A Frog's Way Home (The Calamity Girls Book 3)

Adventures in Petsitting

My Australian Shepherd puppy, Thor, walked outside with Domino as we researched portals in the backyard. "Really, science mag monthly?!" Anne complained, knocking the magazine away. "Not an article about inter dimensional portals?! There's absolutely nothing! What science do you even do?!" "Relax, Anne, we'll find a way back." Hop Pop said, sipping some lemonade. "Eventually." Mr Boonchuy came by to refill his cup. "Oh, you don't have to do that." "Please, you're our guests." Mr Boonchuy insisted as the fire alarm went off. "What's that high pitched beeping?" Hop Pop asked. "My canapés!" He gasped. "I haven't been this pampered in ages." Hop Pop explains. "Enjoy it now, kids. You know the old saying, guests are like swamp gas, after three days, they start to drive you crazy. We've already been here two days, pretty soon, we'll have to start pulling our own weight." "It has not been two days." I explained. "Hop Pop, we've been here for a whole week." Sprig added as Hop Pop spit out his drink. "No! That means we're not just guests anymore. We're freeloaders! Just like Cousin Stanley!" Hop Pop exclaimed. Polly gasped. "Well, I'm sort of family now." Sprig said. "Who?" Anne and I asked. "He was the worst!" Polly shouts. "He stayed forever." Hop Pop explains. "Ate all our snacks." Sprig added. "Even used my bucket as a foot bath." Polly complained. "I don't think he was really our cousin." Sprig said. "But, we were hosts, so we had to be nice." Hop Pop continued. "We just resented him a little more each day. Thankfully, he eventually left peacefully on his own. Just kidding, we threw him out the window." "Whoa, what?!" Anne exclaimed. "Exactly, and I can only imagine what the Boonchuys want to do to us by now." Hop Pop explains. "We gotta find a way to contribute to this household." "I'm gonna stop you right there, HP." I said. "They've been letting my sister live here since Anne and I got zapped to Amphibia. Don't you think you're overreacting?" Hop Pop was silent. All of a sudden, Mrs Boonchuy came out to the backyard. "Hey, girls, it's time for your dentist appointment." Mrs Boonchuy said. "Our what?!" Anne exclaimed. "You two have been missing for 5 months." Mrs Boonchuy explains. "And I have a feeling both of you haven't been brushing." "I actually have." I explained. "Don't think you're getting out of this so easy." Mrs Boonchuy said. "But Mom!" Anne groaned. "Rowena and I were supposed to take Domino and Thor to the vet today!" "Maybe your father or Rosalina can take them." She suggested. "No can do." Mr Boonchuy replied. "I'm working at the restaurant today." "That's a no for me too, Mr B told me the restaurant was short staffed and he asked me to help out." Rosalina added. "We'll take the cat and the dog to the vet!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "Really? Are you sure?" Mrs Boonchuy asked. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's the least we can do to help." Hop Pop replied. "You guys are lifesavers!" I exclaimed. "Here's the address to the vet, and if anyone suspects anything froggy about you, just say, "Boy, I could use some coffee." It's like code for I'm human." Anne said, handing the address to Hop Pop as Mrs Boonchuy dragged both of us to the car. "Mom, please? My teeth only hurt a little bit."

Hop Pop's POV

After they left, it was just me and the kids in the backyard. I couldn't stop staring at the vet's address. "Wow! Our first solo Earth mission without Anne or Rowena. Big stuff." Sprig said. "Do you really think we'll be alright?" "Sure." I replied. "Now, let's get that cat and dog to the vet."

Once we got inside the house, Thor was no problem to get in the cage, but Domino, not so much. "Looks easy enough." I said. "I'm having Domino 2 flashbacks right about now." Sprig panicked. "Enough talk, seize the beast!" Polly exclaimed, landing on top of Domino, who decided to scratch us all. "Oh my frog, it's got claws!" I screamed.

As soon as me and the kids got Domino into her cage, we got dressed into our human disguises and walked to what Rowena called a bus stop. "Well, we survived that." I sighed. "Barely." Sprig added. "Now all we have to do is take this bus to the vet." I explained as the bus arrives. "Alright, we can do this. Just blend in and do whatever these people do." The humans boarded the bus and scanned a card to get on. Since Anne or Rowena never gave us one, I had to improvise. I intimidated the sound of the scanner for all of us to get on. "Taking the bus. Done." "That wasn't that hard." Polly said. As the bus started moving, I used my tongue to try and grab one of the poles. "Wow, Hop Pop, great tongue action." Sprig complimented. "I take a kick in and keep on licking." I explained. All of the passengers began complaining. "Did that creepy old man just lick everyone on the bus?" One man asked. "What do you have to say to yourself dude?" Another man added. "Boy, I could use some coffee?" I question myself. The bus driver kicked us to the curb. "Well, that went well." Polly said sarcastically. "So, what do we do?" Sprig asked, grabbing the phone Mr Boonchuy lent us. "Oh, maybe Mr Boonchuy or Rosalina can give us a ride." "Absolutely not!" I refused. "We're not asking for any more favors, we just need to focus up and get this job done."