2. Chapter 2

The incident had left a huge impact on the Plantars. Every morning from then on, Anne had an audience of three watching her closely as she drank her medicine. Not because they distrusted her, but because they just wanted to make sure that she was okay. She wasn’t complaining about it anymore either, for obvious reasons.

It had already been a couple of weeks since the incident, but nobody was going to forget it anytime soon! This morning, though, the kids were sitting at the table waiting for Hop Pop to give Anne the vial when they heard him mumbling.

“No, no this isn’t right. I coulda sworn…” Anne cocked her head to the side.

“What’s wrong, Hop Pop?” she asked, worry starting to seep in.

“Anne, I… I don’t really know how this happened, but… I thought we had a good stockpile of your medicine. But it turns out we’ve only got one left!” Anne didn’t like where this was going. Her heart started beating faster out of fear while Hop Pop continued.

“The next shipment doesn’t come in until tomorrow evening. If you drink this last vial right now, then you’ll… transform tomorrow afternoon and there’ll be at least six hours in between the transformation and the shipment.” Anne’s eyes widened, panic starting to set in. Hop Pop realized this immediately before he slammed a hand down on the table in order to get her undivided attention.

“Listen Anne, we can still get around this. I’m gonna give you the vial, but you haveta stretch your last dose as long as you can. Only take this dose once you start to feel the transformation comin’ on. Doin’ that’ll buy us an extra eight hours, which’ll be more than enough. I’m gonna trust you to figure out the exact time on your own, okay?” Hop Pop explained before handing Anne the last vial of her medicine that they had. Anne nodded before silently putting the potion in her pocket.

As much as she was dreading any sort of slip up, she knew that Hop Pop was right and that she was the only one who could tell when she would need it the most. At the very least Hop Pop was putting a lot of trust into her and she actually felt kind of flattered by that. Something still troubled her though.

“Hop Pop, I’ve gotta ask. Why exactly are we one dose short?” She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she still had to hear it confirmed.

“Ah… well Anne, I’m willin’ to bet it’s ‘cause of yer little… stunt a couple of weeks ago. You… well, you wasted a dose that morning and you had to take another one later on the same day. But yer not entirely at fault here. I shoulda seen that we were one dose short when it happened. If I woulda, then I’d have set out a time based plan to get you back on schedule without the need for the missing dose. As it is… well, let’s just hope we can stretch this as much as we need to and we’ll make sure this never happens again!”

Anne realized he was right, it was mostly her own fault. But at least Hop Pop took some responsibility too. That was one of the best things about him. He always owned up to his mistakes and apologized, even to the kids like her. It made it easier for her to own up to her own mistakes in turn. She looked at Hop Pop and nodded, knowing what she needed to do.

The only thing getting in their way was the fact that they had to go into town for a grocery run. This wouldn’t usually be an issue, but given the circumstances it still made Anne nervous. Thankfully the shopping wasn’t what caused the issues. It was when Bessie started acting nervous, looking at something in the distance. The family’s eyes followed Bessie’s to see an intimidating but small carriage being pulled by a tarantula and driven by a group of toads.

They stopped in front of the mayor’s office and were welcomed by Mayor Toadstool. The apparent leader of the group started talking to him before being handed a suspiciously long scroll of paper. Hop Pop was the first one in the family to recognize who these toads were.

“Right, the tax collectors. Best to just steer clear of- Oh dangit, there they go.” he cursed as he noticed Anne and Sprig approaching, the two kids fascinated by such fierce warriors.

“Hey guys, sooo you’re from Toad Tower?” Sprig started, trying to get a conversation going.

“Sure are, runt.” One of the toads replied, not even looking at the kids. Anne figured he must be used to this kind of attention. She couldn’t help it, though. Anything new was fascinating in its own right! Sprig laughed, realizing that these guys were jerks, but trying to salvage the conversation anyways.

“Ha, my name’s Sprig, actually.”

“Uh huh, yeah, sure.” the toad said, completely disinterested in the kid as he turned around to see that there were actually two of them. He rolled his eyes, not wanting to deal with kids, but knowing that he couldn’t be too rude to them ‘cause at least their curiosity came from idolization.

“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, what are your guys’ names? I’d like to know in case you get famous some day or something.” Anne asked, trying to use flattery to her advantage. It didn’t seem to be working too much on the toad, but he relented either way.

“The name’s Bog. The silent one is Mire and the one with long hair is Fens.” Bog said as he pointed at the other two “Now go away kids, we’ve got business to attend to.”

