The Isles of Amphibia

The Chase

Anne walked out of her room in her pajamas. She barely got any sleep last night. She was thinking about the box. It was probably broken anyways. Sasha may have took it from Marcy and ran away with it.

Her cat, Domino, ran to her leg. Her fur was a dark grey, and she had yellow eyes. Anne held her in her arms, feeling the softness of Domino's fur.

"Good morning, Mom," She spoke groggily, still tired. "Good morning Dad."

She noticed them staring at the TV. They had a look of worry on their face. They didn't respond.

"Mom? Dad? What's up?"

"Oh, good morning, Anne," her mother spoke. "We're so glad that you're awake. Do you want breakfast?"

"Sure," Anne said. She yawned. She placed Domino onto the couch, and sat next to her. Her father keep staring at the screen. She glanced at the TV, barely half-awake.

Two girls were reported missing this morning; Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu. They were last seen by these swings, and this box is all that remains at the scene.

As a picture of a familiar swing set appeared, the teenage girl recognized that box immediately. It was in almost perfect condition- except for the gems, that seemed to be grey now. However, she wasn't worried about that. She was worried about her friends, and what had happened to them.

"Mom," Anne stammered. "What's going on?"

Oum was grabbing some ingredients from the fridge to make Kai Jeow. Her eyes opened as Anne asked such a question. She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Oh, sweety, I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you later, I didn't want to upset you first thing in the morning, but..."

Anne didn't need her mother to answer a question she already knew the answer to, or any questions she was about to ask that her mother can't provide an answer to. Did the music box have something to do with their disappearance? Where are they? She didn't care about the box anymore. She especially didn't give a flying shit whether it was a cake or not.

She got up almost instantly. She threw on her yellow jacket, not waiting any further to run out the door and straight to the park before her mom stopped her.

"Anne, I'm not sure if the park is open. I'm so sorry."

"But-" Anne stammered. "My friends! Marcy, Sasha, what happened?? I have to know, I-"

Mrs. Boonchuy hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry. It's gonna be okay."

Her father hugged her as well. Domino rubbed her head against Anne's leg. She sobbed. She didn't know what to do without her friends. She wouldn't stop thinking about them for the next 3 years.

________

Anne was sitting by the swings, just like old times. She sulked. She missed them so much. She just wanted her friends back. She thought about the music box. What happened to it?

As she dwelled on the disappearance of her friends, she saw a strange girl behind a tree. She had something that looked exactly like the box. Anne had to get that box back. She stood up, and started to walk closer to the trees, noticing that this was in fact the music box from 3 years ago. She walked closer and closer.

She saw that this person was.. odd. This girl was wearing a strange cloak, the hood up. It covered her forehead, and her skin looked like it was purple. She looked super tall compared to the human teenager, and she turned to look back at Anne.

She squinted at the weird girl. She was making direct eye contact with a weird girl with yellow eyes and horizontal slanted pupils. A shadow shaded over her eyes.

The strange tall girl got up and bolted in the other direction.

"HEY!!" Anne yelled. She sprinted towards the stranger.

The purple-skinned girl ran through the woods. Anne followed. They ran through the space between buildings, and around the block. The weird girl kept glancing at the gems of the box as they flickered. They were slowly getting back to the normal state they were once in when Anne retrieved it.

The two girls kept running though several different places, and even the same ones over and over again. This went on for a while. Eventually, the gems were back to their respective colors. But the chase didn't end there. Anne was determined to get that box back.

The tall purple girl ran behind a rock and stayed there. She got out the key, and inserted it into the lock. Anne didn't see anything, she was too busy running in circles. She wouldn't notice until she saw a giant portal, glowing and revealing the other behind it.

"Oh no you don't," Anne shouted. She bolted and threw herself to the glowing light. The humanoid-amphibian-like person ducked, avoiding Anne as she leaped towards her and the box. Anne was the first to go through the portal, and Purple Frog Girl followed, running off in another direction when she returned to her home world.

A world that Anne had never seen in her life.