3. S1: Do People Dream of Jumping Frogs?

"Come on, Anne. You can do this…"

Sasha watched from the outside of the shop, somewhat anxious. Sure, she had no problems with what they were about to do but the restless feeling was part of a package. Plus, she could at least outrun Marcy so that was a plus.

Inside the said shop, Anne was looking left and right, making sure no one else was watching. She briefly glanced at the window, seeing both Marcy and Sasha outside, silently cheering her on. She really did not want to do this but what choice did she have? Her friends were counting on her! And she wouldn't be a good friend if she didn't do this.

Marcy though? She was just enjoying the whole thing.

"She's so gonna get caught."Marcy said, her face pressed against the glass wall.

"Pssh, no she won't!" Sasha argued. "Besides, it's her birthday. If she gets in trouble, we bail her out."

"You've never bailed me out before."

"Well, you never get in trouble."

Marcy shrugged. "Touché."

Suddenly, the door next to them opened abruptly and Anne ran out of the shop, ignoring the two. Sasha and Marcy quickly followed, though were somewhat losing ground.

"Anne! Slow down!" Sasha yelled from behind. She was followed by Marcy, who was already sweating heavily. "Come on… guys… Huff huff… You know I'm not good at running…"

After a few minutes, Sasha and Marcy finally managed to catch up to Anne, who was sitting on a bench at the playground. Sasha panted lightly, "Whew, haven't ran like that for a while."

Marcy, who looked like she was going to die, glared at the two. "I… hate… both of you…"

Sasha smiled at Marcy's little dramatic statement before turning towards Anne, who was far too quiet. The smile softened as she walked towards the Thai-American and lightly slapped her shoulder.

"Ah, Sash!" Anne yelled in surprise. "You scared me!"

"Me? Scaring you?" Sasha sarcastically asked, followed by a laugh. "Hahahaha! That's funny!"

"Yeah, funny…"

Sasha looked at Anne, realizing a bit of a mood change. "Hey, what's wrong? It's your birthday! Come on, be a bit more… I dunno, happy!"

Anne stared at the music box before her. "… This, it feels wrong. I shouldn't have stolen this."

With determination, Anne stood up, box at hand. "I'm gonna return this."

Sasha, however, was having none of this and pushed Anne back onto the seat. "What? No! Who knows what would happen?"

"But Sash, this is wrong! What if the old lady noticed?! I'll get caught!"

"Actually, the store didn't have any cameras. Plus, no witnesses so unless one of us rats you out, you're completely clear." Marcy added, finally recuperated.

"See?! Even Marcy agrees with me!"

"Just for the record, we won't associate with one another if the cops come— OW!" Marcy yelped, looking at Sasha who had 'accidentally' stepped on her foot.

Sasha placed her hand on Anne's shoulder, comforting her. "It's fine, Anne. You heard what Marcy said. No cameras, no witnesses, no nothing!"

"Well except, you know, me and Sasha. No snitching by the way." Marcy added. Sasha glared at her friend in response, causing Marcy to stiffen. "Right, shutting up now."

Sasha turned back to Anne. "Look, just… Think of it as your birthday present! From me and Marcy here!"

"Birthday present?"

"Yeah! Marcy found the music box, and I encouraged you to get it! I mean, you liked frogs, right?"

"Not really…"

Sasha continued regardless. "And this music box here?" She said, pointing at the box Anne was holding. "It's obviously worth more than what that shop was selling. So if we didn't take it, someone else would definitely have done it first."

"B-but—"

"And the old lady obviously didn't care. If she did, it wouldn't be here in the first place." Sasha exclaimed before she turned towards her other friend. "Ain't that right, Marcy?"

Marcy at the moment was scrolling through her phone. When she realized Sasha had called for her, she moved her head upwards. "Huh? What were you guys saying?"

"Believe me when I say this, Anne. We're completely in the clear."

Anne however, despite all of that, held some doubt in her mind. "Still…"

Sasha threw her hands upwards and walked away. "Fine! You want to return it, do it. Me and Marcy though? We'll be at that little café that just opened recently."

Marcy looked at Sasha, surprised. "Wait, I didn't agree to this—"

"Come on, Mars. Let's have some lattés while we wait for Anne to do 'the right thing'" Sasha baited with a mocking tone at the end. Marcy, knowing full well what the girl was doing, just sighed and followed the blonde.