“Ooookay, thanks for the chat!”Anne said, knowing that these toads were losing their patience and wanting to get out of there before one of them decided to ‘make an example’ of her. She grabbed Sprig’s hand and led him away, back to Hop Pop, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as he called out to them.

“Okay kids, that’s enough flirtin’ with death. Let’s head home!”

“Ugh, finally.” Sprig said now that they were out of earshot of the toads.

“Hmm… I don’t know, did you see that?”

“No, what are you talking about Anne?”

“That scroll they got from the Mayor was really long. If last year was anything to go by, then that was a list of all the people who didn’t pay their taxes this year. Something tells me it shouldn’t be that long this year. I mean, Hop Pop made me sit in on him doing his taxes and even delivering them a couple of days ago and I saw a lot of other frogs coming and going from the Mayor’s office. There’s no way the list this year is that long!” Anne explained.

“Well there’s nothin’ much we can do about it ‘cept hope we’re not mistakenly on that list.'' Hop Pop finished, not wanting his kids to get into any trouble with the Tower. But as he looked back, he could see that Anne was continuing to stare at the toads with a suspicious look.

“I’m gonna see if I can get to the bottom of this. Maybe it’s something else? Like a different type of list? I just want to know for sure ‘cause it seems like something’s up.” Upon hearing that, Hop Pop knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince Anne to give this up. He just had to let it ride itself out.

“Okay, but don’t dally too long, Anne. And don’t forget ‘bout what’s in your pocket!” Hop Pop advised as he turned around and lightly whipped Bessie’s reins, making her move at a leisurely pace. Anne patted said pocket, feeling her last vial of medicine through the fabric of her skirt and took a deep breath. She turned to face the toads and proceeded to calmly walk by them, making it look like she was just passing by.

Once she was out of their view, she ducked underneath their cart and flipped onto her back, extending her arms and legs up towards the underside of the cart and grabbing on with her cling pads. She wanted to follow them and this was the most effective way that would keep her out of sight. She pulled herself up so that she wouldn’t be dragged along as she eavesdropped on the conversation above her.

“This is the longest list we’ve ever gotten for this town!”

“Yeah, it’d be one thing if they came up short ‘cause of some sort of monster invasion coming along and eating a bunch of the taxpayers, but this is just ridiculous!”

“This’ll take all day if we don’t start right away. I mean, we’ve still gotta figure out where each and every one of these delinquents live!”

“Best get started right away, then!”

Meanwhile Sprig and Polly sat in the back of the family cart, mulling over what Anne had said. They were worried about her, but they weren’t sure what to do.

“Do you think she’s gonna be okay?” Sprig asked his little sister.

“She’ll be fine! She’s older than us and she knows how to get herself out of bad situations.”

“I know that, but I’m still worried that something’ll happen.”

“What are you gonna do, follow after her?!” Upon hearing his little sister’s sarcastic question he began to consider it.

“You know what? That’s not such a bad idea. I’m gonna do it!” Sprig announced. Hop Pop had overheard the whole conversation and he felt like he had to say something.

“I’m kinda glad you want to go after her, Sprig. I’m worried about her not being able to take her medicine when she needs to. I mean she needed Polly’s help the last time she started transforming! Just make absolutely sure you stay out of the toads’ sight!”

“Will do, Hop Pop!” Sprig yelled as he hopped off the back of the cart and started heading back into town. It didn’t take him long to figure out where they went. Despite all the cart tracks around the main square, all he had to do was ask some of the people in the area which way they’d gone. Eventually all the directions led him to a path that only had one cart’s set of tracks along it.

When he finally saw the cart in question he dove into the bushes and started watching from there. He began to wonder if Anne had actually been able to follow them until he realized that they were outside of Wally’s place. That was strange; Wally always paid his taxes! Sprig watched as the toads broke Wally’s door in and went inside to start ransacking the place. He then noticed Anne crawl out from underneath their cart.

He didn’t dare call out to her, scared that he’d get the toads’ attention. Instead he just watched to see what she would do. She crawled up the side of Wally’s home and inside, clinging to the ceiling. It was brilliant! The toads wouldn’t suspect a thing because they didn’t have the same cling pads that the frogs did, so they often didn’t think to just look up!

Sprig heard crashing coming from inside and Wally yelling at them to stop while they started to run out with a bunch of Wally’s stuff in their arms. Anne crawled out via the ceiling and waited until they were all consulting a couple pieces of parchment. Sprig figured that they didn’t know who lived where and they were trying to figure out where to go next! Meanwhile Anne used her tongue to grab a couple of Wally’s things off of the toads’ cart (the only thing that Sprig could make out was a bag of beetle jerky) and toss them back inside.

