Chapter 17:
WKH FRRO JLUO DQG WKH VRRV
"Here you go, kids! Crickets and cream ice cream for the whole family!" Hop Pop announced his arrival while bringing a tray containing four cones of ice cream to Sprig and Polly who were sitting on a bench in the plaza.
"Thanks, Hop Pop." Sprig said as he and Polly each took a cone after their grandfather handed them one.
"Anne still hasn't come back from the museum tour yet?" The elderly frog asked after he looked around and found no sign of the brown-haired human girl anywhere.
"Nope." Polly replied while licking her ice cream. "Haven't seen her running out of the hut yet, which should have happened long ago. We all saw the red flags when we came in, right? I don't get how Anne is the only one who's not freakout by all that stuff!"
"Yeah, I'm starting to worry about her. It's been a while already." Sprig remarked, looking at the Curiosity Hut from a distance. "You think we should head back inside and see if she's alright?"
"Oh no! We are not going back in there!" Polly adamantly declined, frightened by the possibility of returning inside.
"Settle down, kids. Remember, Anne is a very tough girl." Hop Pop assured his grandchildren. "Let's wait just a little while longer for her to come back, at least until the Sun has completely set. We'll come and get her if anything does happen by then."
"Sounds like a plan, Hop Pop." Sprig nodded before he proceeded to lick his ice cream.
"Hop Pop, Sprig, are you guys forgetting that those statues might still be alive?" Polly reminded them.
"I mean, I have my doubts." The boy replied, looking at his sister. "But so far, they haven't done anything close to even batting an eye. So maybe they're really just statues? Doesn't make them any less creepy, though."
"One of them was literally looking down at me!" The tadpole exclaimed, shuddering as she remembered making eye contact with the giant statue back there. "Not to mention how it was breathing down on us at the same time! I swear, if that thing starts roaring right in my ears…"
"HEY GUYS!"
Polly yelped when a voice suddenly shouted right in her ear, causing her to inadvertently throw her ice cream cone up in the air.
The cone then fell on the orange-haired boy's head, spilling its content down on him. Good thing Sprig was still wearing his hood, otherwise he would have to wash the ice cream off of his hair.
"Oops! Sorry, Polly!" Anne apologized, having suddenly appeared right next to the purple tadpole without anyone seeing her coming. "Didn't mean to scare you out of the blue."
"You think?!" Polly glared at her adopted sister.
"Well, you weren't kidding when you said that you'll catch up to us before we even know what hit us." Hop Pop noted. He was glad to see the human girl safe and sound. "I take it that you enjoyed your tour in the museum?"
"Oh, it's alright, I guess." Anne did a casual shrug, just before her mood shifted towards excitement, barely able to contain herself over what she had discovered. "But guys! You won't believe what I just found in there!"
"Is it more monsters?" Sprig guessed.
"Nope! Turns out the Curator has a Skipman!"
"A what man?" Polly said, confused by the name. The same feeling was shared with Sprig and Hop Pop.
"A Skipman! It's an old music player from back home!"
Anne pulled out her smartphone, tapped and swiped a few times on it, then flipped the phone around to show the family the picture of the music player in question on the pedestal inside of the hut.
"Hm. It certainly does looks like it could be from your world." Hop Pop commented after looking over the picture for a moment and noticing how alien the device seemed to be.
"So you're saying that the Curiosity Hut has it on display? What does it mean?" Sprig asked.
"I dunno. But I feel like we're getting really close to what we're looking for in this whole trip! Well, aside from getting Sprig turn back to normal, but you know what I mean!" Anne exclaimed while putting her phone away. "And the best part about is, I talked to the Curator about it, and we made a deal together."
"Deal? What deal?" Hop Pop asked, concerned by the implications behind her words.
"He's gonna give me the Skipman, and in exchange, all I need to do is be the museum's main attraction for a day!" Anne revealed.
"SAY WHAT?!"
"Are you crazy?!"
"Anne, you sold yourself to the museum?!" Sprig shouted in disbelief, standing up out of shock.
"What, no! Guys, I just said that it's only for a day." The human girl clarified.
"That doesn't make it any better!" Hop Pop said. "Anne, you cannot, by any means, do this! It's incredibly risky!"
"B-But this is the first time that I've found something from my world!"
"I understand. We all do." The elderly frog acknowledged her desire. "But surely, you notice that the Curiosity Hut sets off quite a few alarms, right?"
"Not to mention that the Curator guy doesn't look like he cares about our health and safety. Just our money." Sprig added.
"And remember the monster statues?! The ones that might still be alive?!" Polly pointed out.
"Well, sure, the place gives off some bad vibes. But isn't that its whole gimmick?" Anne explained in defence of the museum. "Besides, it's like I told you guys. Whatever stuff that it's got, it's all fake. Just some harmless, weird decoration done to pull people towards the place, like any other attractions."
"Whether it's fake or not isn't the issue." Hop Pop said. "Putting yourself as an attraction for the museum, even if it's for a day, is absolutely careless. You don't even know if the Curator is going to keep his word, by the end of it."
"I mean, I guess I get what you're saying, but…" Anne trailed off, as she glanced over to the Curiosity Hut from a distance, her mind still fixated on getting the Skipman.
"Okay, how about this?" Sprig stepped in. "Let's talk about this whole thing tonight, sleep on it, and figure out if there's another way for us to get the answers that we need tomorrow. Is that okay with you, Anne?"
"Sprig…" Anne looked at her friend, as she thought about what he and Hop Pop just said about their current situation. She admitted that there was some logical sense in their arguments, but…
She sighed. "Okay, fine. I guess I can wait until we figure this out together."
"Good to know." Sprig smiled and nodded, relieved to know that his best friend would not put herself in harm's way.
His hood started to feel moist, courtesy of the ice cream that fell on his head. After looking around to see if there was no one around them, he proceeded to put down his hood to finally allow the fresh air to reach his face in its entirety.
