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

Mother of Olms

Parisia's guards took us deep below Proteus to see Mother Olm. "Mother Olm's chamber is at the end of this tunnel." The guard explains. "But be careful, especially if you're frail and weak." "How's it going back there old timer?" The other guard asked. "Who you calling old?" Hop Pop snapped, just as his leg gave out due to arthritis. "Oh, help me frog." Hop Pop pushed us down the rest of the tunnel by accident. "You good, HP?" I asked. "Sorry, kids. My ding dang knee's been acting up again." Hop Pop replied. "40 years of farming will do that to you." "Good going." The guard said sarcastically. "At this rate, you're going to get everyone killed." The second guard groaned. Sprig spotted a gong. Wanting to touch it, he banged on the gong as Hop Pop fell on top of us as the ground was shaking. Sprig has summoned Mother Olm to the surface. "Who is it that summons me?" She asked. "Uh, greetings, Mother Olm." Anne greeted. "I'm Anne Boonchuy. This is Rowena Warbler, Sasha Waybright, and the Plantars." "Oh, frogs." Mother Olm said. "Hasn't been one year in about a thousand years. And as for you three, how exotic." "We need your help." I explained. "King Andrias is destroying Amphibia, and..." "Wait, hold on. Do you hear a flapping sound like a million tiny wings?" Mother Olm asked. "No? It's just me? Must be all in my head. Continue." "So, Anne, Sasha, and I, and our friend, Marcy got zapped to Amphibia by a music box." I continued. "Music box?" Mother Olm asked. "I am the keeper of the prophecy of the stones and the music box upon which the fate of all worlds rest. And that prophecy is... Wait? How did it go again? Hold on. It'll come back to me. Oh, okay, here we go. The prophecy is, gone. It's gone." "What?!" We exclaimed. "Listen, kids. When you get to be a certain age, things like your memory and body just stop working and abandon you like bad friends." Mother Olm explains. "Tell me about it." Hop Pop sighed. "Well, is there maybe a way we could help you remember it?" Anne asked. "Nope, no chance." Mother Olm replied. "When it's gone, it's gone. But, there is one chance. Dr Yohan's incredible brain cream. Dr Yohan himself used to apply it, but he went missing some years back, and ever since then, I've had memory problems and intense migraines." "Okay, so we rub this gunk on your forehead?" I asked. "My forehead? No. This only works if you put it directly on my brain." Mother Olm explains. "We're going inside your head? Cool!" Sprig cheered. "Uh, can we not?" Sasha asked. "I kinda have a thing with ears." "Suck it up, Sash." Polly said. "It's incredibly dangerous in there, so be careful." Mother Olm warned. "Hey, uh, kids, I think I'm gonna sit this one out." Hop Pop said. "What?! Is it because of what those jerk guards said?" Anne asked. "Listen, HP. You're not gonna slow us down." I said. "Yeah!" Sprig shouted. "You may be old, but you're still a killer." Polly added. "Thanks, kids, but you go on ahead." Hop Pop said. "Oh, I am all ears, baby." Sprig joked as all of us went inside. Except for Sasha, who quickly turned around. "Sasha!" Anne and I shouted, pulling her inside the ear. "But it's gross and I don't wanna!" Sasha whined.

As we got inside, all we mainly saw was earwax. "Um, couldn't this doctor of hers clean the ears?" I wondered. "Ooh, the eardrum." Anne pointed out. "This must be the way Dr Yohan used to take." Sprig said. "Big wad of poo!" Polly shouts. "Real mature, Polly." Sasha said sarcastically. "Sasha, look out!" Anne warned as Sasha walked through a wall of earwax. "Worst. Mission. Ever!" Sasha complained.

