"AAAAHHH!" Frank screamed as he sprang up in his bed. Sweating profusely, he tried to catch his breath. "I just had a horrible dream that I meant Anne and we got teleported to a crazy world of talking frogs!" He exclaimed, before claiming down. He then sighed and gained a chill smile. "Good thing it was all just a dream."
"Uh, Frank," said an all too familiar voice. Frank slowly turned his head and saw Anne sitting up on her sleeping mat. Standing next to her were Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly.
Hop Pop croaked. "Oh..." Frank fell back on his mat. "Right."
"Hey, guys. Sleep well?" Sprig greeted them. Still his usual happy self.
"Careful, boy!" Hop Pop suddenly exclaimed, blocking his grandson with his arm. Giving Frank and Anne a wary look. "They could be hungry."
"For your guts!" Polly hopped over in her little bucket, holding a rolling pin like a weapon.
"Dude, relax. We're not gonna eat something that clearly doesn't bathe," Anne said, pointing at Hop Pop. As it was, the old frog was filthy. Dirt and whatever frogs would sweat was staining both his skin and clothing. And just to add to it, there were flies all around his head.
As the flies buzz all around his head, Hop Pop mouthed his mouth and caught one with his tongue. "Fair point," he admitted.
"See? Told you they were harmless," Sprig said.
"Hmph. Sure, she's harmless for now," Hop Pop said sarcastically as he picked up Polly's bucket. "It's him that I'm concerned about."
"What's that supposed to mean," Frank asked, a little offended.
"Just don't go doin' to use like ya' did to that mantis," Hop Pop warned the boy before walking up the stairs with Polly. But then, the tadpole hopped out of her and hopped back down a few steps to glare at Frank and Anne."
"Just give me an excuse to use old Doris here." She threatened the two while patting the rolling pin on her little flipper. Then she turned and hopped out of the room.
"I think the little one wants to kill us," Anne said.
"What was your first clue," asked Frank.
"Yup. So, you must be so excited to be trapped in another world," Sprig exclaimed, before bending back to give the two ex-friends a teasing smile. "Very jealous." However, he bent too far back and fell over. "Oh!"
Anne chuckled. "It's not all that. I miss my home and my stuff and especially..." she trailed off as she look at a photo of her friends that she tapped to one of the tree roots running through the house like a pipe. "...my friends."
She pulled off the picture and handed it to Sprig. Frank saw it and frowned a little. Looking away.
"Without them, I just feel kind of lost. You know?" She said, looking sad.
Frank sighed and sat back up. "I know what you mean. I miss my grandparents, my family's shop. I may have learned to survive out in the wild by my grandpa, but I never thought I would have to use that knowledge."
Sprig looked at the two humans. Feeling sorry for them, he looked away to think for a moment, before a smile came onto his face. He just had an idea. "Well, then, why don't I be both of your friends in the meantime?"
"You?"
"Me!"
"You?"
"Come on! I mean the two of you are friends, right? Who says that three's a crowd?"
Frank and Anne's eyes widened simultaneously. They glanced at one another for a quick second, before looking back at Sprig. "We're not friends," Frank said.
"Really?" Sprig asked with a surprised look on his face. "But you guys were all buddy-buddy yesterday."
"We used to be friends until..." Frank trailed off for a moment as he glanced at Anne. The girl noticed this and looked away with a frown, causing him to sigh. "Look, I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"
Sprig though for a moment with suspicious eyes. He could tell that there was some kind of history between the two humans. "Well, who's to say that you two can't be friends again?" He asked the two. Frank and Anne glanced at one another with wide eyes. "Come on. It'll be fun! Anne, what did you do with your friends?"
"Everything," Anne said before listing off all the things that she could think of. "Marathon dumb TV shows, drink boba till we vomited, hung out at the beach."
"Oh, we've got a lake," Sprig said after snapping his fingers. "Would going there with me make you feel less homesick?"
"That sounds awesome!" Frank looked at her and smiled. "Remember when our families would take us to the lake to swim?"
"Man, those were awesome times! Alright, let's do it!" Anne pumped her fist.
Frank and Anne brushed their teeth together, before going to separate rooms to change into their swimming clothes. Then, after applying sunscreen, putting on their flip flops, and then grabbing their towels, they came back to the living room. Ready for a day in the sun. Frank then looked at Anne as she wore her sleeveless black swim shirt, with cyan linings across the sides, lilac-colored shorts, and dark aquamarine sandals, which contain yellow straps. He himself had on no shirt, with just a pair of blue shorts with flames at the bottom, and a pair of red sandals with black straps.