"Uh, Sprig?" Anne spoke, pointing at the boy's head. "Where's your hat?"
"Huh?"
Sprig moved his hands up and had them roam around his head. He widened his eyes in alarm when he found that he was not wearing his green hat, and he never realized it until Anne pointed out to him.
"Uh… Guys? Do you know where my hat went?" he asked as he looked around himself to find where his hat might be. He tried searching the ground below their feet, and he even checked underneath the bench that he was sitting on.
"Nope." Polly shook her head. "I didn't even notice that you lost your hat, because you had your hood on most of the day."
"Oh dear." Hop Pop said once he thought about the last few places that they've been to. "I think it must have slipped off your head when you did your stunt with the small hook cannon back at the gift shop."
"You mean it's back there?!" Sprig yelled with a horrified expression on his face. "I have to get it back!" He dashed towards the Curiosity Hut Gift Shop without any hesitation, leaving his family behind before they had the chance to think of a solution.
"Hey, Sprig! Wait up!" Anne shouted as she followed her sprinting friend from behind. Hop Pop and Polly followed suit.
The boy screeched to a halt once he was right in front of the door leading to the gift shop. He grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it, only to find that he was unable to.
"Huh?"
He tried pushing the door open, then pulling it afterwards, but the door would not budge. It slowly dawned on him about what it could mean, and when he gazed up the door window, he found a sign that said 'Sorry, we're closed.'
"Oh no, no, no, no!" The panic boy tried to get the door open again, unwilling to believe that he was locked out from getting in the shop.
"Hey, relax, dude!" Anne said as soon as she caught up to the boy, followed by Hop Pop and Polly.
The others immediately noticed the closed sign on the door, which told them everything they need to know about the current state of the shop.
"Well, that's unfortunate." Hop Pop remarked with his fists placed on his hips. "I'm afraid we have to wait until tomorrow to retrieve your hat, boy."
"I can't wait that long!" Sprig shouted, placing his palms on each side of his head in horror while looking at his grandfather. "We need to get it back before they find it, think that it's part of some junk that they need to sell, and put it up for sale! Oh man, what if they already sold my hat to somebody?!"
"I doubt it." Polly replied. "If what the cashier girl said is true, then they probably would sell it for a couple of thousand coppers. And nobody's gonna pay that much for just a hat."
"Sprig, let's just do what Hop Pop just said and wait until tomorrow, alright?" Anne said, putting a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sure that it's still gonna be there when we come back for it."
"Ngh…! Sorry, but I can't risk it!" Sprig said as he tried to get the door open once again.
"Geez, dude! I haven't seen you get so work up over just a hat. What's so special about it?"
The boy turned his head towards his best friend, looking at her in distress. "Anne… That hat was a final gift. From my parents."
"Oh…"
Anne placed a hand over her mouth after learning how important the hat meant to him. It made sense to her why her friend was reacting the way he did over what was seemingly a simple hat, and she felt bad that she was downplaying its significance to the boy.
"… Okay, wait here, you guys! I'm gonna try and see if I can go get the Curator back in the museum." Anne said as she was about to run towards the hut.
Hop Pop stopped her by grabbing hold of her wrist. "Anne, the last thing that we want you to do is talk to that Curator again!"
"Well, what else can we do?" she asked. "If we wait any longer, we might end up losing Sprig's hat!"
"I understand, but I'm afraid waiting until tomorrow is our only option." Hop Pop explained. "We can't just go and break into the shop and risk getting ourselves into a lot of trouble."
"I mean, we can, if nobody's around to see us." Polly said, as she was considering doing just that. "Just get me an axe back in the fwagon and we'll get it done in ten seconds tops."
"We're not breaking in, Polly!" Hop Pop reproached the purple tadpole.
"So there's really nothing else that we can do?" Anne asked, having running out of options on how to retrieve the hat back.
The family stood still in front of the locked door to the gift shop, pondering whether or not they would risk waiting until tomorrow morning to see if the hat would still be there or not.
"Yo!"
They all heard a voice suddenly calling out to them. They turned their attention towards where the voice was coming from and were met with the sight of a single, pale-green frog standing with their back against the potted pine tree in front of the museum entrance.
Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop recognized the person as the cashier of the gift shop.
"You looking for this?" The long-haired frog asked as she raised and waved a green hat with goggles around in her hand, giving the family a knowing, cool smile.
"Hey! My hat!" Sprig exclaimed while pointing at the hat in the tall frog's possession, relieved to see it safe and sound. He quickly ran towards her and stopped just a few inches away from her.
"Yeah, Frog Soos found this lying on the floor while cleaning, and I thought that it might have belonged to you guys, since you're pretty much our only customers for the day." she explained how she came in possession of the hat. "Sounds like I was right on the money."
"Uh… You're not gonna sell it in the shop, are you?" The boy nervously asked, fearing the possibility.
The cashier answered by tossing the hat back to him. Sprig quickly caught after being taken by surprise for a brief moment.
"'Course not. I'm not that much of a jerk." she replied. "But consider yourself lucky that Stan didn't find it first, otherwise he would put it up for sale, knowing him."
Sprig smiled widely at the long-haired frog, feeling nothing but gratitude for her. "Thank you so much!" he said as he put his hat back on his head.
He then remembered that he still had his hood down, meaning that he was exposing his human form to the tall frog for the second time. In a state of panic, he tried to put his hood back on, until the tall frog did a waving gesture with her hands to urge him to slow down.
"Chill out, buddy!" she said. "I already saw your face back there, so you don't have to hide it from me, you know?"
"But… Don't you think that I'm a freak?" Sprig asked, eyeing her anxiously, as he was about to put on his hood anyway.
"Well, yeah." the long-haired frog casually said while shrugging. "But believe it or not, I've seen freakier stuff."
"Really?"
