Calamitous Intervention

Seed Money / Unveiling Calamity

Chapter Fifteen - Seed Money / Unveiling Calamity

It was a scorching hot day outside in Amphibia, as Luz, Sprig, and Polly worked together to pluck weeds from the field while crawling across the dirt, and sweating in the terrible heat. Sitting far from them was Hop Pop, who rested on a chair with his feet propped up, and happily drank lemonade. He felt relaxed, not having to go through the tough physical tasks everyone else was doing.

Sprig stood up, already exhausted, before hearing a moo. He looked over to see cowapillars munching on wheat in their pens, and the frog immediately got an idea that could make their work a lot easier. He ran up to the old frog, yelling, "Hop Pop! Hop Pop! Great idea! What if we trained the cowapillars to eat these weeds? Then we wouldn't have—"

"Hup bup bup," Hop Pop cut him off, waving his hand. "Suggestion barrel's over there." He pointed over to a barrel covered in mold and mushrooms, and surrounded by flies. Next to it was a tilted sign labeled "Suggestions".

Excited, Sprig ran up to the barrel with a piece of paper, sticking out his tongue to eat all the flies in one swoop. He grabbed a pencil and wrote his idea on the piece of paper while Luz, carrying Polly, walked up behind him, curious.

"Suggestion eighty-nine..." Sprig muttered, writing as Luz spoke up.

"At least Hop Pop's considerate of your ideas," she said. "How much has he read?"

"I doubt that he's read any of them," the tadpole simply replied. "I suggested a swimming pool months ago, and that never happened," she finished as she looked ahead with a blank and deadpan expression.

"Oh, come on, guys," Sprig lightened things up. "Have a little more faith in Hop Pop." He stuck his paper through the slot before accidentally getting his hand stuck inside. "Oop..." He chuckled nervously, doing his best to pull it out. "Hand stuck."

With one last pull, he got his hand out, but in turn, the barrel tipped over as well. To their shock, underneath the barrel was a deep pit with flames rising from inside. They quickly realized that the pit had been burning up their suggestions all those months, and Hop Pop had never actually read any of them.

They peered down into the pit, shocked, as Polly said, "A fire pit? That's the opposite of a swimming pool!"

"Why, Hop Pop?!" Sprig dramatically cried out. "Whyyyyy?!"

"Because your suggestions were ridiculous," the old frog explained. "You can't just dig swimming pools anywhere. It attracts pests. Running a farm ain't easy, kids."

"Maybe. But if I were in charge, I'd listen to other people's suggestions, not burn them!" Sprig retorted. As if on cue, the fire pit behind him grew larger, peeking out of the hole.

"You? Run the farm?" Hop Pop scoffed. "Run it into the ground, maybe." He inflated his vocal sac, smacking Sprig playfully and making him stumble back. In return, Sprig did the same, surprising the old frog.

Polly gasped, realizing what this meant. "Is that an official challenge?"

"Why are we fighting over this?" Luz cut in. "Can't we just compromise?"

Ignoring her, Sprig ran to a tall pole in the middle of the farm, climbed up on it, and used a stick to ring a bell while hollering obnoxiously. As he hopped down, the three walked up to him while Polly announced, "Sprig Plantar, you have rung the Plantar Family Challenge bell! What is your challenge?"

"I want to replace Hop Pop and run the farm my way," he stated.

"Hop Pop?"

"I do formally accept this ch—" Hop Pop started, but was cut off by Luz.