"Kind of weird that we both have our swim trunks in our backpack, huh?" Frank asked. Anne shrugged and threw the towel over her shoulder.
Sprig, already waiting for them, placed his goggles over his eyes. "You guys ready to go?"
"Yeah-ah!" Anne said, ready for a day of fun after days of crawling through the mud and the dirty and surviving from everything that was trying to eat her and Frank.
"Let's do this!" Frank exclaimed with a big smile.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The three of them chanted as they ran over to the front door, only to be stopped by Hop Pop jumping in front of him.
"And where do you two think you're going?" he questioned
"We're going to the lake," Sprig said, pulling out his short and then letting them go, letting them smack back into his waist. "Ooh. Ow."
"Why? You want in? You wanna come?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, the more the marrier," said Frank.
"Absolutely not!" Hop Pop suddenly yelled at the three, before moving past Sprig to talk to the humans living with them. "Look, Frank, Anne. You're a new, unsettling, strange, bizarre, gangly, horrifying-"
"Thanks. We got it." Anne held up her hand.
"Point is, the frogs in this town can be pretty small-minded," said the elder frog as he walked over the window and pulled down the shades to look outside, seeing some frogs walk and interacting with each other. When one that was walking his fly waving and saying hello to Hopediah. "And paranoid."
Frank raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about everyone else or just yourself?"
"We just need to give 'em time to get used to ya," Hop Pop said, before pulling out a key. "I think it's best you stay put."
He then locked the door, just as Anne started to protest. "But-"
"No buts!" Hop Pop said, slipping the key into the pocket of his shirt, before walking away from the two teenagers and his grandson. "Now I'm gonna go into my study to get a little reading done."
"Uh, Hop Pop." Sprig complained.
"Come on, man!" Frank added.
"Don't do anything stupid!" Hop Pop told them, before slamming the doors to his study shut.
"Ugh!" Anne groaned. "Adults are all the same. Curfews. Rules..." she paused for a moment to think of a three thing. "Old."
"Yeah, looks like we're stuck here," Sprig said before getting an idea in his head. "Ooh! I know what'll be fun. Let's try some of Hop Pop's pain peppers."
"Pain peppers?" Frank asked as he followed Sprig. The little red frog pulled out a wooden barrel that had some reddish liquid leaking from the top. Sprig then opened it and the two of them looked inside to see the peppers Sprig was talking about.
"So hot, they'll make you wish you were dead," he told Frank.
"Oh, that's a load of baloney," Frank said, waving him off. He then reached in and grabbed one of them by their stem. Having eaten a lot of spicy food in his life, the brown-haired boy was expecting something that he was accustomed to.
However, he wasn't expecting the intensity of the pepper. His eyes widened at first, before screaming in pure agony as a column of fire came out of his mouth. He then started running around the room, screaming, "WATER! WATER!" Sprig ran over with a jug of water, jumped on Frank's shoulders, and started pouring the water down his throat. When it was all gone, Frank still screamed. "It doing nothing! Why isn't the water doing anything!?" He then collapsed on the ground, holding his neck, and reached his hand out in a dramatic way. "Someone just kill me, please! Say hello to all the girls I've loved before!"
And then, Frank went limp on the ground. Surely dead.
But then he sprung back up with a smile. "Woah! Man, was that something!" He said, before grabbing another one and held it out to Anne. "Here, Anne, you should try it. Once you get past the pain and agony, it's really good."
"No, thanks. I'd rather go to the lake," Anne said with determination.
Sprig was just about to eat a handful of the pain peppers when he turned to Anne. "What? But Hop Pop said, uh-"
"Sprig, you wanna know the best thing about friendship? When you got your friend by your side, anything is possible," Anne said, which made Frank smile as he stood next to her. Only for that smile to fade a little when she said, "Whatever you want, a real friend will help you get. And you know what I want?"
"The lake!"
"Yup. Now let's go rob an old man!" Anne proclaimed, pointing a finger to the air.
Frank glared at her with his arms crossed. "Really?"
"Yeah, that didn't sound as cool as I wanted it to."