Anne, despite having two good friends, was very easily convinced, whether it was by peer pressure or a simple suggestion. She might have a somewhat good moral compass (allegedly) but that didn't mean she wasn't very easily tricked.

"WAIT!" Anne shouted, stopping the two in their tracks. "M-maybe you're right. It is just a music box."

Immediately after, Sasha and Marcy appeared on both sides, grinning. Sasha wrapped her arm around Anne's collar, hugging her. "Alright, girl! Now that's what I wanted to hear!"

"Yeah, woo…" the Thai-American cheered weakly.

Marcy though just leaned on Anne's arm. "Well, come on. Open it. It is a music box, right?"

"That's what the label said." Anne replied. She held up the golden music box, her grip tightened around it. Slowly, she pulled open the top half, not noticing that the jewels glowed slightly.

There was a flash of colourful light erupting from the box, blinding everyone nearby. It lasted for a few seconds and yet, the girls didn't move. Too surprised, too enamoured, too scared.

For a brief moment, each of their eyes shined a colour. For a brief moment, it became blinding.

After that brief moment, there was nothing.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH—" Sasha screamed, instantly getting up from her bed. Her screaming died a moment later, replaced by bulging eyes, a sweaty face and an intense heartbeat. She tried to breathe, as irregular as it was, calming herself down a few notches.

After a few seconds of just breathing, she wiped the sweat off her face and her heartbeat slowed down. She looked around and was remembered harshly; she wasn't in her room back home.

"Yeah, the basement…" Sasha told herself, still breathing somewhat heavily. She turned next to her, a photo she had placed standing comfortably by her side.

Placing her fingers on the photo, she sighed. "I'll find you guys…"

Sasha laid herself back down on her mat. She expected to fall asleep after a while but her mind was stuck on that dream of hers. She wasn't sure why seeing the dream, the memory, it filled her with unease. She continued to reimagine the events that transpired before she got sent to this fantasy amphibian nightmare but for every replay she watched, the details changed little by little. After who knows how long, Sasha groaned and decided to just leave the bed.

It took Sasha a few minutes to get ready for the day. Thankfully for her, all of Anne's clothing was of her size. There was also the fact that Anne packed several pairs of their school uniform for some reason, but who was she to judge? Though, she would have to wash them sooner or later.

In fact, Anne's backpack is surprisingly bigger than Sasha initially thought. Several teen-pop magazines, school supplies, extra clothing for all occasions, girl supplies and a bunch of other stuff. She was pretty sure she could pack Sprig in here with room to spare. Maybe she'll keep that in mind for the future but not right now at least.

Once she was ready with a pair of new (Anne's) clothes, she headed up the stairs and towards the kitchen for some breakfast. Upon entering the living room, she noticed that the rest of the Plantar family was already there; Both Sprig and Polly were what she assumed to be cereal, while Hop Pop was reading the news.

She walked towards the table and grabbed herself a bowl before sat herself in an empty chair. Hop Pop lowered his papers to greet her for the day. "Oh good morning, Sasha—AAAH!" Hop Pop shouted.

Sprig looked at Sasha and was left surprised. "Woah, Sash. Y-you look… kinda… eh?"

"He means you look horrible." Polly finished her brother's statement, pointing at the only human there with her spoon.

Unbeknownst to Sasha, she did in fact look somewhat horrible. Her hair was a mess with twigs sticking out of it, she had bags under her eyes and her skin looked paler than usual. There was also a trail of dried saliva from her mouth that she forgot to wash off or simply didn't notice.

Sasha poured herself some of the cereal and milk and ate without complaining. It took her a few seconds to notice that all eyes were on her, which she responded with very little emotion.

"Oh, you guys were talking to me?" Sasha asked, genuinely surprised. "Sorry, I just… just got some stuff working on. What were you saying?"

"We said, well more like Polly did, you look a bit out of touch lately." Hop Pop answered. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad sleep, that's all." Sasha attempted to assure them. It wasn't very convincing, unlike her usual style. Hop Pop, however, still somewhat concerned, didn't pry on it. "Well, alright then. We've got a long day ahead of us so you better eat up!"

Sasha silently nodded and took a bite of her cereal.

The next day, Sasha came up a bit later than usual as the Plantars had already finished their breakfasts. She looked at her froggy foster family as they got ready to leave the house and were surprised to see Sasha up.