"If it helps, you look like an alright dude. Especially since you helped out with cleaning your own mess back at the shop. So just leave your head like this, okay?"
The boy once again gave a grateful smile at her, feeling reassured enough to let go of his hood and keep showing his human form to her.
"Heh… Thanks."
"Hey, Sprig?" The Thai-American girl called out to him once she rejoined his company, alongside Hop Pop and Polly. "Who's this? You know her?"
"Oh! She's the cashier from the gift shop back there, Anne." Sprig replied to her.
"You know, I don't think I've told you guys my name yet." The cashier said. She then offered a handshake to the boy. "I'm Gwendy. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Gwendy." Sprig said as he took her hand and shook it. "I'm Sprig. And this is my family. Hopadiah, Polly and Anne."
"Heyo!" Polly shouted while waving her hand at the long-haired frog.
"A pleasure to formally meet you, Miss Gwendy." Hop Pop said as he nodded to her.
"Same here, Gwendy." Anne said as she offered her own hand to the cashier. "Thanks for helping out my best friend here. You're actually pretty cool girl."
"Yeah, I get that a lot." Gwendy replied as she shook hands with the human girl. Upon closer examination, Gwendy recognized the person that she was shaking hands with, after thinking back on what she had been told. "Hold up. Aren't you the ultimate oddity creature that Stan told us about? The one who's supposed to be the museum's special attraction?"
"Oh yeah! I am!" Anne replied with a proud grin.
"To be clear, she was, but not anymore." Hop Pop explained as he stepped in between the human girl and the long-haired frog. "I'm sorry if this comes out of the blue, but Anne is not going to be a part of anything that the museum is offering. We talked about this, remember, Anne?"
"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Anne sighed.
"That so?" Gwendy then glanced away from the family, as she thought about the situation surrounding the human girl. "Well… Maybe it's a good thing…" she spoke in a very low voice.
"You saying something?" Polly asked.
Gwendy shook her head and gave the purple tadpole a chill smile. "Nah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Well, it is really nice talking to you, Miss Gwendy." Hop Pop said. "But the kids and I ought to get going. It's almost nighttime, and we still haven't eaten supper yet. Besides ice cream, that is."
"Yeah, well, I tossed mine on my brother's head when Anne scared the living poop out of me." Polly said. "But speaking of eating, let's go check out that restaurant that I told you guys about a while ago!"
"Yes, well, about that, Polly," Hop Pop looked at his granddaughter regretfully. "When I was getting us ice cream, I passed by the restaurant that you mentioned, and unfortunately, they had to close early due to, and I quote the notice, 'typical teenager disturbance.'"
"Really?! Boo!" Polly expressed her disappointment, as she crossed her arms.
"Hey, if it's grub that you're looking for, you should check out Greasy's Diner." Gwendy recommended.
"Greasy's Diner? Is the food really good in there?" Sprig asked.
Gwendy shrugged indifferently. "I mean, they have food. That's pretty much all they're advertising. Haven't really thought much about it myself."
"Well, we'll follow your recommendation. So how about it, kids?" Hop Pop asked his grandchildren.
"I'm down for it." Anne said.
"Me too." Sprig concurred.
"Well, it's better than nothing." Polly shrugged.
Hop Pop smiled at the tall frog. "Once again, thank you for your kindness, Miss Gwendy."
"Don't mention it." Gwendy smiled back. "Diner's that way, by the way." She pointed at the direction of the diner.
"Mighty kind of you." The elderly frog turned his attention towards the family. "Okay, kids! Let's go get ourselves some food!" He then marched towards the direction of the diner.
"Hey, Anne? Mind carrying me in your hands while we're at it?" Polly asked the human girl.
"Not at all! Hop on in, Polly!" Anne said.
The purple tadpole happily hopped onto the brown-haired girl's hands before they proceeded to follow their grandfather from behind.
Sprig was also following everyone's lead, even taking a few steps forward in the process.
"Your girlfriend seems like an alright person herself." Gwendy suddenly commented.
He stopped and turned back towards her. "Uh, girlfriend?" Sprig asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"The freaky girl with the bush-like hair."
Sprig stumbled back in surprise by what Gwendy assumed Anne was to him. A faint blush also appeared on his face, thought it did not seem like he was aware of it.
"Oh no, Anne's my best friend, not my girlfriend!" he corrected her while waving his hands in front of him. "Besides, she's way too old for me!"
Gwendy raised an eyebrow. "Really? Kinda looks like you guys are around the same age."
Sprig opened his mouth to further explain their age difference, but he stopped himself when he thought more about his current circumstance.
"Oh wait… What did Maddie say about what the magic potion did to my body?" he spoke to himself, as he lowered his head and cupped his chin with his hand to assume a thinking position. "Something like it made me have the same body type as Anne, as well as me being as old as her? Then does that mean that she's not too old for me…?"
"What're you talking about?" Gwendy asked, curious about what he was murmuring to himself.
"Oh, uh, just wondering about how human magic works." Sprig replied.
"Dude. You lost me."
"Yeah, I know. It's a long story, trust me." The boy sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "But anyway, Anne's definitely cool! Always has been since she showed up! You have no idea how many times she helped me out when I was in a jam!"
"Yeah, she definitely gives off a cool vibe." Gwendy said as she watched the human girl walk further and further away from where they were. "Would be nice to talk to her some more."
"Well, we're planning on staying here for another day, so you'll have plenty of time to get to know Anne, Gwendy!" Sprig suggested. "Oh wait, unless you're working at the gift shop tomorrow, so, uh…"
Gwendy chuckled. "It's cool, dude. Don't worry about it. You focus on taking care of your family. Especially your girlfriend."
"Uh, she's not my-."
"Hey, Sprig!" Both Sprig and Gwendy heard the human girl calling out to her friend from a distance.
They both looked over to where she was, to find that the family were already some ways away from the museum, with the brown-haired girl waving at the boy with one arm, while the other arm was carrying the purple tadpole.