Frank sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Did she really forget that stealing was the whole reason they were stuck in this world? Either way, he went along with it. He wanted to have a fun time and even reconnect with her in some way. So he, Anne, and Sprig walked over to the doors of the study and looked inside.
Reading Hop Pop had taken off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair, and the very pocket that housed the key was facing them. Key sticking out of it.
"Any ideas?" Anne asked.
"I've got a few, but they involve using technology that doesn't exist," Frank said. "But I've got another idea." He then started walking cautiously towards Hop Pop. His bare feet softly stepped on the wooden floor, trying not to make a sound.
But as he got a few feet closer, he heard something. He held up his fist, signaling for Anne and Sprig to halt and stay quiet. Frank's eyes widened when he found out what it was.
"You've...got...to be kidding me," he said in a low voice.
"What is it?" Anne asked.
Frank turned to them and signaled for them to come over. "It's okay. He's asleep."
Anne and Sprig looked at one another before walking over with him. When they got to him, they were absolutely stunned to see that Hop Pop was, indeed, snoring. However, his eyes were wide open as he stared down at his book. Anne daringly waved a hand in front of his face to get a reaction out of him, but Hop Pop remained still.
"This might be the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Anne commented.
"Happens all the time," Sprig told them.
Frank turned to him. "Really?"
"Yeah, he makes a great scarecrow."
Frank then looked down at the key and carefully reached down and grabbed it out of Hop Pop's couch. gently pulling it out. They then tiptoed out of the study, before Anne closed the door behind them.
"Alright, I've got the key," Frank said, holding it up. He then looked a little guilty. "I still don't feel right about stealing it from Hop Pop like that."
"It's not stealing if we're going to give it back," Anne assured him. "Besides, we'll be back before he wakes up." Frank looked a little skeptical. "Come on! Lighten up. Now, let's go to the lake!"
"To the lake!" Frank and Sprig cheered with her.
The walk to the lake was a little longer than Frank and Anne were expecting it to be, but they didn't really complain. In fact, for the first time since coming to the world of Amphibia, they were able to walk through the woods without having something chasing after them. Anne breathed in the fresh, marsh air before letting out a big sigh. "This is great. Three pals beatin' the odds to have some fun."
"It is nice," Frank said, looking up at the sun that was blocked by some of the trees. "But I'm kind of used to this, really."
Suddenly Anne leaned with him with Sprig being held in her other arm. She then pulled out her phone that had a cat cover. "Here. Smile!" Anne stuck out her tongue, Frank smiled and held up a peace sign, and Sprig tried to do some kind of smile. She pushed the button, and the camera on the phone flashed. "Whoa. Hey, that turned out great."
Anne showed Frank and Sprig the photo, and Frank had to chuckle at how weird Sprig looked in it. "Yeah, we look so cool," he said.
"I don't know what's crazier, that you just stole my soul in a tiny box, or that we look so incredible," Sprig said before handing back Anne's phone. "I gotta say, this friend's business is amazing!"
"Wait, you don't have any froggy friends," Frank asked curiously.
"Uh..." Sprig went silent for a moment. "Kids around here don't really get me."
"Yeah, I get what you mean," Frank said with a smile, reaching down and placing his hand on top of the little frog's head. "You know, I don't have any friends either."
"Really?" Sprig and Anne turned to him with surprised looks.
"Yeah, I mean I used to be friends with Sasha, Anne and Marcy. But then..." Frank paused for a moment as he glanced at Anne for a very short moment. He contemplated for a moment on what he should say next. "Well, not anymore and I never really got close to anyone."
"Well, then I can be your friend," Sprig suggested.
"Huh?" Frank and Anne asked.
"I mean, you don't have any friends, so I can fill the role as your friend," Sprig offered before looking at Anne. "And if I'm your friend too, Anne, then that would make the two of you friends! Then we'll all be friends!"
Frank frowned. "Sprig, that's not how it works."
"Well, why not make it work," Sprig asked. "You two used to be best friends, so you're already off to a good start, and then we'll all be friends together."
"So you're telling me, is that the only reason that I and Frank will be friends is because we're friends with you, and the only reason you're friends to the two of us, is because we'll be friends?" Anne asked, trying to wrap her head around the frog's logic.
"That's right." Sprig confirmed with a big smile.
