Chapter 64: After the Rain

It's finally happening!

This morning, I got a fly mail message from Marcy. She says she and the 3 B's have found the Temple of Wit somewhere in the Amygdala forest, and she's on her way to pick us up I a couple of days so we can all go. That's right… the Plantars are going with us! It's gonna be a full-scale epic adventure, and I am pumped! Heck, we're all pumped!

Speaking of pumped… of course we've gotta pack for this adventure. We've got provisions, we've got weapons (my trusty racket and that sword I took from Tritonio, and Hop Pop made us some… well, "armor" is kind of pushing it. They're more like those big inflatable sumo suits that the school rented for last year's charity carnival. They're great for protection, but no so much for things like "moving" and "doing things", which I suspect we might have to do. Ancient temple quests are usually pretty heavy on the moving and doing. Maybe there's something a little more practical in PoliAnna's chamber in the basement, though I don't know if she'll have anything that'll fit me.

The only thing we really need is the music box, but HP says his contacts should have it back by tomorrow, so it's all good. Nothing left to do but try to sleep. I'm so amped that I don't know how I'll be able to, but I might as well try.

[several furiously scribbled out lines]

Okay. Fifth attempt. I'm going to work out my feelings on this if it kills me. Which it might.

There's simply no delicate way to put this, so I'm going to say it right out… Hop Pop lied to me.

And not just once. He kept lying to me, over and over again. For months.

I just [scribbled] How could he? Just look me in the face like that and lie?

…right. Back up. Don't spiral now. Spiraling for later. Focus now.

So, last night (well, I guess technically it's still last night), I couldn't sleep. I went upstairs to get a glass of swamp juice and work off all this nervous energy when I spot [scribbled] Hopadiah heading out to the yard. I figured he was also too excited to sleep and decided to mess with him a bit, give him a little jumpscare, so I followed him out to that tree in the front. It looked like he was digging something up… I snuck up on him, got ready to jump him, when I heard him say it.

The music box was gone.

He'd never given it to contacts. There were no contacts. He'd just buried it right there and what, hoped that somehow I'd forget?

So I confront him, and he just stammers something out about… well, honestly, I'm so pissed off right now that I can't even remember. All I know is I trusted him with the one thing that I know I need to get me home and he just… buried it, and then lied right to my face about what he did, and then he had the nerve to say it was complicated!

And so, here I am, back in the cave I stayed in those first few nights. I told myself I'd never come back here, but right now, I can't think of anywhere else I could go. I guess when Marcy shows up, I'll just go wherever she goes. I feel bad about not telling Sprig and Polly that I'm leaving – I mean, it's not their fault, they didn't do anything – but I know that if I go back, he'll be there, and, well, right now I just can't be anywhere near him.

At least I'm not alone, right? I get to catch up with my old pal Rocky! Whom I'm starting to really regret giving a mullet. Hmm… I wonder how they'd look with braids…

So, there I was this morning, fixing Rocky's hair and venting to him about [scribbled] Hopadiah, when… speak of the devil…

I really, really, really, really didn't want to talk to him right then, but I had a feeling he wasn't going to go away until he explained himself, so I decided to hear him out. He started to explain that he did it because the music box was dangerous and then started to try to tell me something that was clearly very had for him to say. I guess, knowing what I know now, I could see why it was so hard. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Before he could spit it out, we heard Sprig and Polly screaming for help. Whatever issues the two of us had suddenly didn't matter. When we ran over to see what was going on, well. Picture if you will, a huge pit, filled with hundreds of beetles, each carrying some random thing on their back, all of them running around rapidly in some kind of crazy mating vortex. Or… a… romantiphoon? That's terrible. There's got to be a better name for it.

And right there in the middle of that frenzy, I could see Sprig and Polly… and the music box. And… was that my other shoe? I'd been looking for that! But first things first. The priority was Sprig and Polly. Then the music box. And then maybe my shoe if had the time. Of course, there was no way I could get to them on my own – I know that now – but at that moment, I was still so mad at Hopediah that I couldn't even look at him.

But that was my issue. It wasn't theirs. It didn't matter how mad I was… I had to grit my teeth and trust Hopediah to help me. After all, I knew for a fact that he would do whatever it took to keep his family safe. He'd made that very clear.

So… we jumped into the whirlidate (still doesn't sound right) and he used his tongue and our own momentum to whip us around so we could snag Sprig, Polly, and the box and get ourselves back on solid ground. Don't ask me to explain how the physics work, 'cause I couldn't begin to tell you. All I knew is, it worked. Too bad I couldn't get my shoe…. Ah well. I probably don't want it if bugs were making out around it. *shudder*

I was ready to walk away at that point, The kids were safe, I had the box, and Marcy was going to be here tomorrow. I was just plain exhausted, and didn't want to deal with Hopediah's lies any more. I figured I'd crash with Loggle or Mrs. Croaker for one night, then join Marcy back in Newtopia after the first temple.

That's when Hopediah broke down and told me everything. How he'd been away when the herons had raided Wartwood and killed Sprig and Polly's parents. How he'd been blaming himself all these years for letting it happen. And then he'd seen the box in some old book that said it brought misfortune, and he wanted to protect his family.

All of his family.

After we returned home, he showed me the book and… well, this thing is apparently called the "Calamity Box", so you can draw your own conclusions from there.

I'm not going to lie, journal, I understand why he did what he did, and… I want to forgive him. I don't think I'm quite there yet, but I think it's better for everyone involved if I just moved past all this. Wouldn't do to take on the temples with all this emotional baggage in the way.

So… yeah. As far as I'm concerned, it's all in the past. Time to move forward!

A.N.: Feels. Feels everywhere.

Matt: Good thing one of them is a therapist!

Jose: Yep, as this very chapter shows, a lot of pain could be avoided if people were honest with each other to begin with.

Gloyd: Should we call it a Felicia? Or a Gloria?

MarMarFaAnne: Yeah, it was a really fun chapter to write. Yeah, Ivy's mom issues would have definitely not been lost on Anne. "Excited?" Closer to "quietly dreading", really. I know the feels are going to be excruciating. Kiff kinda reminds me of the late, lamented Nickelodeon series Harvey Beaks, though a bit less chill and more chaotic.

Ashley: Oh yeah, this was a ride.

Next: The First Temple