Sprig saw Anne make a mad but silent dash for the cart and slip underneath before any of the toads saw her. He lowered his line of sight to see her grab onto the underside of the cart before they started to leave. He was about to follow before he heard a voice behind him that made him panic and duck even deeper into the bushes.

“Come on! Come on, Toadie. While the townsfolk are preoccupied!” It was mayor Toadstool, carrying a small bag of sorts. His assistant, Toadie, was following close behind him while struggling to lift a much larger, jingling bag.

“Coming, Sir.” Toadie almost whispered back. As they walked right past Sprig’s hiding spot, a single copper coin fell out of a hole in the bag. Once they were far enough away, Sprig grabbed it and took a closer look. As his mind worked, he whispered to himself.

“A copper coin? The Mayor? A hole? In the bag? Hmm…” Sprig popped out of his hiding place and watched them disappear. He looked back to see the toads’ cart also leaving, but in the opposite direction. He weighed his options and made the snap decision to follow the Mayor and Toadie instead of Anne and the cart.

“I hope you’ll be okay, Anne” he muttered in her direction before hopping off after his new target. He climbed up a tree and started hopping from branch to branch, sometimes using his tongue when the gap was just a little too much. He had to stay on their trail! He continued to follow them until they reached the town square. In the center there was a statue that was still under construction and surrounded by curtains. They ducked inside the curtains and Sprig followed, staying outside in order to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“It’s flawless, Toadie. The perfect plan! Who would think to look for the missing taxes in plain sight?”

“Master stroke, Sir!”

“Quickly now, let’s skedaddle before anyone notices the taxe-” Sprig couldn’t wait anymore. He jumped in, interrupting the Mayor!

“The taxes! You fiends! Everyone’s gonna be furious when they find out about this!” Toadstool seemed surprised at first, but shook it off almost immediately and shrugged.

“Well then, it’s a good thing you’ll never get to tell ‘em.” He threatened before he jumped at Sprig, missing horribly as the boy used Toadie’s head as a springboard to launch himself over the curtains.

“Well you gotta catch me first!” Sprig taunted as he blew a raspberry at the Mayor. He knew that the Mayor was too lazy and unfit to be able to catch him, so he hopped away to where an adult that would listen to him would be. Hop Pop! Hop Pop would listen to him! And Sprig knew just where to find him.

Back at the farm, the toads were demanding to enter the Plantar household. Hop Pop was standing in front of the door with Polly on his head, trying to stop them.

“Like I said, I already paid my dang taxes. You can’t come in here and that’s final!”

“I don’t like your tone, frog. Or did you forget who you’re talking to? The list don’t lie. Now, what should we start with?” Bog asked, turning away from Hop Pop like he didn’t matter. Fens answered him,

“Well how ‘bout that thing?” She suggested as she pointed to Bessie, the family snail. Hop Pop and Polly both reacted, yelling violently

“You stay away from her!”

“I’ll bite your face off!”

“Good choice, that snail should cover everything. Mire, Fens, move out!” Bog calmly commanded, continuing to ignore the Plantars.

“You monsters!” Hop Pop yelled out before everyone heard a new voice yell

“STOOOP!!” Everyone turned to see a young, blue frog standing in between the toads and their cart. She hopped over to Hop Pop and stood beside him before putting her hands on her hips and saying

“You keep your claws off that snail. Better yet, get off our property!” she stomped her foot as she spoke that last sentence, when it began to rain. While the toads were surprised to see another frog nearby, they realized that she was just a kid so Bog decided to give her one last chance.

“Care to repeat that?” he asked, his patience running thin. Anne’s patience had run even thinner by this point though.

“I said ‘get lost’! NOW!!” Upon hearing the shouting, several of the townsfolk who had apparently also been following the toads came out of hiding and circled around the edges of the Plantar farm.

“Oh wow!”

“She’s brave!”

“What did she just say?”

Bog brought out a hammer and approached Anne, ready to teach her a lesson when suddenly Sprig came rushing in, bouncing off of the surrounding trees! Slingshot at the ready, he fired a mud shot directly into Bog’s eye!

“You leave her alone!” The Mayor followed close behind him and with the toads distracted, Hop Pop looked over to Anne, who looked flushed. He assumed it was just her finally showing her hidden fear, until he noticed that she was reaching for her pocket. She pulled out her vial of medicine and quickly uncorked it, ready to chug it and then get back into the fray. That was until Fens grabbed it right out of her hand.

“You little runt! What’s this? You think you’ve got the right to some sugary drink right now?!” Anne looked horrified as her chest started to flare up. Hop Pop stepped in, making sure she didn’t go through more pain than she absolutely had to.

