The Road to Newtopia (The Calamity Girls Book 2)

Hopping Mall

We still had a couple of days before we could hear some more information about the music box, so we headed to the Newtopian Markets to have some fun. "Whoa, look at this place!" Anne gasped. "I know, it's kinda like the outdoor mega mall from back home." I said. "Sure, anyway, since we only have a couple of days left in the city, I figured we could spend the afternoon shopping for souvenirs." Hop Pop explains. "Now get out there and buy anything you'd like for two coppers or less." "What, this ain't even enough for a candy bar!" Polly complained. "Yeah, what gives, let's just use that sweet bling from the king." Anne added. "Nuh-uh, kids, souvenirs are only meaningful if you pay for them yourselves." Hop Pop explains as we groaned. "You could always try haggling." "I don't think so." I replied. "Ooh, exciting, I guess I'd better get an item for Ivy, since we are an item." Sprig joked. "Who are you guys shopping for?" "My mom." Anne replied. "My dad and my sister." I responded. "Your mom and your dad?" Sprig asked. "Yep, we both figured if we're gonna go missing in a different dimension, the least we could do is bring them back a gift, right?" Anne explains. "Seems reasonable to me." Sprig replied with a stick in his hand that he didn't have before. "How did you?" I asked. "Don't know, but isn't it just perfect for Ivy?" Sprig asked as he started swinging the stick around, breaking some stuff.

We stopped inside a store to look for a gift. "Now this is for my mom, okay, the lady who gave me life, so, we gotta find something that's one of a kind." "I already found this for Rosalina." I said, showing off a painting of the Newtopia Palace. Anne and Sprig were amazed by its beauty. "But anyway, back to your mom, what does she like?" "Antiques, butterflies, drinking tea." Anne replied. "Okay, well, how about this box of herbal tea?" Sprig suggested. "Too ordinary." Anne replied. "Giant butterfly taxidermy?" I asked. "Too creepy." Anne said. "This antique vase?" Sprig asked as he accidentally breaks it. "This broken antique vase?" "Wait, look over there!" I gasped, pointing at a poster of a teapot. "A butterfly teapot?" Sprig asked. "And it was made by a revered Newtopian artist, guys, it's perfect!" Anne exclaimed. "Excuse me, how much for the teapot?" "Sorry, it's not for sale." The cashier replied. "What, no, 200 coppers, 600 coppers, no, I will pay 90,000 coppers!" Anne exclaimed. "Anne, you have 2 coppers." Sprig said. "It's not for sale because it's the grand prize in the market's annual shopping cart smash and mash derby." The cashier explained. "If you want the teapot, you should sign up." "Are you sure about this, we don't even know what this competition is?" I asked. "RowRow, it's the perfect gift, and this is the only way to get it, nothing is gonna stand in my way." Anne said as a tall newt walked up to the counter. "That's what you think, name's Priscilla the killa, champion of the smash and mash derby 20 years running, this is my daughter, Pearl." She introduced. "Hello." Pearl smiled. "And that teapot is mine!" Priscilla exclaimed as she let her daughter sign up. "Hey, Mom, how do you spell winner?" Pearl asked. "Just put your name, sweetie." Her mother replied. "Oh yeah, well, I'm Anne, and I'm gonna destroy you, in this derby thing, as soon as I figure out how to play." Anne said. "Ha, this is gonna be easier than I thought." Priscilla laughed, leaving with Pearl. "See you in the ring, Moptop!" "They seem confident." Sprig commented. "C'mon, guys, we gotta study up on this game." Anne said.

We went back outside to read some information on the derby. "So, teams of two push carts around and ram into each other." I read. "If your cart tips over, you're out, other than that, anything goes." "Sounds like my kind of game." Anne said. Suddenly, a loud banging noise came from a distance. Turns out that it was Polly with a golden bucket. "Whoa, Polly?" "Oh, hey, like my new bucket?" Polly asked. "There's no way that cost 2 coppers." I replied. "That's gotta be worth, like, 50 coppers." Sprig added. "Haggling, baby!" Polly exclaimed as she left. "Okay, focus, let's go win that teapot, first, we pick our cart, which should be pretty easy." Anne explains as a couple of newts were arguing over the carts. I then began to examine the carts. "Nope, this one's a C-plus at best." I said. "Wow, you're really good at this." Sprig complimented. "Sasha, Marcy, Anne, and I practically lived at the mall." "Oh shoot, we gotta hurry, let's split up and find a cart already." Anne said as we split up.