"What's the holdup, dude?! You coming or not?!" Anne shouted.
"Sorry! I'll be right with you in a second!" Sprig shouted back to her. He then turned back towards the tall frog. "Well, I really gotta get going. It was nice talking to you, Gwendy!"
"Right back at ya, dude." Gwendy said, as she waved the orange-haired boy goodbye. "Enjoy your stay!"
Sprig nodded to her before he turned and ran towards his family to join them on their way to the diner.
Gwendy watched as the Plantars gradually disappeared from view. Once they were out of sight, her cool smile was replaced by a worried frown.
Anne truly seemed like a great person, according to the boy. So the long-haired frog had to wonder, what exactly was the odd girl supposed to do in the Curiosity Hut? Stan only shared with her and Frog Soos about how Anne was supposed to help them hit the jackpot, but he never said anything else beyond that.
It started to sound like the whole deal with those monster statues all over again…
Gwendy shook her head. "It's probably nothing. I should get back home…" she said to herself.
The tall frog turned towards the direction of her home in order to go back there, when…
"Stan?!"
"Gwendy!" The Curator suddenly appeared before her from seemingly out of nowhere, staring at her with a toothy-grin. "Looks like you've been chatting with our special guest, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. I have." she replied, trying her best to recover from the jumpscare. "But where did you come from? I didn't see you anywhere this whole time."
"I was watching you from behind this window over there." The fez-wearing frog pointed at the window in question.
When Gwendy looked at the window, she noticed that the curtains were closed. But there was a noticeable hole in the curtains, which was strangely shaped in a way that fit her boss' eyes.
"… What's up with the hole?" she pointed at it.
"That's none of your business." The Curator replied, avoiding her question. He then took a few steps towards the direction of where the Plantar family went, smirking as he though about the girl with the bush-like hair. "Whaddaya think? She's definitely a goldmine, isn't she?"
"You mean Anne? Well, she seems like a chill person."
"Yeah, that too." Her boss said with an uncaring tone in his voice. "But seriously! What are the chances that we have this incredibly rare specimen showing up at our doorstep! Not to mention how she offered herself up to be a surprise attraction for the museum, just for a piece of junk!"
He rubbed his hands together in anticipation for the kind of fortune that he was going to receive. "Can't wait until the whole world hears about this, and when they do, I'm going to be drowning in cash!"
"Uh, hate to break it to you, but she's a no-show for tomorrow." Gwendy informed him.
"What?!" The Curator snapped his head towards his employee in shock.
"Yeah, turns out that her family talked to her about it and they decided that she shouldn't partake in whatever you have in store for her in the museum. Sorry, Stan, but sounds like we're gonna do our usual thing."
Stan stared at the long-haired girl straight in the eye, processing the shocking information that she told him about. He even bothered to walk towards her until they were inches away from each other, just to see if she was not pulling his leg.
The act made Gwendy feel a bit uncomfortable as a result.
"… Hahahahaha!" Stan suddenly laughed and slapped his thigh. "Good one, Gwendy! You almost had me with your typical teenage frogspit!"
"Uh, Stan, I'm not really kidding here." Gwendy frowned.
"Okay, maybe not. But it's definitely frogspit that you're telling me here! Tell me this. Who in the family said that she shouldn't come to the museum?"
"Um… I think it's their gramps." she replied, trying to remember how her interaction with the Plantar family went.
"The old man, huh? So it wasn't her who decided that, right?"
"Well… You got me there."
The Curator smirked, as he continued his reasoning on the likelihood of the strange girl's participation.
"And one more thing that makes me think that she'll definitely come. When she talked to me about making a deal with her, I can see in her eyes how much she really wants that Skip thing or whatever. Like her whole life depends on it. So even if her family is against her doing things for us, she's gonna rebel like the teenager she is and do it anyway. Doesn't that sound like something that you would do, being a rebellious teenager yourself?"
"I mean, you're not wrong…" she said without denying her boss' words, looking to the side.
"See, Gwendy? No reason why we should worry about it. I bet my two hands that she's gonna do exactly as we agreed upon."
He placed his hand on Gwendy's shoulder and gave it a good grip.
"I guarantee that, by the end of tomorrow, you and me, and maybe Frog Soos if I'm nice enough, we're going to be swimming in money all the way to the bunker! Hahahahaha!"
The eyepatch-wearing frog laughed as he patted his employee on the shoulder a couple of times. He then began to walk towards the hut in order to return inside.
Gwendy did not like how their conversation went. Something was wrong. It was becoming more and more likely that her boss was planning something insidious for the bushy-haired girl. He was behaving like a criminal. Well, more of a criminal than he usual was.
Actually, he started acting that way ever since…
"Stan!"
"Hm? What is it, kiddo?" The Curator stopped and turned his head back towards his employee.
"Stan… What exactly are you planning to do with Anne?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" He asked her with a question of his own, seemingly avoiding answering her on purpose.
"It's just that…" Gwendy trailed off, as she thought about what she wanted to say to him.
At first, she wanted him to be straight with her about what was his plans for Anne. But then, she thought about something else from way back that would explain his current actions. Something that she should have noticed a long time ago.
"Stan, you've been acting weird since last Summer." she said. "You used to share with us your typical, money laundering schemes using phoney artifacts and creatures, some of them we made together. But ever since you started bringing in all those monster statues, you never gave to us straight about where they came from or how you got your hands on them."
She glanced at the Curiosity Hut where the statues resided.
"You were pretty greedy back then, but never this greedy, especially when it involves those statues." she continued. "And now, when you're talking about Anne, it's almost like you're treating her the same way as those things. Just… What's going on, Stan?"
"Look, Gwendy. You're asking the wrong questions here." Stan replied, still actively avoiding giving her a straight answer. "A kid as young as you has no idea how business works. It might look like I'm keeping a secret, but I'm not. The reason why I don't tell you stuff nowadays is because you're just gonna get confused about how I work things around here. The last thing I want from a person who works for me is them questioning things each and every second."