“No, that’s a medicine that she needs! It’s her last dose until the shipment tomorrow. She actually needs that stuff for her basic survival!” Fens wasn’t phased.

“You think I’d believe that?! You lied about your taxes and, with the amount of disrespect that she’s shown, even if what you said is true, she’s not gonna need it when we’re done with her!” Fens then turned the vial upside-down and dumped it out onto the ground, the rain washing it away. Every member of the Plantar household collectively froze, pure unbridled terror gripping every single one of them.

Upon getting over the shock of these toads attempting child murder, the townsfolk rose up to surround them. The sheer quantity of frogs was enough to make the toads realize that they had just crossed a line that they really shouldn’t have crossed! As the townsfolk went at them, Sprig rushed over to Anne and started trying to help her.

“Anne! Anne, it’ll be okay. It’ll be okay! Just.. just hold on!”

“Kiddos, I think it’s time we went inside!” Hop Pop said while trying to usher them in before anybody saw Anne transform. Except that Anne couldn’t seem to be able to move. Her body was stiff but mildly shaking. Hop Pop was about to pick her up and carry her inside when she collapsed onto the ground with a groan of pain!

Because of the previous time, Anne had an idea of what to expect. That still didn’t stop the pain of her muscles stretching in an unnatural way from making her fall. She had tried to keep still and suppress it, but it came to her anyway. The worst was when the heat started to wash over her like a tidal wave of fire from within! She just barely managed to suppress a scream and ended up with a groan instead. She needed to get away from prying eyes, but she couldn’t move because of the searing pain!

She screwed her eyes shut so that she could focus on managing everything. The heat, the aches, her muscles and even her bones being pulled and warped as she changed shape. Her skin was feeling drier by the second as her insides boiled and a new sensation followed. She felt like she was being gagged as her tongue receded further and further back into her throat, snaking down and into her gullet. The last straw was when everything doubled in intensity and she couldn’t hold back the scream any longer!

“AAAAAHHHH!!” Her scream echoed over the fighting frogs and toads and made everyone stop to look straight at her. Nobody was ready for what they saw: the sweet little blue frog that everyone knew was in the middle of a transformation into some hideous monstrosity! Her limbs were longer, her head was rounder, and her whole body was stretched into a malformed shape that only vaguely resembled what it once was. Her skin was still a blotchy mess between brown and blue spots.

Sprig ran up right next to Anne, trying to help talk her through the pain. Hop Pop and Polly weren’t far behind, the watching crowd nothing but a footnote in their concerns. They all held her for as long as they dared, not wanting to leave their family member, but also not wanting to get hurt by some sort of feral beast. Hop Pop was the first to take a step back, taking a protesting Polly with him. Sprig didn’t seem to have the same sense as him, though.

“Anne, it’s okay. I trust you. I believe in you! You’re gonna be okay! There’s no way that you’ll be just ‘gone’ the moment you change! You’re gonna be oka-OOF!!” Sprig was cut off by a massive, clawed, five-fingered hand the size of his entire torso, shoving him away and sending him tumbling. He looked up to see that she had turned her head to him and was looking at him with the gaze of a predator!

Anne realized that she had just probably hurt Sprig and that coupled with the pain caused her to cry out a few more times before it finally started to ebb away. The vice grip didn’t loosen this time, it only found a comfortable spot, so to speak. Anne felt way too large, way too warm, way too strong, and… completely herself.

After a few seconds passed, she realized that she could think clearly again. She tried to adjust her breathing, causing it to come out in heavy, deep, and threatening sounding pants. She heard and saw everything in front of her much better than before, but everything behind and beside her was duller. Her sight and hearing were forcing her to focus straight ahead instead of on the general area around her. Her senses of touch, taste, and smell were all altered in ways that she was barely able to process, but different still. Although the weirdest part of it all was that there were no gaps in her memory.

She recognized every individual voice murmuring around her and as she looked up, she realized that she could recognize every single terrified face that was staring back at her. Everyone now knew her secret, but even despite that fact weighing on her, an idea tickled the back of her mind. She may still have her perfectly sane mind, but none of the others knew that. They all thought she was some terrifying monstrosity…

Meanwhile, all the others saw was a horrifying predator that looked vaguely like the neighborhood kid. They were all petrified by the forward facing eyes, ugly face bump, and sharp teeth inside her mouth! She looked around, as if she were trying to figure out where she was. Everybody waited with baited breath, wondering just how feral she might’ve gone during that gruesome transformation. That was until her eyes locked onto the toads and stayed there as she stood up straight, coming up to approximately double their height. A few seconds passed before her head tilted and a little bit of drool started to dribble from the side of her mouth.