Frank and Anne looked at each other, both of them conflicted. When Sprig first made the proportions for the two of them to be friends again, they were hesitant. Anne was all for being friends with Sprig, but Frank was hesitant. He and Sasha stopped being friends a long time ago. After that, Marcy and then finally Anne left him. Did he really want to drag Sprig into their trouble?
"I'll think about it, buddy," he said with a smile before walking off.
"That's not a no," exclaimed the little frog as he pranced along the road behind Frank, and then Anne followed behind. However, her expression was one that bordered on being upset and sad.
In a few minutes, the trio finally reached the lake after walking out of the bushes. "We made it," Sprig told them, as Frank and Anne stared out at the lake. It was one of the most beautiful sights they've ever seen in this world. Glistering water that was so clear that they could see the bottom, wild lily pads flooring around and in the lake, alive with vibrant colors.
"Whoa. It's beautiful," Anne said in awe at the scenery.
"You ready, guys?" Frank exclaimed, excited to get into the water.
"Yeah! Whoa-ho!" They all shouted and ran to the water, only for their fun to be cut short when they came up to a sign standing on the beach. Telling them not to "DON'T SWIM..." With the red paint trailing off after the M.
"Wait, frogs can write in English?" Frank asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This was not here last week," Sprig said.
Frank glanced at him with a look of confusion before turning back to the lake. "Wondered what happened to make someone put up the sign."
"Huh." Anne placed a hand under her chin and looked at the sign with a suspicious expression. Then she looked out at the lake as a rainbow formed over it. "Hmm. I know exactly what's going on here. Some jerk just wants this beautiful lake all to themselves. Well, forget that."
"Anne, are you sure that's a good idea?" Frank asked, stepping in front of her to block her.
"What, are you scared?" Anne asked mockingly, before looking a little bit frightened when Frank glared at her. "Well, Sprig is on my side, right, buddy?"
"Ah, I don't know, Anne," Sprig said in agreement with Frank. Staring at the sign with squinting eyes. "Whoever wrote this wrote it in a hurry, like they were scared to be here."
"Or maybe they just had bad handwriting," Anne said, walking past Frank and taking off her backpack. "Come on. Don't be a buzzkill." She took off her sandals and dipped her left big toe into the water. "Ooh, that's nice." Suddenly, Frank grabbed Anne's right arm and pulled her back. "Hey, what are you doing?" She exclaimed, trying to pull herself away from him.
"Something's not right about this lake, Anne! I can feel it!" Frank said urgently, letting her go.
This just seemed to get Anne annoyed. "Ugh, I thought you wanted to have fun with friends?!."
"I do, but-."
"Well, this is what friends do, Frank. Remember?" She questioned. Frank was a little shocked and upset with Anne's attitude towards him. "They help each other get the things they want."
"What?"
"Look, if a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them," Anne explained, stepping closer to him. "If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if a friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store that belonged to your grandmother, even if you don't really want to, you do it, okay Frank?" She said after turning around and crossing her arms. She then closed her eyes, unable to stop herself as she continued ranting. "And if a friend tells you to ditch you even though you're the nicest boy I've met and I really liked you, then you do it, because that's what friends do, Frank!" Anne finished that sentence by whirling around and yelling it.
Realizing what she had just said, Anne slapped her hands over her mouth with a look of horror. Everything just seemed to go quiet for that very moment, as she turned to see Frank's devastated expression turn into a frown. "Wait- what did you just say?"
Sprig glanced between the two that had their friendship years ago broken, and realized that things were about to get messy and personal. "I ah...I'm just gonna go and enjoy the water," he said nervously, before walking off and jumping into the water to have fun. "Whoa-ho!"
"You told me that you didn't want to hang out anymore," Frank said, storming up to Anne. Seeing her panicking face, the boy gasped and then glared at her.
"Frank, I swear I can..." Anne tried to talk but was interrupted by a very angry Frank.
As he started to speak, his tone began to shift. "I can't believe you, Anne. All this time you've been LYING TO ME?!" He shouted at her, before throwing his arms up. "And what, Sasha threatened she might not want to be your friend anymore if you didn't ditch me?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
Frank grunted in frustration, before turning his back to her. "Why would you do that?!"
"I had to!" Anne said. "Sasha don't...well, she didn't like that you stood up to her and so she..."
"So instead of standing up to her yourself, you and Marcy just went along with what she said and ended our friendship?" Frank questioned her, jabbing his fingers into her shoulder. "Just because I wasn't going to stand for her bullshit anymore?!"