A few minutes later, we reached Mother Olm's nervous system. Not gonna lie. I kinda got museum heist flashbacks. As we tried getting through, all of us ended up getting electrocuted by the nerves. "I hate this!" Sasha screamed as we reached the brain. "What the heck is this?" Sprig asked. "It's the brain." I gasped. "Finally! Race you to the other side." Sprig said, bumping into someone. "Sorry about that, Mister." Sprig backed away in shock. "I think we just found Dr Yohan." Sasha explains. "Eh, old and gone. Let's move it along!" Polly shouted as we started applying the cream to the brain, which smelled like rotten eggs. "Mission accomplished!" Anne cheered. "Thank goodness! Can we please get out of here already?" Sasha asked. "Hey, do you guys hear something? Almost like flapping?" Polly questioned. Anne turned on her phone flashlight and shone it on some bats. Or were they mosquitoes? "Batsquitoes!" Sprig shouted.  "Run!" Polly screamed as one of them sucked from the brain. "Well, that explains the migraines." I said. As we escaped the bats, we fell into something green and moldy. "Ew!" Anne groaned. "What is this stuff?" Sasha asked. "It's like quicksand." "I think we're in Mother Olm's nose." Sprig replied. "Which means this must be..." "Don't say it!" We snapped.

We were sinking pretty fast. Moving around was pretty much impossible. "Kids! Can you hear me?" I heard Hop Pop ask. "Hop Pop!" Sprig shouted. "Help! We're stuck in Mother Olm's nose!" "Gross! Gross! Gross!" Sasha complained. All of a sudden, we felt a gust of wind coming through the nose as Mother Olm sneezed us out. "Bless you!" Anne called out. "Worst. Mission. Ever!" Sasha repeated. "I second that." I added. "Hop Pop! You saved us!" Sprig cheered. "You're the best, Hop Pop!" Polly added. "Guess you're not so useless after all." Mother Olm said. "Thanks, Mother Olm." Hop Pop replied as his arthritis kicked in again, this time in his back. "But this back is totally useless." "Hey, Mother Olm. Think you can remember that prophecy now?" Anne asked. "The prophecy? Oh, yes, yes." Mother Olm replied. "Behold! The great prophecy of the music box that plays the songs between the worlds is... Nope. Still can't remember." "What?! We went through that whole ordeal for nothing?!" Sasha snapped. "Hey, did anyone notice the label on this brain balm says it expired 70 years ago?" Sprig asked. "Wait, Mother Olm!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "Did you perhaps write it down someplace? That's what I do when I want to remember something." "Oh, well, if I had, it might be up here on the ceiling." Mother Olm replied, pointing to some notes on her ceiling. "Hop Pop, you clever dear." "What's it say? What's it say?" I begged like Thor would for doggy treats. "Quick! Before you forget how to read!" Sasha exclaimed. "Four stars burning bright. Come from beyond to expel the night. Should they fight or embrace the fall? Their choice will determine the fate of all." "Three stars? Is that us?" Sasha wondered. "Do you burn bright with the power of the stones?" Mother Olm asked. "Well, Rowena and I have powers." Anne explains. "Wait. Do Marcy and I get cool anime powers, too?" Sasha asked. "Yes, honey, you should all get cool anime powers." Mother Olm replied. "But, we can't even control our powers." I confessed. "When King Andrias stole the music box from us, we couldn't..." "Stole it?" Mother Olm asked. "Then King Andrias has stolen the powers that are rightfully yours. But so long as you both retain a piece of that power, you can restore it to your friends." "Mother Olm, what's this prophecy for?" Anne asked. "What are the stones?" "The Olms believe they serve a greater purpose and should be left alone, while others believe their power should be used for conquest." Mother Olm explains. "These conquerors with their arrogance and greed created an unnatural thing that does not sleep and will not die. The prophecy is our one shot at salvation, and we believe you four were summoned to save us from what we've become, the worst version of ourselves." "Unnatural thing?" I wondered. "Thanks, Mother Olm. You've given us a huge piece of the puzzle." "Now all we need are showers." Sasha added. "Happen to have one of those?" "Oh, sure, girl." Mother Olm said. "Just hold right there." Mother Olm chugged down her tea, preparing to spit on Sasha. The rest of us stepped aside. "What are you guys? Oh, no!" Sasha exclaimed as Mother Olm spits out her tea. "No! Ooh, is that jasmine?"