She leaned forward a little bit, taking a single, shaky step. Then another. Then another, each less shaky than the last, keeping her wild gaze locked onto the toads. It made sense, really. They were the bigger prey after all. The frogs in between her and them quickly moved out of the way with the whole crowd backing up. The Plantar frogs were all rooted to their spots.

The toads raised their weapons, ready to fight her off. Bog lifted his hammer as he stepped forward to dispatch the monster. What he didn’t expect was for her to grab it before he even swung and wrap one of her massive, lanky arms around it. One good yank was all the creature needed to get it out of his hands! It fell to the ground behind her before a low growl could be heard coming from her. Mire’s face plate opened on its own and for the first time that Bog and Fens had ever heard, Mire screamed!

“Retreat!” Bog ordered, with Fens and Mire already ready to go before he even commanded! They ran for their cart with the creature in hot pursuit. Fens realized with fear why it was able to keep its footing in the slippery, rain soaked terrain so well without shoes of any sort. It had extra claws on the tips of its toes that dug into the ground as it stepped! They wouldn’t be able to outrun it unless they got to their cart soon!

They ran as fast as they could, even using their tongues to close the distance when they got close enough. They whipped the reins of their tarantula, which took off immediately, but to their absolute horror, the monster had been fast enough to jump on top of the cart right before they took off! They were now taking it with them! Fens grabbed her sword and tried to knock it off. It couldn’t have very good balance if it was that tall and thin, right?

Wrong! As she jumped at the creature with her sword out, it deftly dodged her attack and went around her. Fens whipped back and tried to slice the creature only for it to grab her arm mid-swing and push her away, towards the ropes that attached the two parts of the cart. Her sword sliced halfway through the main connecting rope, damaging it significantly! They’d lose their cargo if she didn’t do something! But she was already doing as much as she could.

The creature opened its mouth to show its fangs, letting another growl escape it. Fens stiffened at this, scared out of her mind. She still tried one last slash though, and it was met with the very same grab and throw combo. But this time, her sword flew out of her hand and onto the ground below, being lost in the mud as the cart continued to move. The creature then made its own advance, swinging its arm in a wide arc with its claws slightly curled in, as if to pierce her face! She hopped out of the way, landing on the driving portion of the cart that Bog and Mire were still on.

The monster’s momentum carried it into a stumble that caused its hand to collide with the already damaged main connecting rope, snapping it in two with ease! The two halves of the cart separated, the monster still in the cargo hold while the toads were on the other half, their tarantula speeding up with the lack of weight to carry. They noticed that while the sudden lack of movement threw the monster over the edge of the cart, it got right back up immediately and began chasing after them again on foot!

Thankfully one thing this creature apparently lacked was foot speed when compared to a tarantula. The toads made their escape, figuring that whatever that thing was, it being loose in the town was more than punishment enough for those frogs! They had to report this back to the tower and see if Captain Grime would do anything about this creature. They lost sight of it just as it appeared to reach the main town gate, Bog having realized that their cargo cart had been dropped in the middle of the town square.

Meanwhile the frogs of Wartwood saw the whole thing go down, some even secretly hoping that the beast that used to be Anne would catch them and teach them a lesson. The toads had intended to kill her beforehand, after all, so at least they’d be getting a taste of their own medicine. The others were grateful that they didn’t have that kind of mess to clean up when the beast stopped at the main Wartwood gate, staring off into the distance while panting.

Even though everyone had followed in order to see what would happen, they were still terrified enough to keep themselves a fair distance away from the beast. They all waited with baited breath as they watched her breathing slow down and her posture straighten up. She had her back turned to them, so they couldn’t see what expression she was wearing. A couple of frogs were so scared that they jumped when she lifted a single hand up to her face, appearing to wipe something off of her chin.

She looked around to the rest of the frogs, eyes still that of a predator, but looking out broadly along the group, not focusing on one spot like she had before. Her shoulders slumped and her back arched slightly. The expression on her face looked suspiciously like worry. Nobody dared make a move, fearful of what would happen next. That was until Sprig came rushing in, jumping up onto her, and planting his feet on her chest and his hands on her shoulders.

“Anne, I know you’re in there somewhere! You were just trying to defend us from those toads, right? It’s what you would have done regardless! You must remember me, Hop Pop, and Polly at least! We’re your family! Please, PLEASE remember us! You’re gonna be okay! Just don’t eat anyone and everything will be fine! Please, Anne!” Sprig cried, hoping he could just maybe get through to his big sister, who he prayed was still hidden somewhere deep down inside this creature!