Now it was Anne's turn to be upset. "Oh, here we go again! Friends make sacrifices for each other, Frank!" She argued, but they weren't her words.
"Friends do make sacrifices, but not like that! You don't just exchange one friend for another!"
"Yeah? Well, it seems like I dodged a bullet! In fact, ditching you was the best thing I've ever done!" She shouted that last sentence.
Once again there was silence in the air as Frank stared at her as she glared at him. But in her heart, she was hurting. Bleeding, she would say. She was shocked and stunned that she would even say that to him, after all that they've done together in the past, and after slightly opening up to each other during their travels. She wasn't sure what to do. What could she do? What could she think or say?
Frank didn't say a word as she walked around him and ran straight towards the lake. Forcing a smile on her face, she jumped forward and yelled, "CANNONBALL!"
As he heard the girl splash into the water, he signed sadly. He was emotionally hurt, yes, but not just by Anne's last comment. He was sad at what she's become. Sure, she was fearless and independent in the past, but now? Now she was a totally different person. She was trying to be just like Sasha. Frank wanted to yell at her. To hurt her just as much as she hurt him. But he couldn't, because even after all this time, he still cared about her.
Now, all he could do was just sit down. He looked out at the lake as Anne and Sprig looked like they were having a good time. Splashing and swimming around in the water.
But of Anne, it was all an act. Looking back at Frank, Anne saw him still sitting there with a miserable expression, but didn't come any closer to the water. And it didn't help her feelings in the slightest. She thought that cannonballing and playing with Sprig would have eased her guilt, and yet it didn't.
Sprig swam over to her as the two of them watched as Frank started drawing into the sand. "I don't know if it's my place, but is that really true?" he asked.
Anne sighed, depressed. "Yeah...it is..."
"Well, why not just talk to him and just be friends again?" Sprig naively asked.
"What's the point? After everything that I've done and said..." Anne tried to say more, but gave up. What more could be said that could easily be understood.
The little red frog then turned back to Frank as he looked back at them again. However, the boy's eyes widened with terror before he jumped to his feet. He started jumping up and dump, flailing his arms with his expression showing nothing but panic.
"Hmm." Sprig mused for a moment. "Hey, Frank! What are you doing?" He called to him, gaining Anne's attention."
"Snake..."
"What?"
"Snake..."
"Can you speak louder?"
Frank yelled back at them; "THERE A FUCKING SNAKE RIGHT FUCKING BEHIND YOU!"
At that moment, Anne and Sprig's eyes widened as the snake, whose head was sticking out of the water, blinked. It's head's shadow looming over them. The two friends looked down at the shadow before slowly turning around.
The snake then raised it out of the water, revealing its very large, dull brown body, with a light gray underbelly. It had brown spots with a darker shade of outlines across its back. Eyes were orange with light red, slit pupils. Its fangs stick out of the bottom of its lower jaw. It had transparent, pink salmon colored spines along its back towards its tail as well.
The snake stared at the two in the water. Anne and Sprig screamed in terror before the snake let out a loud roar. The human girl and frog then turned around and started swimming as fast as they could, but the snake gave chase. Being a frog, Sprig was able to swim faster than her. "Stupid non-webbed human hands," Anne said, before looking back. The last thing she did was gasp, before the snake lunged down and ate her whole!
"ANNE!" Frank screamed seeing his former best friend being eaten. Grabbing a rock off the ground gripped tightly in his hand, Frank rushed over to the lake and started hopping across the lily pads. The snake saw him rushing towards it and lowered its head down.
It roared at him, as Frank high at it. Rock raised over his head, before he brought it smashing down onto the nose of the snake. Breaking its nose in a bloody mess, as it swatted its tail at him. Knocking Frank onto a lilypad that was raised above the water. The snake then hissed and lunged its head at him again.
Timing it just right, Frank jumped onto the snake's head. To hold on, he reached down and grabbed its fangs.
Sprig crawled onto one of the lilypads and watched as the snake shook its head wildly in the air, trying to shake him off. But the teenage boy held on for as long as he could. Even when the snake dove down into the water. Frank struggled to hold his breath and onto the snake, before looking down at the fang he was still grasping. And so, with a hard yank, he ripped the fang out of the jaws of the snake.