Right before the derby, I wanted to find something for my dad. I didn't have a clue about what to get him, until I saw a newt that was crafting some items. "Hi, what are you doing?" I asked. "Oh, I'm making some accessories, everything here is custom made by yours truly." She responded. "That's awesome, so, what's your best seller?" I asked. "That would be this satchel, made from recycled Newtopian materials." She replied. "I'll take one, it's a gift for my dad." I said as I went back to watch the derby. "Have a good day, Miss."

At the derby, I sat down with Polly, who has just haggled a snail that she named MicroAngelo. But then Polly left to do more haggling. The derby had just begun and many of teams were already out of it. A little bit later, only two teams were left, Priscilla and Pearl, and Anne and Sprig. Anne mentioned to me earlier that Priscilla had a really bad injury on her tail, but Anne used it to her advantage and won. The announcer gives the teapot to Anne. "Congrats, dude." I congratulated. "My mom is gonna love this!" Anne exclaimed. "Sorry about your staff, dude." "It's okay, if it broke this easy, it wasn't good enough for Ivy." Sprig replied. "Hey MopTop, congratulations, you won fair and square." Priscilla said. "Just make sure you take care of that thing, the newt who made it was special, one of a kind." "One of a kind?" I asked. "Yeah, the kind that encouraged you to follow your dreams even if they were wacky and dangerous, they kinda cut the crust off your sandwiches because she knew you didn't like them, that teapot was the last piece of art she ever made, so, like I said, take care of it." Priscilla replied. "Was the artist your mom by any chance?" Anne asked. She nodded. "You know, I was gonna give this to my mom when I got home, but I think she'd want you to have it." "No, I couldn't." Priscilla refused. "Please, I insist." Anne said, giving her the teapot. "Thank you, this means so much to us." Priscilla thanked. "You're not half bad, Mop..." "Anne, my name's Anne, and this is Rowena." Anne introduced. "Thank you, for being so generous, here, I'd be honored if you gave this to your mom." Pearl said, handing Anne a butterfly sculpture. "I'm no famous artist, but I made it myself and it's one of a kind." "Thank you, it's perfect." Anne cried, hugging the mother and daughter. "Well, now that that's over, you guys seen Hop Pop?" Polly asked. "Oh, hey, kids, just packing a small souvenir and then we can head out." Hop Pop greeted. "Holy frog abuse, there's no way that was two coppers!" I exclaimed. "Okay, fine, I used the credit card, I'm so ashamed!" Hop Pop cried. "But if you could just feel this thing, kids."

Later that night in the hotel, I was out on the balcony with Anne, who was holding the gift for her mom. I held onto the painting of the Newtopia palace I got for Rosalina, and a custom made satchel for my dad. "Hey, I wanted to get you something." Anne said. "Dude, you didn't have to get me anything." I replied as Anne placed a bracelet with a frog charm on my wrist. "I got one for both of us, as a symbol of our never ending friendship." Anne explains as she frowned. I began to blush as Sprig joined us on the balcony since he couldn't sleep. He looked at the butterfly that Anne got for her mom. "It's so pretty, I'm sure your mom's gonna love it." Sprig commented. "Uh huh, yeah." Anne mumbled. "What's she like?" Sprig asked. "My mom?" Anne asked. "Uh, kind, in her own way, but strict too, she wanted me to study more, thought I goofed off too much, we didn't always see eye to eye, she annoyed me sometimes too, like in the kitchen, she'd always sing these goofy Thai love songs, and man was her singing bad, that woman was beyond tone deaf, you know, the funny thing is right now, I would give anything just to hear her singing." Anne starting crying and sat down. "What about you, Rowena, I know what you got for your dad and Rosalina, but I never did ask what you got your mom?" Sprig asked. Tears started to form in my eyes as Sprig mentioned my mom. "My mom passed away when I was little, all because of a car accident." My voice broke. "But I know she was an amazing woman, she taught me how to golf, she always played this song on the fiddle to help me and Rosalina fall asleep, but after she passed, I grew closer with my dad and sister." "It's cool you both know about your moms, unlike Rowena, mine passed away when me and Polly were really young." Sprig confessed. "I don't even remember what she looked like really, much less the sound of her voice." That must've been hard for him, sure, my mom was also gone, but Sprig barely remembers his mom. "You know I've always wondered, can you miss someone you never actually knew?" Sprig wondered. "That's silly, I mean, of course you can't." Anne and I both hugged Sprig, causing him to shed tears along with us.

So this chapter was hard for me to write, but anyway, I stumbled across this beautiful original song someone wrote in Sprig's point of view a few months ago and I thought I would share it with you guys. If you guys are also Ducktales fans, he creates songs for that show too. -Mal.