"But… This isn't like you, Stan!" Gwendy exclaimed, feeling even more worried than before. "I know I'm not the only person who thinks this. Frog Soos probably feels the same way. Heck, even Flipper and Schmable would think that-"
"Who cares about those two little backstabbers anyway?"
Gwendy widened her eyes shock, as if he just said something that was inconceivable for him.
"… What?" It was all that she could say.
"You know what? I think all this boredom at work is messing with your head, Gwendy." The Curator said, as he resumed his march towards the hut. "Go back home and get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow, you hear? And as for me, I'm gonna be preparing something big! Gotta make sure that everything goes as perfectly as possible!"
"Hey, Stan!"
SLAM!
Stan slammed the door of the Curiosity Hut behind him, leaving Gwendy alone to stare at the closed entrance.
Her anxiety over the whole situation had gotten bigger. Stan definitely changed for the worse, and she had a pretty good idea what was the cause of that change. He was also planning something terrible for Anne. But exactly what, she had no clue.
She looked at the direction where the Plantar family disappeared to and began to fear for them. Her only hope was that Anne avoids showing up to the museum where she will be caught in a terrible trap. But seeing how certain her boss was about the girl coming anyway, perhaps her hope was doomed to fail from the start.
"Stan… You can't be serious about all of this…"
"Mmm! Now that's the kind of meal that'll have you asking for seconds!" Hop Pop said as soon as he finished his dish.
His grandchildren nodded in agreement, all of them also done with their own food, or just about.
The Plantar family were at Greasy's Diner, on Gwendy's recommendation, to treat themselves with a nice supper meal using the money that Anne had gotten for them earlier in the day. The interior of the restaurant looked exactly as you would expect a diner to look like, with a long counter where people can interact with the waiters, and tables stationed right next to the windows. The Plantars were seated at one of the tables, with Anne and Sprig sitting on one side and Hop Pop and Polly sitting on the opposite side.
"Yep! That definitely hits the spot!" Anne said as she rubbed her stomach in satisfaction. She was still wearing the hood of her cloak on her head to hide her face.
"I'm surprised that we can ask for breakfast meals even when it's night." Sprig remarked. He also had his hood on for the same reason.
"I ain't complaining! If there's any place that serves chocopede pancakes any day, you can bet that I'm gonna take a huge stack of it every time!" Polly said with pieces of the pancakes still stuck on her face, not that she cared about that.
A plump waitress with long, grey hair in a beehive hairstyle, and a closed lazy left eye stopped by their table laughing.
"Hahaha! You folks from outta town enjoying yourselves here?" she asked.
"Oh absolutely, ma'am!" Hop Pop confirmed to the waitress. "I especially like what you did with your chef's special! It makes this old tongue of mine feel as if I'm at my prime again!"
The waitress laughed at the elderly frog's compliment, while the entire family all smiled at her, grateful for her service.
She continued to laugh.
… And laugh…
… And laugh…
… And laugh…
It had gone to the point where the Plantar family's genuine smiles became strained, as they looked to each other and wondered if they should be concerned or not.
"I'm glad to hear it, mister!" The waitress said, her laughter finally stopped. "All of the tourists who came to my diner said the exact same thing. Some of them were even wondering how I made it so delicious. I know! Who wants to play a guessing game?"
"A game? Sure! I'm in!" Anne accepted, followed by the rest of the family.
"Can you guess what's the secret ingredient of my special Coffee Squash Pie?"
The family had a blank look on their faces, all of them thinking the same thing as to what seemed to be an obvious answer to the waitress' question.
"Uh… Is it coffee?" Anne answered, shrugging with uncertainty.
"… Are you some kind of psychic or something?" The waitress asked, eyeing suspiciously at the disguised human girl. The Plantars were taken by surprise by her sudden shift towards hostility.
"Uh… No? It's just a lucky guess?"
"Well, good." The waitress said, as she stopped giving Anne the stink eye. "Because we don't take kindly to people who called themselves psychics or the like."
"What do you guys have against psychics?" Polly asked, curious about the townsfolk's apparent dislike of those kinds of people.
"Long story," Frog Soos spoke. "But there was a famous child celebrity who was a psychic, was a fav among us Stony Gulch folks. Then it turned out that he was a phoney who took us for suckers and took advantage of our trust. He's serving time in prison right now."
"Oh, okay! That makes sense! Thanks!" Polly thanked the large frog, turning herself around to face him.
…
"… AAAAHH!" The purple tadpole screamed, as she jumped right into her grandfather's arms out of fright.
The whole family got startled when they finally noticed the large, turquoise frog wearing a t-shirt with a question mark, who leaned over Hop Pop and Polly's seat from the next table behind.
"Oh, sorry, dude." Frog Soos apologized. "Didn't mean to spook you."
"Why is everyone out to scare the living tail out of me?!" Polly complained.
"Hey! You're that janitor from the museum, right?" Sprig asked, recognizing the large frog.
"You got that right, dude. Name's Frog Soos, by the way." Frog Soos formally introduced himself to the family.
"Oh! Well, I'm Sprig." The boy introduced himself in turn. "This is Anne, Hopadiah and Polly." He pointed to each family member as he named them.
"My apologies for how my granddaughter here reacted to you." Hop Pop apologized on Polly's behalf. "Today has been really tensed for most of us, and she has gotten a bit jumpy as a result."
"A bit? Try a lot!" Polly shouted.
"Also, I believe we haven't properly thank you for your help with cleaning up Sprig's mess back at the shop, even though it should be his responsibility alone."
"It's no big deal, dude. It's all part of my job anyway." Frog Soos replied. "Speaking of which, were you dudes looking for a hat or something? 'Cause I found one when I was sweeping the floor, and Gwendy thought that it might be yours."
