With Anne, Rowena, and the Plantars now on Earth, King Andrias has a plan to conquer other worlds. The adventure is far from over... In fact, it's only just the beginning.
"Plantars, and Rowena, Assemble!" Anne shouted this morning. "Present." Hop Pop said. "Sup." Polly greeted. "Morning, Anne." I replied, kissing her cheek. "Any news?" Sprig asked. "I got a text from Dr Jan, it says, 'come see me when you got a moment, I think I found something'. Which means, the sooner we talk to her, the sooner we get you home." Anne explains as we all cheered. As we were about to leave for the museum, Anne's parents and Rosalina were loading some food in the car. "Oh good, you're here." Mrs Boonchuy said. "Help us finish loading the car." "No problem, Mrs Boonchuy." Sprig replied. "We'd be glad to help." Hop Pop said. "I can't carry much, but okay." Polly added. "Okay, then we gotta get to the museum." Anne explains. "No way, it's market day at the Thai temple, and we're all going to be there." Mrs Boonchuy refused. "But Mom!" Anne begged. "It's super important." "So is this, the Thai community hasn't seen you since you came back, and this is the perfect opportunity. Maybe the Warblers can go for you?" Mrs Boonchuy suggested. "What's going on?" Rosalina asked. "I'm sorry, Mrs Boonchuy, but Anne and I are in this together." I said. "So, I'm not going without her. Besides, it's been a while since I've been there." "Look, I'll make you a deal." Mrs Boonchuy explains. "Just stay for 1 full hour, then you can go do whatever." "Fine." Anne groaned in agreement. "Market day?" Hop Pop asked. "Temple?" "It's a monthly all-day event at the Thai temple, everyone gathers for food, music, sport, dance, and Thai language school." Mr Boonchuy replied. "It's a..." All of a sudden, two of the kids from school brought out their phones and started taking pictures of me and Anne. "I can see you, Desi and Rico!" I snapped as they ran away. "What was that all about?" Mr Boonchuy asked. "Nosy gossip bloggers from the school paper, trying to get an exclusive photo of the girls who went missing." Anne explains. "Oh, well, I've got some photos they can use." Mr Boonchuy said, pulling out his phone. "Here's you eating spaghetti when you were 2, and here's you when..." "Oh, Dad! Oh my gosh, stop!" Anne exclaimed. "Never!" He shouted.
Once we arrived at the temple, my sister and I helped carry some of the food from the car. The Plantars were just like kids in a candy store with all these new surroundings. "The stalls sort of remind me of Wartwood." Hop Pop said. "There's even a statue!" Sprig exclaimed. Polly ran up to a bulletin board to see a picture of Anne dancing. "No way!" Polly gasped. "Anne, is this you?" "Yup, I've been coming here since I was a kid." Anne explains. "It seems cool at first, but believe me, it gets old quick." "What about you, Rowena? Have you and Rosalina been here before?" Polly asked. "Me, not until the Boonchuys took me in." Rosalina replied. I started to get emotional. "What's wrong, Row?" "The last time I came here was the day our mom died." I whimpered. "Anne and I were having a play date, but her parents forgot about market day, so, they let me come along. Anne, Marcy, and Sasha slept over that night to keep me company." "I'm so sorry." Polly replied. "It's fine. It was a long time ago." I explained.
I started to feel better as the day went on. As the Plantar's were helping set up, I decided to help Anne with samples from the restaurant. Anne looked like she was paralyzed with fear. "Anne, what's going on?" I asked. "Everyone's here." Anne whispers as we were soon crowded by a bunch of people. We both greeted the Thai community members. Even though Rosalina has been coming here, I was surprised that some of them remembered me from 6 years ago. After they gave us some space, Anne got out her phone to see the text from Dr Jan. "Don't worry, Dr Jan, just 1 hour and we'll be there." Anne said.