The water snake roared in pain, rearing its head out of the water. Frank twirled the fang around to hold it in reverse and just like how he killed the green mantis, started stabbing it in the broken nose. Making it screech in pain with every blow, before finally managing to throw him off.
Frank's body splashed into the water as the snake dove down under the surface. It saw Frank and swam towards him. Just before it could eat him, Sprig's tongue reached down into the water and yanked him out of the way, just in time.
Sprig pulled him out of the water, throwing him onto the lilypad. "We've gotta save Anne!" He exclaimed.
"Any ideas?" Frank asked, getting back up again. Sprig then jumped onto him and clawed over his body to be hanging onto the back of the human boy.
"I do, but you'll have to trust me."
The snake recovered from his injuries, and with a messed up nose and a fang missing, it turned its head towards Frank ane Sprig.
The teenage boy was flailing his arms and screaming at it. "HEY! OVER HERE! YOUR MOTHER WAS A WORM!"
The snake hissed angrily. Translation: "My mother was a saint!"
It then swam straight towards them. Frank stood ready as the snake's fin stuck out of the water as the only visual part of it. His glaring eyes narrowed, determined to get Anne out of the snake. When the lake monster was close enough, Frank and Sprig let out a war cry together, and then the boy jumped towards it.
The snake leaped out of the water and opened its jaws as wide as it could, and swallowed them whole.
Inside of the snake, Frank and Sprig's bodies were moved down the tight but slippery and slimy insides of the snake. Being pushed further down into its stomach. With the little frog still on his back, Frank grabbed at the inner walls. Managing to get a grip just then they entered the stomach. Underneath them was green glowing stomach ache that would have burned them in seconds.
"Sprig?! Frank?!" called out a familiar voice. Looking over to his right, Frank was surprised to see Anne hanging onto the walls of the stomach just next to them. Anne looked baffled to see the frog, and her former best friend inside of the snake with her. "What are you guys doing?!"
"What does it look like we're doing? We're getting you out of here!" Frank said, glaring at her before looking at Sprig. "What's the next part of your plan, Sprig?"
Sprig was silent for a moment. "Uh..."
"Are you kidding me?! Whoa!" One of Frank's legs slipped and he nearly fell down into the ache. However, he quickly regained his footing. "Alright, just let me think of something."
Anne looked very surprised at him before looking down with a sad expression "Why are you doing this, Frank? After everything I've done?" she muttered, gaining Frank and Sprip's attention. For the first time, the teenage boy was fully about to see her display shame of herself. "This was my fault anyway. Just get out of here and leave me. It's what I deserve."
Frank looked shocked and surprised. He's never seen this side of her. But now wasn't the time to think like that. "Anne, look at me," he told her. Anne hesitantly looked up with eyes on the verge of tears. "You're right, this is your fault," he told her. "It's your fault we're in this mess. But we're not leaving you!"
Anne was surprised.
"Anne, you used to be my best friend! You were smart, brave, weird, and most of all kind and compassionate! We may not haven't been friends for years, but if you think you can just come back into my life, just to die like this, then you've got another thing coming." He then tried to smile. "Besides, we're partners and Sprig's first friends."
Anne stared at him with wide eyes, before a stream of tears flowed down her face. Hanging off the stomach's inner layer, she wiped off the tears and grinned with determination. "Right!"
Suddenly Sprig got an idea and proclaimed it. "I've got an idea!" He then reached behind his back and pulled out one of those pain peppers. "So hot, they'll make you wish you were dead."
Frank and Anne stared at him. "Sprig, you magnificent bastard," he said.
Sprig dropped the pepper into the stomach ache, and it instantly got a reaction. The green liquid turned red as it started bubbling wildly.
On the outside, the snake was still standing above the water, when the painfully hot sensation came from inside its stomach. Its cheeks puffed out as smoke came out of its broken nostrils. Unable to withstand it anymore, it opened its jaws and released a massive stream of fire. Sending Frank, Anne, and Sprig shooting out of it and landing in the water.
The three friends quickly resurfaced and breathed a deep breath of fresh air. They then watched as the snake toppled over after the fire was extinguished. Its head slammed down on a large rock sticking out of the water, before it slipped down into the lake. Finally dead.
"Glad I didn't have one," Anne said.
"They're actually really delicious," Frank said.
The day was finally ending as the sun was starting to set over the horizon. Hop Pop was still sleeping with his eyes open, but was finally starting to wake up. Sighing as he blinked and mumbled to himself. However, he quickly realized that he had fallen asleep and gasped. "I'm up! I'm awake!"