He kept going on and on until he saw a smile grace her features. Then she started to giggle. He didn’t even notice her arms wrapping around him and closing on him until it was too late. But she didn’t crush him, claw him, bite him, or anything. She just lightly squeezed him… she hugged him. Then, she spoke.

“It’s okay, Sprig. I’m still here, I’m okay. I’m not gonna eat anyone. Heck, I’m not even hungry.”

“... B-but the way you just acted towards those toads!”

“When I realized that I could still think straight, I also realized that I was the only one who knew I could. So I figured that if I could just ACT like a monster to scare them off, then it might actually work. Sure, I needed to fight a little bit, but it wasn’t that hard ‘cause I wasn’t looking to hurt them. Just to cut that one rope that was keeping their ‘cargo’ attached. Now everyone can have all their stuff back! I just hope nobody hates me for… this.” she gestured towards herself as she said the last word.

Everyone was speechless, especially Sprig. He started crying the biggest tears of joy and relief that anyone had ever seen from the boy while Anne just held him closer, a gentle expression on a face that one wouldn’t expect to be able to do that. Several frogs started to look back at the toads’ lost cargo, making the connection that even before she started to turn into this… thing, she was still trying to return people’s stuff to them. Even after she turned, she still did something that she was ultimately trying to do before. Sprig was right, this was still the Anne that everyone knew! At this, Hop Pop finally stepped forward to deal with the situation.

“Alright, everyone! I’ll explain everything in just a bit here, but first I’m gonna take these kids home so that nothing else ends up happening in the meantime. I’ll be back to explain, but maybe take this time to reclaim all your stolen stuff.” he turned around to face Anne and Sprig “Alright, kids. Time to go!” he announced. He obviously wanted to get Anne out of the public eye as soon as possible, so they went without complaint.

“Oh right! Check inside the new statue, everyone. That’s where the Mayor hid all your tax money from the toads!” Sprig called out as they were leaving. There were murmurs with several frogs doing double takes to look at the statue. Wally even jumped up to it and started prying at various parts until the rear end of it came loose and revealed that Sprig was right. Everyone looked at the Mayor, who backed up nervously before turning and running from the angry mob! Anne was just relieved that their anger wasn’t directed at her.

The walk back was silent, nobody really having any idea what to say. Hop Pop and Polly were both extremely on edge, even though Sprig seemed entirely calm. Anne walked with a cautious and confused stride. As they got back to the farm, Hop Pop opened the door for the kids to enter and Anne bonked her head on the way in, misestimating how much she would need to duck in order to get inside.

“Ow!”

“... Are you okay?” Polly asked, ready to jump, just in case.

“Yeah, yeah. I just hit my head on the door. I guess I’m just not used to this height.” Anne responded with a bit of a giggle. Sprig put a hand on her knee for comfort, realizing that her new skin was all tough and dry. Hop Pop looked extremely uncomfortable, obviously wanting to say something but wondering whether it would be best to stay quiet or not. Eventually he caved.

“Look kids, I don’t wanna be a party pooper, but we don’t know if Anne’s still gonna be in her right mind for much longer. We’ve got nearly 24 hours before we can get her her medicine again and I’m concerned that she might lose her mind in between now and then. I know you feel fine right now Anne, but that’s usually how anyone feels the first few hours before they get sick.”

“As much as I disagree about me potentially losing my mind, Hop Pop, I do see your point. So what are we gonna do about it?” Anne asked, willing to listen to reason. Hop Pop looked around for a solution, pacing as he went. Suddenly his foot brushed against something on the ground and he looked down.

“I got it! How about we set up the basement to be all cozy for you and you can stay down there for the night while we lock the latch in order to prevent any sort of potentially crazed version of yourself from hurting anyone in the middle of the night! As much as I don’t like the idea of locking you in the basement, it’s only for one night and doing so has the potential to save this family. Do you understand?”

“... I understand, Hop Pop.” Anne was pretty upset about the idea of having to sleep in the cold and arid basement, but on the off chance that Hop Pop was right, it would ultimately be for the best. She lifted the latch and went downstairs, looking around at the various barrels of stored food and clean drinking water strewn about. She didn’t see anywhere that would be comfortable to sleep.

It seemed that her family had her covered, though. Because pretty much as soon as she looked back up at them, Hop Pop had already fetched a rolling cot, Sprig a pillow, and Polly a blanket. All of them were from the ‘visiting newt’ set that they hid in a main floor closet, though they all looked like they might be a tad too small for her regardless. Still, it was the best they had and it was only for one night.