As Anne continued to help with samples, I saw Mrs Boonchuy carrying some heavy dishes. "Whatcha got there, Mrs B?" I asked. "Just a few dishes some of the community members lent me." Mrs Boonchuy replied. "Alright, it's been almost an hour by now." Anne said. "It's actually been 10 minutes." I explained, showing her the time on my phone. "That's it. Sorry, Mom, but I've got more important things to do today then hand out samples." Anne said to herself, dialing Dr Jan's number. "Hi, Dr Jan, it's Anne. Me and Rowena are at the Thai temple, but we'll be at the museum in 30 minutes tops." "Are you sure?" I asked. "This seems very important to your mom." "Relax, all we gotta do is collect the frogs and avoid my parents, and Rosalina." "My sister has been meditating ever since we got back, so we don't need to worry about her." I explained.
We decided to split up to find the Plantars. I was looking for Polly. When I found her, she was speaking fluent in Thai. "Polly." I whispered. She didn't respond. "Ugh, forget this, I'll just go meet up with Anne at the museum." I was stopped by Rosalina, standing in front of me. "Why are you headed to the museum?" Rosalina asked. "I thought Mrs Boonchuy said that Anne had to stay for an hour?" "Crud." I mumbled. "Well, it's about returning the Plantars to Amphibia." "Look, Row, I know it's hard for you to be here, but this is important to the Boonchuys, why do you think we had all those dishes?" Rosalina asked. "A potluck, probably." I replied. "No, the Thai community brought us meals and took care of all of us while you and Anne were gone." Rosalina explains. "Wow." I sighed. "They might not have seen you in years, but they knew how much we wanted you both home." Rosalina continued. "They helped us at the restaurant, asking for nothing in return." "That's really cool." I smiled. All of a sudden, a bunch of dragonflies were flying above the temple, although, I noticed that they were more metallic, because they were more robots from Amphibia. "What are those things?" Rosalina asked. "Stay here and get everyone inside the temple, I gotta find Anne and the Plantars." I explained.
Coming outside, I met up with Anne as a laser was blasted in our direction, barely avoiding being hit. The Plantars came up to us, looking worried. "Guys, we heard a blast." Sprig said. "What's going on?" "Looks like the robot sent some scouts after us." Anne explains. "We have to protect the temple and everyone in it." I added. "Right!" They shouted. "We're right behind you." I heard Rosalina say, standing beside Mrs Boonchuy and the rest of the community members. "Rosa! I told you to tell everyone to take cover!" I shouted. "This was all Mrs Boonchuy." Rosalina explains. "This is our temple and our community." Mrs Boonchuy said. "When one of us is under threat, we all are." "Be gone, Saint James Middle School paparazzi!" One of the members yelled. The members began charging towards the drones and threw a bunch of dishes at them. As Hop Pop was fighting alongside the dancers, he lost his disguise. Mr Boonchuy tossed a tray at one of the drones. Being completely off target, Sprig kicked Polly to destroy the drone, both of them also losing their disguises. After we celebrated, I noticed the frogs. "Guys, your disguises have fallen off!" I panicked.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Everyone, we can explain!" Anne announced. "No need to, Anne." A lady said. "If they're your friends..." "Then they're our friends, too." Another lady added. "No matter how ugly they are." "Ouch." Hop Pop said. "It's funny, but it still stings." Sprig added. "They're talking about you two." Polly comments. "Wow, I don't even know what to say except, Khxbkuhun māk kha." Anne thanked as I bowed along with her and the Plantars.
A few minutes later, I helped Anne out with some cleaning. "Man, middle school equipment is very advanced these days." Mrs Boonchuy said, looking at the drone. "Well, hour's up. You two are probably itching to get out of here." I looked at Anne and we nodded at each other. "I think I'd like to stay a bit longer." Anne replied. "Me too." I added. "I thought you guys had more important things to do?" Rosalina asked. "Sis!" I laughed. "Just kidding." She joked as Dr Jan pulled up to the temple in her truck. "Dr Jan?" Anne asked. "Sorry guys, this just couldn't wait!" Dr Jan exclaimed. "It's just too dang exciting!" She showed us the pot under a black light to reveal a message in Amphibian coding. "It's written in some kind of ancient language, if only we could read it." "Wait!" I exclaimed, pulling out Marcy's notebook from my backpack. "Wait, according to Marcy's notes, it says, Seek the mother of alms, she will guide you to your destiny?" All of us gasped in astonishment. "That doing anything for anyone?" Anne asked. I nodded. "Not especially." Sprig replied. "No siree." Hop Pop added.
