loudly yet perfectly mimicked the vocal sounds of the geese by quacking and squawking like a duck which made the flock of geese fly around them to avoid hitting the hot air balloon and they flew around it like synchronized swimmers.
"Is there any limit to your voice abilities?" said Anne looking both relieved yet amazed.
"Apparently not." answered Charlie. "I like to see them four dudes with those beards on that reality show make a duck call out of that."
They flew passed more buildings and Charlie could see that some people were looking at them through the windows of the nearby buildings they passed by. Charlie would telepathically inform them by telling them "What you're all seeing is just a publicity stunt for a movie we're promoting. Pay no attention to the huge hot air balloon unless you're about to crash into it than steer away from it from your left, right, or go over or under us" which of course his message got to them telepathically.
They passed by a message in the sky that a sky writer was flying around to write that read "Will you marry me?" which Charlie maneuvered the hot air balloon to go below it and missed it. They passed by a woman who was sitting down at a table outside on a floor that looked like she was in the outdoor area of a restaurant and she was contemplating on if she should quit her current job for stand-up comedy.
Charlie telepathically sent her a message that told her that her conscience was speaking to her and told her what she should do which the idea Charlie telepathically gave her to work with was an idea that he knew would work and it brought a smile to the lady's face.
After the flock of geese passed Anne, Sprig and Charlie completely. They felt relieved that the flock flew passed them and the path was clear.
"That was a lot of geese." said Anne with a sigh of relief. "Charlie, how you managed to get them geese to fly around us. I've seen you mimic other sounds, voices and animals vocal calls but that one was very surprising."
"Good thing too or we'd be in a situation like that old Hitchcock film from the sixties." said Charlie.
That's when Charlie saw something else that set him on an all red alert and so did Anne. They both saw what looked like a building still being built in construction but part of the structure had a sharp end on one of them which now made them feel a high amount of dread.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" said Charlie sharply. "Any ideas?"
"We can't move in time." said Sprig coming to a realization.
"We have to jump!" suggested Anne.
"I'll do ya one better. Hang onto to me!" Charlie suggested.
Anne and Sprig quickly embraced Charlie and after they did. Charlie held onto them as the force field around them disappeared and he jumped out of the basket of the hot air balloon with Anne and Sprig holding onto him. The hot air balloon got stabbed by the sharp end of the building structure, puncturing a hole in it which deflated the air out of it.
Charlie's eyes and hair began to turn gold when a powerful gold energy wave began flashing all around him, his muscles grew larger as he let out a loud, realistic lion like growl.
"I didn't even get to give you your present!" cried Anne in a panic.
"You got me a present?" said Sprig with big innocent eyes.
"Yeah, dude. It's your birthday." Anne pointed out.
"Ki o hikishimete!" cried Charlie.
They looked down and Charlie landed on top of a palm tree which it shifted them backwards but flung them forwards like a slingshot, Charlie than bounced off a mattress that was tied to a red car on a nearby bridge, then he bounced off the top of an umbrella that was attached to a hotdog cart.
Then as they were still in the air. Charlie had both Anne Sprig hold onto him as they were dropping but Charlie grabbed hold of a ladder that was part of a fire escape of some homes in the city. Then the ladder came loose as it was starting to go down but Charlie quickly climbed it to prevent them from falling.
Once the ladder stopped lowering itself down was when Charlie jumped down and bounced off the brick walls like a martial arts warrior and landed on the ground safely with Anne, Sprig and himself completely unscathed. Once they were on their feet on the ground. Anne and Sprig let go of Charlie which Charlie's eyes and hair turned back to their normal color, his muscles formed back into their original size and the gold energy wave around him disappeared.
"That was crazier than a rollercoaster ride at the Santa Monica pier." panted Charlie as he popped his neck. "Everyone alright?"
"Still in one piece. So glad to be back on the ground." said Anne shaking all over from relief.
"What Charlie said." said Sprig. "Whoa! Now that was a horror show. Woof!"
"Well, I ruined your birthday. After all this time, I thought I'd be a better friend than this." said Anne hanging her head down in disappointment with herself.
"Are you kidding? Despite the near-death experience which I'd advise never to do that as an activity. I think Sprig had an incredible time of his life." said Charlie wondering what Anne meant.
"What? How so?" said Sprig not understanding at first.
"Um, hello! Me and Charlie didn't even know it was your birthday today. I thought we'd could make it up to you with the craziest day ever which I'll admit, Charlie is right about not doing something crazy that'll almost get us killed, even Charlie had to use his gold powers in order to prevent us from getting hurt or worse. But it looks like I'm just a failure through and through." said Anne as she explained how she failed at giving Sprig a fantastic birthday.
"Friend punch!" cried Sprig.
Sprig shot out his huge tongue to give Anne a non-painful yet playful jab to her cheek with his huge and long, stretchy frog like tongue which of course Anne and Charlie didn't expect that.
"Oh, wow. It's been a while since that happened." said Anne rubbing her cheek.
"Better it being from Sprig. Fens and Bog did that with me once or twice and their tongues are larger and hit harder." Charlie said.
"Anne, you and Charlie are my best friends because I love being with you both. Not because you two know what day I was born. And this birthday isn't top three because of the crazy stuff we did. It's top three because we got to spend it together." said Sprig reassuring Anne.
"Just like Sprig said. I knew that this birthday we celebrated with Sprig would be off the hook. We took Sprig to Santa Monica pier, a Mexican restaurant, went on a carousel at a nearby park, had some fun at the Griffith Observatory, shown Sprig some sights in Los Angeles, even if the hot air balloon ride started off good but had a crazy end to it. Still, I never seen Sprig have such a smile on his face like he had on today. The little man was on top of the world." reassured Charlie.