They tossed the things down to her, Sprig tossing the pillow first before running off somewhere. Hop Pop and Polly both waited until Anne had caught the pillow and put it down elsewhere before they tossed their respective items down one by one. Just before Hop Pop was about to close the hatch, Sprig called out for them to wait. Anne looked up at the hatch door to suddenly be bombarded by an armload of… stuffed toys?

“I uh, figured that since you’ll be down there alone all night, you might want some of these back. They used to be yours before you handed them down to me, so maybe the memories they bring will help you keep your mind intact tonight? Just a thought.” Sprig explained with a shrug. Anne examined the toys, each one having a particular memory associated with them.

“That’s very sweet, thank you. I’ll do my best to stay sane tonight!” Anne promised.

“Alright, I’m gonna close and lock this hatch now. If you need anything, just knock and tell us what you need. You can snack on whatever you want in those barrels and there should be enough water for you. The only reason I can see for you needing to come back up here is if you need the washroom, though. Now I’m gonna haveta go back into town and explain to the townsfolk what’s goin’ on with ya…

“And yeah, I don’t trust Sprig and Polly to keep the latch locked. Usually I look to you, Anne, to be the responsible one ‘cause you’re the oldest of the three. But this time I can’t, so… Ah heck, do you need to use the washroom before I’m gonna be back? ‘Cause I’m gonna be takin’ the key with me.” Anne could tell that Hop Pop still wanted to look after her, but was just being cautious.

“No, Hop Pop. I’ll be okay until you get back.”

“Well alright, then. See you in a bit.” And with that, the latch closed and Anne was all alone with her thoughts. She rolled out the cot and made her bed, even though it was still only the afternoon. Then she brought over all the stuffed toys that Sprig had brought her, examining each one and remembering various moments of her life that led up to all this. As she looked at one, she started taking note of the hand that was holding it.

Tough, dry, brown skin covered it. There were crease lines in her palm that sort of formed a shape resembling the letter M. She then realized that her claws weren’t sharp at all. They seemed mostly attached to her fingers with very little actually growing out of them. Perhaps they’re meant more for defence than offence? There was no real way for her to know.

As she continued to examine her hand, she realized that she could probably do that for every part of her new body, so she stopped herself and just flopped down onto her cot. As she thought about it, she figured that a mid day nap would be fine. After all, that transformation was so painful that she deserved some rest. So she closed her eyes and started to just doze.

The later evening had been relatively uneventful. Anne had asked to be let up only twice, asking for a book or something after the first time. Hop Pop had given her some light reading material, but after the hatch was locked again, Anne and Polly started to chat through the door. Polly was fascinated by the fact that Anne was such a big and scary creature, but still seemingly her friendly self. They came to the conclusion that maybe Anne being a frog for most of her life had opened her mind and that was why she was still able to be intelligent.

In fact, that was also the main reason why she had to be locked up. Everyone was scared that her still being intelligent was just a side effect of having been a frog for so long. That it was just one of those things that would wear off over time. If anything, her fight against the toads was enough of a display of her default form’s raw power. They’d hate to see what she could become if she actually went feral!

When everyone went to bed, Hop Pop found that he could barely sleep. He felt so guilty about having to lock Anne up like that. At least she had consented, though. How was he going to handle everything first thing in the morning? He’d have to give her breakfast, but what if being alone for the night would give her mind a chance to finally lose itself? He was terrified for his entire family, including Anne. What if losing her mind by being in that form for too long would make her unable to regain her mind when she became a frog again?

Suffice to say, Hop Pop didn’t sleep at all that night, listening for any sounds that might suggest something went wrong. He even cried a little at the thought of potentially losing his oldest granddaughter! But there was nothing he could do at this point besides hope, so he stayed put and just waited out the night. He was always the first one up, so it wouldn’t be an issue, right?

It seemed that way, as the sunlight started creeping in through his window and he took that as his signal to get up and start making breakfast. It didn’t take too long for him to hear movement coming from upstairs, obviously Sprig and Polly were getting ready for the day. No sounds coming from the basement, though.

Hop Pop decided to make pillbug pancakes because they were Anne’s favourite. And if she really had gone feral in the middle of the night, then maybe something she likes may be the only thing to get through to her. As the other two kids sat down at the table, he served them first. There was a chance that Anne was still asleep and the rule always was that the first kid awake was the first kid to get breakfast. Looking at the next pancake cooking, he considered setting up his own plate first while letting Anne’s cook so that the stove wouldn’t be burning while he went to deliver her pancake. The more he thought about it, the better of an idea it seemed.