Remembering why he was in the study, he looked back and immediately checked the pockets of his jacket. Only to find nothing. "The key. It's gone! Oh, no. Did they get out?" Hop Pop started to panic and ran over to a window to look outside. "Is the town rioting? Are they dead? Has Anne and Frank eaten the kids, THE WHOLE TOWN!" He flailed his arms like Kermit the Frog.
Rushing out of the study, Hop Pop ran to the door with the intent to go find the kids. However, he stood when he saw the lock was still on the door. "What's this now? It's still locked."
He then turned to the basement and walked towards it. Opening the doors to the cellar, he heard Frank complaining by saying, "This game sucks." Hop Pop looked down into the room and saw him, Anne, and Sprig huddled around one of his grandson's board games.
Frank handed the dice to Anne, who started rolling them in her hands. "Come on. Mama needs a new pair of shoes." She stopped for a moment. "Seriously though, I do need new shoes."
"At least you have something on your feet," Frank said, trying to gently pull one of the leaves in Anne's hair. He then noticed Hop Pop coming down the stairs. "Hey, HP! What's cracking?"
"Don't call me that," said Hop Pop as walked over to them. "You guys have been here all day, huh?"
"Yeah, dude. I'm on a winning streak," Anne said.
"That's only because the rules of this game are dumb!" Frank said, gesturing to the game.
"I owe her my first-born child," Sprig said.
"Point taken!"
"Oh, by the way, Hop Pop. We found this on the floor," Anne said, pulling out the key that they had stolen. She looked nervously at him. "You must have dropped it.
Hop Pop took the key and stared at it for a moment. "Dang shallow pockets. Well, you get what you pay for," he said, slipping the key into his shirt pocket.
"So, what do you say? You trust us now with not eating you all?" Frank asked with a hopeful expression.
"Hmph, trust isn't as easy to earn as it is to break," Hop Pop said, marching up the stairs and exiting the cellar.
Just then, Polly went down into the cellar with her rolling pin. "Aha!" she yelled, expecting to see Anne and Frank trying to eat Sprig.
"'Sup, Polly?" Anne greeted her. Not eating her brother.
Polly lowered the rolling pin. "You're not gonna eat us, are you?" she asked, as her little tadpole arms drooped. "You're not even gonna try. Dis... appointing."
Frank's hands reached down and picked her up after he had walked up the stairs. He tossed her out of the cellar and slammed the doors shut. He then walked back down to the other and sighed dramatically. Falling down on his butt next to Anne. "Well, that's over with."
"Hey, sorry I almost got us killed today," Anne said to Frank and Sprig, rubbing her arm.
"Are you kidding?" Sprig exclaimed, jumping onto his feet. "That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me! My heart was beating faster than a dragonfly on a sugar rush. In fact, I'm feeling a little sleepy."
Frank chuckled. "Yeah, I'm wiped out too," he said, standing up and walking over to his sleeping mat.
However, as Anne watched him lay on his back and close his eyes, she frowned sadly. If there was any better time to do what she had planned, it was now. She turned to Sprig and said, "Hey, Sprig. Could you give me and Frank some privacy to talk?"
Sprig glanced between her and Frank, wondering what the two former friends wanted to talk about. But that made him realize what it could be about. "Oh! Right, you got it," he said before yawning. "Well, I'm going to bed. Good night, Anne."
"Night, Sprig."
"Good night, Frank."
"Night, Sprig," Frank said with his eyes closed, his legs crossed at the ankles, and his hands behind his head. Sprig hopped up the stairs and exited the basement.
When the door closed, Anne sighed and stood up. She then turned to Frank. Guilt and shame were written all over her face as she stared at him. There were so many thoughts going through her head that it made her anxiety worse. But Anne needed to do this. Not just for herself, but for him.
She looked down with a sad expression before taking a deep breath, before walking over to his bed. "Frank?"
Not opening his eyes, Frank asked, "Yeah?"
"Are you awake?"
"...No."
"Cool...Cool…" Anne felt really dumb for saying that. "I...can we talk?"
After a brief moment, Frank sighed and sat up, before turning his body to face her. He knew it was going towards, so he stared at her with a frown.