"Yeah, we met up with Gwendy a bit earlier, actually, and she gave me back my hat." Sprig responded. "Thank you so much for finding it, by the way. I can't even imagine having to go on without my trusty hat."
"No problem, dude. Happy to help out anytime." The large frog nodded.
"Geez, guys! First that cool frog girl, now this big janitor guy right here? I feel like I missed out on a lot of things." Anne remarked amusingly after witnessing the family's casual interaction with Frog Soos. "You're gonna have to tell me what you've been up to while I was gone."
"Sure, Anne. We'll do that when we're gonna be back at the fwagon." Sprig promised her.
Frog Soos glanced at the hooded human girl and was reminded of what his boss had told him earlier about a special guest. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be the special attraction that Mr. Ponds told us about, would you?" he asked.
"Actually, I am." Anne confirmed proudly.
"Technically, she's not anymore." Hop Pop corrected her.
The human girl glared at the elderly frog. "Come on, Hop Pop! No need to butt in!"
"Just want to make sure that you know that you're not getting involved with that museum." he explained himself.
"Is that true? Guess that's a shame." The large frog expressed his slight disappointment. "Anyway, quick question. If you were to travel to a parallel dimension and you come across your parallel self, what do you think would happen? Would you two coexist like normal or would there be a paradox where you and your parallel self somehow get fused together to become a single you that's similar, yet different from the two selves? That, or you two destroy yourselves into nothing."
The Plantars all looked at him strangely, unsettled by his question that was both philosophical and horrifying.
"Uh… What?" Polly was the first to speak out her confusion.
The waitress was still standing by the Plantars' table, and in contrast to their reaction, she laughed at what the large frog just said. "Oh Frog Soos! Have you been licking yourself again?"
"Hehe! Guilty as charge, ma'am!" Frog Soos chuckled before he licked his forearm.
"You know, back in my world, licking a frog's skin can sometimes make you go on a weird trip." Anne said. "But this is probably the first time that I see a frog doing that to himself. It's still weird, but in a different kind of way."
"Welp, sounds like you folks don't need me around anymore, so I'll be going for now." The waitress said while cleaning up the finished plates on the table. "Give me a holler whenever you need something else, okay?" She then left the family and Frog Soos be, laughing all the way towards her next task at hand.
"… Anyone wanna bet that she got struck in the head, or at least in the eye, by lightning to be acting like this?" Polly said about the waitress once she was gone.
"Polly!" Hop Pop quietly scolded her.
"I know you're thinking it too, Hop Pop! Don't pretend that you're not!"
"So, dudes," Frog Soos spoke. "Where are you from? And what brings you to Stony Gulch?"
"We're from Wartwood in the Frog Valley." Sprig replied. "We're actually on a long trip far away from home to Newtopia."
"Ooh, the big city of Newtopia? Sounds like an expensive family trip." The large frog expressed his surprise.
"Yeah, no doubt about that. But the real reason why we're going there is to help out Anne." The boy said while motioning his hand over to his best friend next to him. "It's a long story, but we're trying to find a way to get her back home, and Newtopia might have the answers that we need."
"And that's not the only thing why we're on this trip." Anne added. "We're also looking for some ingredients along the way to help out this guy right here with his own problems." She pointed at her friend next to her.
"I guess that makes it that this whole trip happened because we want to help the person that we care about." Sprig turned his head towards Anne and gave her a grateful smile. "And to me, it's worth all the trouble that we came across so far."
"Aww, Sprig!" Anne returned his smile with her own. "I feel the same way, dude. And I'm pretty sure that goes for you guys too."
"You're darn right it is." Hop Pop said.
"Yeah! The whole family is in this together!" Polly exclaimed.
Frog Soos chuckled after seeing how the family treated each other. "Hehe! Nice to see a family bonding together. Especially between siblings. Reminds me of Flipper and Schmable, in a way."
"Who's Flipper and Schmable?" Anne asked out of curiosity.
"A couple of twin brother and sister who came to Stony Gulch last Summer. They're Mr. Ponds' great nephew and niece." Frog Soos replied. "Pretty cool dudes, if you ask me. They made last Summer here pretty fun and memorable with their antics and stuff, on top of other things. I think I have a picture of them right here."
The large frog had his hand dig into the back pockets of his shorts and pulled out a small, slightly crumbled up group picture which he then placed in the middle of the table for the whole Plantar family to see.
They all leaned in to look at the picture clearly.
Within the picture, there were five people posing in front of a huge tree with a large hole at the bottom that anyone can walk through. Frog Soos was standing on the left of the picture with his hand forming a peace sign. Gwendy was sitting on a rock with her legs crossed on the right of the picture, wearing a relaxed facial expression accompanied by a chill smile. There was also the Curator without his eyepatch standing in the middle with a smug look on his face. He had his foot placed on top of a small rock.
And standing front and centre were two, light orange-coloured, small kids. A boy with short, brown hair wearing a cap with an image of a pine tree, orange t-shirt with a dark blue vest on top of it, and a pair of grey shorts. A girl with long, brown hair adorned with a headband and braces on her teeth, wearing a pink, knitted sweater with the design of a shooting star leaving a rainbow trail, and a purple pencil skirt.
"So this is Flipper and Schmable, huh?" Sprig asked.
"The two kids right here? Yep." Frog Soos nodded. "I ain't kidding when I said that they made last Summer fun and memorable. When they showed up here, things around here started to get weird, like all of the sudden, the oddities that were hidden beneath the surface popped out from outta nowhere. And those two, with me, Gwendy and Mr. Ponds, happened to solve most of them."
He pointed at the short-haired boy in the picture. "Flipper is a smart dude who's a big sucker for mysteries. Like he's always on the hunt for them to try to solve one of the world's biggest mysteries, even when it gets him in a lot of trouble. He also has a taste for cool girls. Huh. I dunno why I felt the need to mention that."
