The Isles of Amphibia

The Box

A group of girls were at the playground. Two of them were on the swings.

One girl with olive skin and short, black hair that had a green pin in it. She was wearing a green skirt and a grey sweater with the school logo on it. She had a 3DS in her hand, and she was the shortest of the three girls.

The other girl on the swings was pale and blonde. Her hair was in a ponytail. She was wearing a grey shirt with the school logo, underneath was a pink shirt with a collar. Her skirt was the same color, and she was wearing a blue jacket. She had a beauty mark on the left side of her face. She was texting somebody.

The third girl, who was standing next to them, had curly, brown hair, and her skin was darker than Marcy's. She was wearing the same thing as the blonde girl, just without the jacket. The shirt underneath as well as the skirt were purple, which complemented her yellow shoes. She had a pink backpack, and she was about show the other girls something she found.

"Mar-Mar, Sash," Anne spoke. "Check this out!"

Sasha and Marcy looked up from their devices and watched Anne pull something out of her backpack. It was bronze, and it had three beautiful gems. One was blue, one was purple, and one was green. It looked like a treasure chest.

Marcy stared at the box in astonishment.

"Whoa!" Sasha gawked. "Anne, you actually got it!!"

"It reminds me of the Legend of Zelda!" Marcy beamed.

"Sure did, Sash," Anne said. She was bitter about it, but she was really good at hiding it. After all, she did this for Sasha, and she didn't want to make her sad. She continued, "Also, I saw a video where this exact music box was a cake. What if someone else took the box and replaced it with a cake substitute? Is it still good to eat?"

"Girl," Sasha rolled her eyes. "If it were a cake, it wouldn't be safe to eat anyways, especially with it sitting there for God-knows-how-long. However, you did get me curious about this, so um. Lemme see that."

Anne handed the box to Sasha. She looked at it, wondering two things. What made Anne think it's a cake, and why am I invested in this now?

She pressed against the sides of it, hoping it was a cake so it would be satisfying to destroy.

"Don't break it, Sashy!" Marcy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I just got that today!!!" Anne added.

"Okay, fine," Sasha groaned. "But this is not a cake. Trust." She passed it back to Anne.

"Can I see it?" Marcy asked. Anne trusted her more with it, for obvious reasons.

"Sure, go ahead," Anne answered, giving her a peak at the box that was now in the gamer's hands. Marcy's eyes sparkled as she observed the details of the box. The gems were so shiny, she could see her own reflection in them. She admired the emerald. Green was her favorite color.

"What if we picked off the gems and each of us kept one?" Sasha suggested. "Dibs on the purple one."

"Sasha, this is Anne's box!! We are not doing that!"

"Thank you, Marcy," Anne mumbled. Her phone vibrated, and she checked her notifications. It was her mom, saying she should be home soon.

"Okay, I gotta go," Anne said.

"But Anne, what about the-" She held up the box, thinking of giving it back to Anne.

"Keep it, Mar-Mar. Just don't give it to Sasha." She glared at the bossy blondie, who scowled at back at her. "You can just give it back tomorrow. And do NOT break it."

"Okay, promise!" Marcy said. Anne walked away, going home.

Sasha and Marcy watched their best friend walk away. Marcy looked back at the box a moment later, while Sasha waited for Anne to leave, hoping for a chance to pry the box from Marcy's small hands. It was a couple of seconds before she was gone, and Sasha could do her thing.

"Gimme that box, Mars," Sasha commanded. She held out her hand, opening and closing her hand, signaling for her to have it.

"But Anne said not to." Marcy countered.

"Okay, but where's Anne?" She raised her eyebrow.

"She's gonna turn around, come back, and kill me if I hand it to you."

"You're joking, right? She's all bark, no bite. As if she's even the bark. Besides, it's not like she actually said all of that. Give it."

"No."

"Don't make me repeat myself any further. I want that box."

She glared at Marcy. She wasn't exactly the best friend you can have. She was a control freak. Marcy resisted, even with how badly she wanted to give it to her just to end the conflict.

"Ugh," she grumbled. "At least let me have that purple gem? I called dibs on it anyway."

"..."

"You know what? I don't wanna be your friend anymore." An empty threat that sounded so real to Anne and Marcy. Despite the tension, Marcy wanted to keep her promise that she made with Anne. She didn't budge, even though it's gonna make it worse. It'd be worse either way.

"Okay," Sasha berated. "Then we'll just do this the hard way." She reached out for the box. She failed to snatch it from Marcy's hands, but both pairs of hands were now on the box.

"GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING"

"GIMME THAT BOX!"

"IT'S NOT A CAKE!!!"

"IDGAF 😱"

They played tug of war with the box, arguing about why and why not as to Sasha having the box. They argued for a while. Sasha was just blabbering about how she has the right, as Anne's friend, to hold the box, while Marcy was telling her how she didn't want to make Anne mad. It wasn't long until it fell out of both of their hands. It opened up once it hit the ground, appearing broken.

"Now look at what you've done, Mar-Mar. Maybe if you gave me the box this wouldn't have happened."

"How come nothing is your fault?! Why do I have to the one to blame every single time you-"

The box began to form a portal as they fought. They stopped and stared at the portal in astonishment and confusion. It showed a whole different world, full of people who look like.. amphibians??
Before they could say anything, it sucked them into a new world like it was a black hole, then closed. For the rest of the day, the box would stay there, as if someone had just left it. Nothing else happened at that swing set.