As he waited for her, Anne sat down on her bed too. After a moment, she worked up the courage to speak. "I owe you more than just an apology, Frank. And not just for forcing you and Sprig into going to the lake and not just for stealing from your grandma's shop...I need to apologize, for everything..."
"Anne...you don't have to..."
"Yes! I do!" Anne exclaimed in total distort as her eyes watered up. "I abandoned you for God's sake. I ended our friendship, not thinking twice about your feelings. Everything that's happened to us was my fault! I'm sorry for that...a-and...I'm sorry for being a horrible friend...I'm so sorry, Frank."
Frank watched her in silence as Anne panted for air and wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself down to continue. She wanted to ask him for forgiveness. That she would be a better friend than she was when they separated. However, knowing that it was no use, she sighed and turned away.
"...I understand if you don't wanna forgive me...Honestly, I don't expect you to," Anne said softly.
"You're right. You shouldn't. Because there's no easy way out of this, Anne," Frank said bitterly, frowning at her.
Anne looked away from him with a look of shame. Seeing her like this, and knowing how genuine her words were made Frank lowered his head with a depressed expression.
"You know, I remember when we were kids. I didn't really have a lot of friends. I was shy and kind of a scaredy cat. But, I also had...the best friends in the world, once. I really did."
Anne, with her head still turned away, looked at him from the corner of his eyes.
"I always felt safe around you, Anne. You, Sasha, and Marcy. And I grew to be braver because of you girls. Brave enough to stand up to Sasha's bullshit when she started changing into who she is now. And when I was…"
No. She couldn't know. Frank paused to hold in his sobs. He looked down at his right palm and with a sad expression, before clenching his fist.
"And honestly, I miss that so much. I miss the people we used to be, Anne. I miss not being alone..."
Frank's words stabbed Anne's heart like knives, and she started sobbing. Many repressed emotions of guilt and shame for abandoning him, that she bottled up inside of her, were finally coming loose. With clenched teeth, she cried over what she did to Frank. Knowing how alone he was after she and the girls abandoned him.
Frank stared at her again for a moment, before letting out a soft gloomy breath through his nose. "But I guess that'll only be a distant memory, from another lifetime," He said, standing up. "I don't know why life sucks. Or we're here together. Or why that music box sent us to this world. And I especially can not, for the life of me, figure out why the universe decided to put you, Sasha, and Marcy back into my life."
As the tears started to slow down, Anne grabbed her arms and held them tightly. "Do you still want anything to do with me?" She asked, shutting her eyes and waited for the enviable rejection.
"Franne against the world, remember?"
Anne's eyes snapped wide open when she heard that. That thing they used to say together when they were still together. It was a symbol of their friendship. She looked up to see Frank walking over to her with a look of sincerity. He really wanted for things to go back to the way that they were, but Frank knew it was impossible. Nothing was going to fix the old friendship that was broken years ago. Frank cared deeply about Anne. However, their friendship ended years ago. Now he knew there was only one way to make things right.
"There's no going back to how things were, Anne. But...we are all we've got. That's why...maybe we can start over. Start a new friendship, all the way from square one," he said sincerely. Holding out his hand to her. "What do you say? Prove to me that you're worthy of being my friend again, Anne Boonchuy."
Anne stared at the hand reaching out to her, eyes widened and absolutely speechless by his words. Her tears slowly started to leak out again before she lunged and hugged him tightly. Frank's eyes widened at this sudden action, as she started crying happily.
"I will...I promise," she whispered. This made Frank smile as tears formed in his eyes, before hugging her back. The two friends held each other in their arms for a moment before letting go. Frank then turned around and walked over to his sleeping mat as Anne sat down on her. For the first time in a long time, she felt at ease. Even happier. She had Frank, her best friend, back.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the photo of her friends and looked at it, before turning to Frank as he laid down on his mat.
"Sasha, Marcy, I hope you guys are okay, because I am," she said with a smile. Anne laid down on her mat and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Then she turned to Frank. "Frank, I'm sorry for what I said at the lake, and I got us into this mess. But...I'm lucky to have you as a friend."
Frank turned his body to face her and smiled reassuringly. "We'll both figure out a way out of this world. Together with Sasha and Marcy," he said.
Anne blushed a little before reaching out her fist. "Franne again the world?"
"Franne against the world."
The two of them fist-bumped before closing their eyes and drifting off into sleep. They both had a long road to recovery, but now they were finally ready to take the first step.