He moved his finger over to the long-haired girl. "Schmable is, like, silly fun incarnated. Trust me when I say that her joy spreads like wildfire. Dude always sees the good in a lot of stuff, and her silliness tends to help us out in a lot of our problems. The only problem that's still a problem, as far as I know, is her quest to find a lover."
He removed his finger from the picture, as he himself looked at it in its entirety, feeling nostalgic over the times that he shared with the Ponds Twins. "Those two basically changed the lives of us townsfolk for the better. Every day was always something new when they were around. Stony Gulch wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for them."
"Yeah, those two sound like pretty great people. It would be fun to meet them in person." Anne remarked. "Oh, you know what? You should definitely introduce them to us! Sounds like a plan, right?"
"Sure is, dude!" Frog briefly smiled, before the smile was replaced with a frown. "… Is what I would've like to say. Sorry, dudes, but Flipper and Schmable aren't with us anymore."
The Plantars gasped in sadness and horror.
"You mean… They're dead?" Polly asked, coming to that conclusion alongside everyone else.
"What? No! They're still alive, as far as I know!" Frog Soos clarified while shaking his head at the absurdity. "I mean they left town at the end of last Summer."
"Oh, that's what you meant! Sorry. We tend to assume the worst because of the world that we're living in." The purple tadpole apologized, as the whole family relaxed after learning what actually happened to the twins.
"Still, it would've been nice to get to know them personally." Anne said. "I get the feeling that we might hit it off in an instant."
"I think so too, dude." The large frog agreed with her sentiment.
He picked up the picture from the table and proceeded to stare at it more closely, smiling as he once again reminisced on the time that he had spent with the twins, along with everyone else.
"It's no joke when I say that those two changed our lives. It feels almost like it was yesterday when Flipper and I were being bros with each other, Schmable was doing girl time with Gwendy and her other two friends, and Mr. Ponds was a lot more friendlier when they're around. Especially when compared to…"
Frog Soos trailed off, his joyful face full of nostalgia slowly being replaced by a frown, when he compared two different times in his head.
He never thought much about it until now, but his boss was behaving quite positively ever since Flipper and Schmable showed up in Stony Gulch. He remembered Mr. Ponds himself telling him that his great nephew and niece made him feel like he had a true family, a feeling that he thought he had lost a long time ago. It was why that he was acting a bit more jolly and generous towards the large frog compared to before.
But ever since the twins left, Mr. Ponds was…
"What's the matter, dude?" Anne said, noticing that Frog Soos was silent for a while.
He snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry, dude. Just thinking back on the good times I had with the twins." he said while his lips formed a smile again.
"Oh, okay. Makes sense." The brown-haired girl nodded in understanding.
"Welp, as much as I would like to talk to you dudes some more, it's been a while since I stopped eating my food, and this belly right here needs to fight off the hunger."
"We understand, Frog Soos." Hop Pop said. "We wouldn't want to keep you holding out any more than you should. Besides, we're just about done here. Right, kids?"
"You got that right, HP!" Anne said.
"You bet, Hop Pop." Sprig nodded.
"Can we ask some more chocopede pancakes to go?" Polly asked, feeling that she haven't had her fill for the food yet.
"You know, Frog Soos," The boy spoke to the large frog. "You're actually a pretty cool guy. I mean, not as cool as Gwendy. No offence."
"No problem, dude." Frog Soos reassured him. "By the way, don't worry about me seeing your face or anything. I'm the kind of dude who's like a saint towards anything beautiful and ugly. The definition of the terms can be interchangeable, if you think about it."
Sprig smiled widely at him. "Thanks. That really means a lot to me."
"Good to know. High tongue!"
Frog Soos launched his tongue in the air with the intention of slapping it with the tongue of the intended person.
Sprig did the same in response… Only to be reminded that he was still not a frog when he saw that his tongue barely left his mouth. He pulled his tongue back begrudgingly and frowned.
"Dude," Frog Soos spoke while retreating his tongue back once he realized that he was not getting anything from the boy. "Don't mean to alarm you, but your tongue looks like it got shrunken down."
Sprig groaned.
"Sorry about this, dude." Anne apologized on her friend's behalf, as she patted him on the back. "He's not really in the best state to be doing high tongues. But you guys can do high fives instead! It's like high tongues, but with your hands!"
"That sounds good. High five it is!" Frog Soos raised his open hand in the air.
Sprig smiled, as he stood up from his seat so that his hand could easily reach the large frog's own. Their hands proceeded to slap against each other, accompanied by a satisfying clapping sound.
"Yes!" Frog Soos cheered as he retreated his arm before performing a fist pump. "Hope I get to see you dudes around some more tomorrow."
"We hope so too, Frog Soos." Anne said. "But as for me, we're definitely gonna see each other, no problem!" Her lips formed a smirk while she did a pistol hand gesture at him, with the implication of what she was planning on doing the next day.
"And what does that supposed to mean?" Hop Pop asked while eyeing suspiciously at the human girl.
"What? It means that we'll see him after work or whatever." she replied, feigning innocence.
Frog Soos knew what she meant. And yet, he was feeling anxious about it.
"Well, I believe it's time for us to go." Hop Pop declared, as he stood up from the table with Polly still in his hands. "I just need to pay the nice, if somewhat awkward, waitress at the counter, and we'll head straight back to the fwagon. Let's go, Polly!"
"Okay, but can we still ask for more pancakes, Hop Pop? Please?" Polly begged her grandfather as they moved towards a section of the counter where the cash register was looked on the back.
Sprig also stood up from his seat. "I guess I'll wait for them outside. You wanna come with, Anne?"
"Sure! Give me a sec, alright?" Anne replied.
As soon as the boy left the table to go towards the direction of the exit, the Thai-American girl stood up herself, only stopping herself from leaving when she noticed several crumbs of pancakes were sticking on her clothes.
