The Road to Newtopia (The Calamity Girls Book 2)

The Ballad of Hopediah Plantar

Hop Pop was driving for a couple days now. Sprig was playing a tune on his fiddle while I continued to write in my journal and Anne was scrolling through her camera roll at some pictures from both worlds. "Huh, I don't remember taking this picture of Toad Tower." Anne said. "Oh, that was me, wanted a little reminder on how we messed those toads up." Polly explains. "Polly, I think you would be an amazing photographer, because that is incredible." I complimented. "You know, I've actually been working on a song based on the battle." "Oh, am I in it?" Hop Pop asked. "Maybe." Sprig replied. Hop Pop giggled and got comfortable in his seat. "I'm in it." Hop Pop whispers. In a matter of seconds, Sprig began to sing his song.

There was a little frog who stood for revolution,
The toads didn't like that, so, they tried to execute him,
But thankfully, the girls stepped up to take the tower,
And they saved Hop Pop who...mostly hid and cowered,
And cowered, and cowered, and cowered, and cowered, and cowered, and cowered, and cowered, and cowered.

"Alright, that's enough!" Hop Pop snapped as we all cheered for Sprig. "Great song, dude." Anne compliments. "Yeah, that was awesome!" Polly exclaimed. "Awesome, it was missing all the context!" Hop Pop complained. "Like that time I courageously ran for mayor, or that time I stood up to those nasty tax collectors?" "If I remember correctly, you just wanted to get your hands on some of their crab legs." I recalled. "Audiences want clear states, Hop Pop, and action." Sprig explains. "Action!" We shouted. "Feels like just yesterday, people thought of me as a revolutionary hero." Hop Pop sighed. "Heads up gang, looks like we're about to stop at our first town." We drove past a sign labeled Bittyburg. "Rowena, our first town outside of Wartwood, I wonder what it'll be like?" Anne wondered. "Will the frogs be friendly, will they have a bathroom?" "I really hope so, I don't want to end up squatting on some dangerous plants like those two besties from Suspicion Island." I replied. "Of course, they squatted on poison ivy, the plants here are much worse." "Don't get too excited, girls, it's just your average small town." Hop Pop explains. "How small could it be?" I scoffed. "Wow that's a small town!" "Just look at the widdle buildings." Anne cooed as she takes the ceiling of a building. "Yeehaw!" The small frogs cheered. All of a sudden, the little frogs gasped as they see a bigger frog, who seemed to want their money. "Alright, y'all know the rules, pay me and no one gets hurt." "Sorry, Mr Judro, but I need the money for my boy, Bailey and..." Judro grabbed little Bailey's father and got the money he wanted. "Those poor bitties." Anne sighed. "None of them deserve this." I added. "Someone should do something." Sprig suggested. "Yes, someone should." Hop Pop says. "Sprig, get that fiddle ready, you might have a song to write." "Ready and willing." Sprig replied. Hop Pop walked over to Judro to talk. "Hey there, feller, who do you think you are, pushing people around?" Hop Pop asked. "I'm Judro Hasselback, and this here is my town!" He snapped. "Who the heck are you?" "Name's Hopediah Plantar, the frog who's gonna teach you some manners." Hop Pop introduced as he started fighting off Judro, saving the town. "You'll pay for this." Judro grunted. "Nobody's paying you anything anymore." Hop Pop explains. "You saved us, mister!" The little frog known as Bailey exclaimed. "Three cheers for Hopediah Plantar!" The little frogs began to cheer as they carried him back over to us. "Wow, Hop Pop, nice work." Anne compliments. "Why that was nothing, Judro is just a big blow hard, just like those tax toads I stood up to." Hop Pop blushed as the little frogs gasped. "You stood up to toads?" "Tell us the story, please?" Bailey begged. "Oh, sweetie, there's not much to tell." Hop Pop replied as he told the story for probably 3 hours.