Anne felt reassured but touched by both Sprig and Charlie's words as she sees that she didn't ruin Sprig's birthday after all. It turned out that Sprig had the best birthday of his life. This brought tears of joy to her eyes as her voiced broke a bit.
"Really? It's, like, the sweetest thing anyone's ever said. Thanks, man." said Anne her voice breaking.
Sprig and Charlie came over to Anne and the three of them embraced each other in each other's arms. Anne felt reassured and relieved that today was the best birthday of Sprig's life because they got to spend the birthday together. After Anne calmed herself. The released their arms from each other and Anne was carrying Sprig this time as they walked off.
"Okay. I've gotta know. What are your two top birthdays?" asked Anne curiously.
"Well, birthday number one was the day I was actually born and given life." answered Sprig.
"Oh. Well, that makes a lot of sense. What about number two?" said Anne and Sprig in unison.
"That was when my mom and dad gave me this hat. My memory of it is a little fuzzy. But it's an iconic hat, right?" said Sprig.
"Yeah. It is iconic." said Anne with a grin.
"True dat, soul sista." Charlie said in agreement.
"Oh, yeah. And here's the present we got you." said Anne pulling out the purple gift-wrapped box and handing it to Sprig.
Sprig's eyes lit up with joy as he took hold of the box and smiled. He uttered an excited "yay!" as he eagerly ripped through the wrapping paper and saw that the gift he was given was a golden little telescope that was the size of a spyglass. Sprig's eyes twinkled with joy as they were widened from excitement. It had "To Sprig" with a heart in the middle and Anne and Charlie's names below it. It was mainly engraved with it reading "To Sprig love Anne and Charlie" on it.
"Whoa. It's a telescope with my name engraved on it. Thanks guys." said Sprig looking up at the two teenagers with a big smile.
"You're welcome, dude." said both Anne and Charlie in unison.
"Okay. Let's go home because I don't wanna look at that clown anymore." said Anne looking up.
Both Anne, Sprig and Charlie looked up to see the now deflated hot air balloon that was now hanging and dangling off the pointed edge building structure that it got a puncture from. Anne looked at it with caution, Sprig looked at it with wide eyed alarm while Charlie looked at it with a stoic yet mildly alarmed expression.
"It helps if you don't look up." advised Charlie.
"Way ahead of you!" said Sprig and Anne in unison as they looked away from the hot air balloon.
"I see it whenever I close my eyes." said Sprig.
"It helps if you watch funny comedies or a stand-up comedian perform." Charlie advised.
"Well, dude, another day, another adventure resolved with no loose ends." said Anne.
"Anne, aren't we forgetting about your dad?" Charlie pointed out.
They had a moment of silence and realized they forgot about Anne's dad who was probably still at the parking lot at the hot air balloon rides.
"It's going to be a long walk." said Anne with a sigh.
"I got a faster way to get back to him." said Charlie with a grin.
They realized what Charlie meant and they two held onto Charlie while he had them teleport in a puff of gold smoke. They reappeared at the parking lot where Mr. Boonchuy was at. They made their way to the van and knocked on the window, startling Mr. Boonchuy.
"We're back dad. Sorry it took so long." said Anne.
Mr. Boonchuy pushed a button and the car door's slid open for the three of them to get inside. After the doors slid closed, the three kids buckled their seat belts and Mr. Boonchuy drove off towards home.
"So how was the hot air balloon ride?" asked Mr. Boonchuy.
"Let's just say it's a long story but it was a bit bumpy but we managed to have fun and made sure no one got hurt." said Anne.
"Sounds like a crazy ride. Tell me about it when we get home." said Mr. Boonchuy.
"I know something we can sing to along the way. Think of it like a parody to a pop song." said Charlie.
Charlie began to turn on the car's radio and it was playing pop music which Charlie began to sing and it sounded like he was singing a song that parodied a famous pop song but gave it a birthday theme.
"I woke up in the morning today with a thought that came to mind. I saw a lot of bright and vibrant colors and saw so many signs. I ran into the fam and they told me "Hey, guess what it is today", I got a little confused and didn't know what to say. They told me it was Sprig's eleventh birthday, whoa, and knew that today was a day of fun and play. So went to the Santa Monica pier, rode on the roller coaster, oh dear. Went to a Mexican restaurant, got to eat anything that I want. Had some birthday cake with lit candles, devoured it whole and burped out fire, put it out and avoided something dire. Took ride on a carousal, saw the sights and got appraisal, went to an observatory and later on a hot balloon ride that made me feel like I'm the king of my castle"
"I'm feeling nervous but I'm kinda wonderin, if something goes wrong, today's a plounderin. That's when I got a call from my friends on the radio and they wished Sprig a happy birthday. Had a party that made him cry "Yay!" and it was it was the best one I have to say!"
That's when both Anne, Sprig, Charlie and Mr. Boonchuy sang along and they all were having quite a lot of fun with the song that Charlie was singing his own parody of.
"So today I turned eleven, not the age of seven, today feels like I'm in heaven. Partying with my family and friends like yeah, having a birthday blow out like yeah. I'm having the best time of my life on my birthday and we threw our hands in the air and cried "Oh happy day!" Ye-a-a-a-ah! It's a party at Sprig's birthday! Ye-a-a-a-ah! It's a party at Sprig's birthday!"
They had quite a fun day on Sprig's birthday and knew they had some good things to talk to the family about when they got home.