"Urgh! Gross! Polly needs to lay off on the whole devouring food like an animal just a tiny bit." she said as she wiped the crumbs off herself.
Once she managed to remove most of them, she was about to leave the table, when the large frog stopped her.
"Hold up, dude!"
"Hm? What's up?" she asked, wondering what was it that he wanted from her.
"You, uh… You planning on going to the Curiosity Hut tomorrow?" Frog Soos asked hesitatingly.
"Well, to be exact, my family doesn't want me to go there at all." she replied while looking at the elderly frog and the purple tadpole at the counter where the waitress was dealing with them.
When she shifted her gaze back at Frog Soos, she adopted a mischievous smile, leaning her head forward while she moved her hand next to her mouth. "Don't tell anyone about it, but I'm definitely gonna show up there tomorrow. The Curator guy and I made a deal that he'll give me the Skipman in exchange for me being the special attraction at the museum for one day only. I'm not passing up on that chance."
"So… You're really going to do it?"
"Definitely!" Anne nodded, as she began to explain how she intended to do so. "All I need to do is wait for everyone to fall asleep, and then I'll slip out and go to the museum. And when I'm done with that, I'll go back to the fwagon before anyone wakes up and notices that I'm gone. It's gonna go great!"
Frog Soos rubbed his hands in a worried matter, as he considered what she said and the circumstances that she was putting herself into.
"I, uh… I think you should probably not come to the museum at all."
Anne raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why not?"
The large frog shifted his gaze to the side. "I dunno, but I'm getting some red flags about this. Mr. Ponds told me and Gwendy about you being our special attraction, but he didn't mention anything else."
"So? Maybe it means that he wants to keep whatever he has in store for me a surprise to even his employees, right? I don't see what's the problem here." Anne shrugged.
"Well, that's the thing. This isn't the first time that he was keeping secrets from us." Frog Soos explained. "Not just the whole thing between you and him, but those monster statues too."
"The statues?"
"Trust me. I've known Mr. Ponds since I was a little boy. Granted, he was being a jerk at first, then he warmed up to me. Especially when the twins came to town. Basically, he was a jerk with a heart of gold."
He turned his head to the window, specifically towards the direction of the hut.
"But now, he's acting like a jerk with a heart of cold. You know what I'm saying?"
"Uh… Not really." Anne admitted to being a bit lost by what he was telling her.
Frog Soos turned his head back towards her. "Anne, dude… Mr. Ponds ain't what he used to be. Right now, he's actually kinda scary, and not like the man that I looked up to all those years ago. I didn't realize it until I talked to you dudes."
He looked down at the group picture that was still in his hands, shifting his sights between the Curator and the Ponds Twins.
"And I'm sure… it had something to do with Flipper and Schmable leaving Stony Gulch with his twin brother."
"… Twin brother?"
Before Anne could approach him on that, she heard Sprig's voice calling out to her from a distance.
"Hey, Anne! You coming or what?!"
"Oh! Sorry! Be right there in a sec!" Anne shouted to the boy and the rest of the family standing at the exit, waving her hand at them to reassure them.
She then turned her head back towards Frog Soos. "Dude, maybe you're just overthinking it. I mean, isn't the Curator guy already kinda scary, and that's supposed to be one of his schtick as the host of the museum? Besides, he seems like an okay guy who's willing to give me one of his articles for a reasonable price, when I talked to him earlier. You sure you didn't lick yourself a second ago?"
"That has nothing to do with it! There is something going on with him! I dunno what, but I just know it!" Frog Soos argued.
"Look, if things get hairy between me and him, then I'll hightail it outta there. Sounds good, right?"
Anne began to slip out of her seat on the table. "Anyways, I gotta get going. See you later, Frog Soos!"
"Dude, wait!"
The human girl proceeded to go and rejoin her family at the exit, not willing to stop for another second to listen to Frog Soos' worries. After being left alone, Frog Soos could only let out a concerned moan, as thoughts of what might happen between her and Mr. Ponds tackled his mind.
"What were you two talking about, Anne?" Sprig asked out of curiosity once Anne entered the family's company again.
"Eh, not much, really." Anne replied, downplaying their conversation. "I think he's just telling me one of his weird philosophical garbage. You know, after he licked his own skin again?"
"Yeah, I'm weirded out by that." Polly commented. "As if this town wasn't weird enough already. Do we really have to stay another day here?"
"Well, we do need to resupply ourselves before we continue our journey to Newtopia. The last thing that we need is getting ourselves vulnerable due to the lack of resources." Hop Pop gave his reasoning. "But as soon as we're all prepped up and go, we'll leave this town in an instant."
"But does that mean we won't see Gwendy or Frog Soos again, if we do it this way?" Sprig asked, expressing his desire to interact with those two people some more.
"That depends on how the day goes." The elderly frog replied. "In any case, let's go back to the fwagon. Tomorrow will be another new day for the Plantars!"
The kids all sounded their agreement, just before the family finally started to leave the diner.
Anne was following them from the back, wearing a sly smile. She could not wait to initiate her plan to go to the Curiosity Hut once everyone had fallen asleep. No matter what anyone says about how potentially troublesome the museum and its owner might be, she was unwilling to pass up on her chance at obtaining the Skipman which was the first major lead towards getting herself back home to Earth. She felt that her plan should go quite smoothly.
She had yet to realize just how dangerous her situation turned out to be.
End of Chapter
Hey, everyone. HiddenKurogawa here to give you some cipher-related news.
As promised from last chapter's notes, I'll reveal to you the title of the last chapter, which is encoded with the Vigenère cipher using the keyword 'Amphibia.'
Curiosity Hut
Now for the title of this chapter, I'm using the Caesar cipher that uses a shift of +3 or -23 to do the encoding. Just remember that, to decode this chapter's title, you need to do the process in reverse.
That's all from me. As always, feel free to comment, follow and/or fave this fanfic, though I would appreciate these very much. Until next time.