He ended up going through with that idea and just as he flipped Anne’s pancake to let it finish cooking, there was a knock at the door. He ordered Sprig to watch the stove and call him if anything went wrong while he answered. Truthfully he was terrified that it may be an angry mob ready to try to get rid of Anne. The mob mentality had been distracted by Toadstool the previous day, so maybe now it was her turn.

The mob had ultimately made Toadstool write a formal apology letter to Toad Tower about where the taxes had really been and actually send them off to the tower. In the letter, Toadstool had lied about having chased Anne out of town. They couldn’t very well do anything else in response to all this without having the toads return to take Anne down. But maybe the mob wanted to make that letter come true. Or maybe they wanted to do it themselves!

Hop Pop opened the door just a crack and saw the very last thing he was expecting that morning. There was no mob, just one lone newt. The very same one-armed newt that made Anne’s medicine!

“Valeriana! Am I ever happy to see you! I wasn’t expecting you until later this evening, but I’m so glad you’re here! Would you like to come in?” Hop Pop swung the door wide open for her, but she stayed where she was.

“No thank you, I just came to give you your monthly delivery. I came early because someone else cancelled their order, so I had enough free time. And I had a feeling you’d appreciate an early delivery today.”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it, dear. Thank you so, so much!” Hop Pop showed his gratitude by taking care of the transport all by himself, grabbing the crate of vials and bringing them inside.

“Well with that done, I’ll be going now. I have more deliveries to make.” Valeriana said before turning to leave.

“Wait, how did you know we’d want an early delivery?”.

“Heh, call it a hunch, Hopediah.” she answered without turning back around to face him. She continued walking until she was out of sight while Hop Pop turned back around and grabbed a fresh vial right out of the crate. Sprig and Polly were excited to be able to have their big sister back early!

“Can we go down and watch her transform back with you?”

“I wanna see what the reverse of yesterday’s incident looks like!” Sprig and Polly got excited, but Hop Pop shut them down right away.

“No! What if Anne went all feral in the middle of the night?! I don’t want you two gettin’ hurt! I’m just gonna sneak down there quietly and try to get her to drink it. I’ll come back up with her when she’s ready, okay?” The kids didn’t like it, but they still listened to Hop Pop’s authority. He then unlocked the hatch, opened it, and looked inside. She wasn’t in the entryway or anything, so he walked down the steps, letting the hatch close behind him.

Hop Pop looked around, trying to see if he could spot Anne in the semi dark basement. There was just enough light filtering in from one of their windows to see without having to use one of the glowing mushrooms. He looked around until he saw her, curled up on the cot he gave her the night before. Her back was turned to him, but it appeared that she was still asleep. Perfect!

He silently snuck over to her, each step a carefully planned movement. As he got close, he heard something strange. It was almost like a… purr? He knew that Anne snored, but her snores usually came with croaks. This sounded much more like an actual purr than that. Next thing he knew, he was basically hovering over her. She was sleeping on her side, just like she did as a frog.

‘I guess some things just don’t change, huh?’ Hop Pop thought to himself before he brought out the vial and uncorked it. Then he took the plunge by placing a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking her with her medicine in front of her face.

“Five more minutes!” she called out, like she always did. Hop Pop gently shook her a little bit more and she opened her eyes a bit. Once she registered the vial in front of her, she shot up, grabbing it right out of Hop Pop’s hands! She downed it in only one gulp, panting at the sudden exertion. She sat there for a couple of moments as she felt herself starting to shift back to a more familiar shape. This transformation wasn’t even painful. In fact, it was almost like a dull aching pain finally being relieved!

Before long, the beast’s place was taken by the young blue frog that everyone knew and loved! She looked at Hop Pop, tears welling up in her eyes as she couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She collapsed into his arms, crying her eyes out in relief! He hugged her tight.

“Welcome back, Anne.” Truth be told, she never left. But she wasn’t about to ruin the moment, so she stayed quiet. Hop Pop led her upstairs where Sprig and Polly were waiting. Upon seeing their froggy big sister again, they both grabbed her in a big family group hug! They stayed like that for a good while until Hop Pop started to smell something weird… Something burning…

“THE PANCAKE!!” Hop Pop yelled as he let go of the kids and rushed into the kitchen. The kids all laughed, glad to finally be back to their normal family shenanigans. Although Anne couldn’t stop thinking about how she was actually starting to get used to that other form. Maybe it would be okay, so long as she could keep her mind about her.

Maybe letting herself miss another dose in the future wouldn’t be so bad…