"And then I lifted not one, not two, but three toads over my head and threw them off toad tower!" Hop Pop lied. "Threw three toads?" Polly asked. "I don't remember that." "That's because it didn't happen." Sprig whispered. "All he did was shove his face in crab legs." I commented. "C'mon, let him have it, he's just juicing up the details a bit, we call this marketing back home." Anne said. The little frogs continued to cheer for Hop Pop when suddenly, a group of frogs came up behind him. "Hopediah Plantar!" One of the frogs snapped. "You done asked for it, so here it comes, this here's the Hasselback Gang, Heythrow, Root, Uncle Albert, and Mama Hasselback." "You da frog who dun throw my Judro outta town?" Mama asked. "Yup, and he's gonna run you out, too, right, Hopediah?" Bailey responded. Gosh that kid was adorable. "Now this I gotta see." Mama laughed maniacally. "You're going to regret this!" Hop Pop yelled as he tried to push her away, but failed and was knocked out by a rolling pin. "Stay away from him!" We snapped as they trapped us in some barrels. "Aw man, this is just like middle school." Anne complained. "Don't remind me, dude." I added. "Not much different from my bucket, really." Polly comments. "Looks like you folks chose the wrong frog." Mama joked. "Or should I say, fraud, don't believe everything you hear about heroes, after all, they don't exist." "Is it true, Hopediah, are heroes a lie?" Bailey asked. "It's true, Bailey, it's true!" Hop Pop cried. "Now get lost and take your garbage with you!" Mama said.

We got back on the fwagon to continue driving. Sprig was about to pull out his fiddle, but not before Hop Pop smashed it to pieces. "Not proud of what happened back there, kids, Sprig was right, no one's ever gonna write a song about this old coward." Hop Pop sighed. "Well, now that you smashed my fiddle." Sprig grunted. "Hop Pop, you're not a coward, and who cares about some dumb old song." I explained. "Being a hero isn't about songs and glory anyway, it's about doing the right thing." Hop Pop stopped the fwagon. "My frog, Rowena, you're right, this whole time, I was so focused on getting a song that I lost track of what really matters, heroes always try to help those in need, and I was only trying to help myself, well that changes now, we're going back!" "Good call, HP, so what's the plan?" Anne asked.

Hop Pop went back to the town and Sprig, Polly, Anne, and I were hiding behind a cliff. The plan was that Sprig was gonna use his slingshot every time Hop Pop would attack the gang. It was all going according to plan, until Mama noticed us. Hop Pop began running from them, but then he saw Bailey and stood up to them, until Mama hit him with her tongue. From a distance, I saw the little frogs, including Bailey, change as their anger raged. We ran over to Hop Pop, who was badly hurt. "Hop Pop, we gotta go, the bitties are going nuts!" Anne exclaimed. "Well, I guess after years of abuse, even the most timid of frogs might get a little, OH MY GOODNESS!" Hop Pop shouted as Bailey changed back to normal. "Hi, Mr Plantar." Bailey greeted. "Aw, you're so cute after you cause frog abuse." I squealed as I pull out my phone and snapped a picture of him. "Bailey, you frogs are fighting back?" Hop Pop asked. "Yup all because of what you said." Bailey replied. This child must be protected at all costs. "You mean about how standing up to bullies is the right thing to do?" Hop Pop asked. "Uh, no." Bailey replied. "The part about how when someone can't fight for themselves, you need to fight for them, you clearly can't fight for yourself." Bailey changed again and continued to fight. "Well, time to get going." Hop Pop ordered.

As we drove away in the fwagon, Sprig fixed his fiddle and sang a new song.

Oh, Hop Pop stood his ground in hopes he'd save the day,
But then, the townsfolk went berserk and then we ran away.

Guess what, I created an Amphibia Spotify playlist that you guys can contribute to. The link is in my conversations. Also, really quick, some of these names were very difficult to understand, so I apologize if I got some names wrong. I can always do some editing later. -Mal.