"Oh hey, Sash! You're finally awake!" Sprig cheerfully said, only to frown a second later. "You don't look so good. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool. Come on, let's get to work!" Sasha said with enthusiasm, though less than normal.

Hop Pop however disagreed. "Maybe you should take some rest for the day, Sasha. You don't seem that fine."

Sasha glared at the older frog. "I said I'm fine. Now come on, those fields aren't gonna work themselves."

She grabbed a hoe and immediately left the house, only to be stopped by Sprig. "Uh, Sasha?"

"What is it, Sprig?" Sasha asked, a bit aggressively. Sprig didn't notice. "That's not a hoe. That's a coat stand."

Sasha looked at the 'hoe' at hand and was surprised; it really was the coat stand. The hoe wouldn't have been indoors anyways. Sasha let it go abruptly, causing it to fall onto the ground. "Huh, I guess it is." She then left the house wordlessly, appearing somewhat 'out there'.

Hop Pop frowned, looking worried.

"Okay, now I'm very sure you're not alright. You need to rest, Sasha." Hop Pop exclaimed as he watched Sasha leaning on a shovel, half-awake. She was staring off to the distance and blinking slowly. Her mouth was slightly ajar and Hop Pop was almost convinced that Sasha was sleeping with her eyes open.

"Sasha? You there?" Hop Pop tugged her jacket, shaking her. "SASHA!"

"WUH?! HUH?! I'M…! I'm…" Sasha jolted up, surprised. She grabbed the shovel to attack but stopped pre-swing to get her bearings right. "Hop Pop? Ish that you?"

"Yes, Sasha. It's me." Hop Pop assured the confused teen. "Now put down that shovel and go to bed. You don't look like you had enough sleep!"

"I'm fine…"

"You said that yesterday and I'm not entirely convinced here." Hop Pop sighed. "Just go to bed."

"NO! I-I—"

"No 'I's or 'me's or 'you's. Go. To. Sleep."

Sasha frowned. "I don't need it! J-just let me do this, alright?!" Sasha immediately grabbed her shovel started digging holes for the newer crops. Hop Pop was not satisfied by this and despite her assurances, he pressed on. "What's going on, Sasha?"

She stopped for a moment, before resuming. "… Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"That's obviously ain't true, Sasha. You can tell me what's wrong—" Hop Pop continued until he was stopped as Sasha speared the shovel deep into the earth.

Sasha, looking away, responded. "Look, I like you guys but let's be real here. I've only known you for more than a week—" She turned, facing Hop Pop. "And you're already threading the line. So just let me do my job,"

"And mind your own business."

Hop Pop moved back, shocked of her response. Tripping over a small rock, he fell backwards and watched as Sasha's formidable figure shadowed over him before leaving to continue her work. Her entire expression just screamed out distrust, like he had barged into a part of her that he shouldn't have. Sweat trailed down his face, his breathing became ragged and irregular.

He wiped the sweat off and his conviction became clear. It wasn't the first time he had to deal with something like this, and it ain't the last either.

For the past few days or so, Hop Pop and Sasha kept their talks to a minimum. Neither was willing to pry the other for information and to Sasha, this was far more preferable. Despite all that, her condition continued to worsen day by day and by the evening, Sprig was already getting worried. She was sluggish and unsure of herself, a far cry to the usual confident and cool human he knew of.

"We have to do something!" Sprig said as he watched Sasha boredly read one of her human magazine on the couch, occasionally falling to sleep, only to wake up moments later. "How can we just sit here and do nothing?!"

Hop Pop then walked by and joined in. "Don'tcha worry bout nothing, Sprig. I got myself a plan." He then pulled out a box, revealing it to Sprig.

"Woah…" Sprig awed.

"Yep, took me a while to find it. The storeroom really needs a cleaning."

Sprig took the box into his hands, examining it before he turned back towards Hop Pop. "Are you sure this will work?"

"It has to 'cause I ain't got any other ideas."

Sprig grinned and walked straight towards Sasha, box in hand. He stopped just in front of her as she napped, her consciousness going in and out of existence, unaware of her little froggy friend. Sprig shook the box in front of her, hoping she'd notice before asserting himself.

"Hey, Sasha!"

Sasha woke up in shock. "BAH! Huh? Sprig?"

"Yep, it's me! Your BFF, Sprig!" He cheered. He then showed the box to Sasha, shaking its contents. "I got this nifty little game here! Wanna play?"

Sasha looked at the box, but her eyes felt too blurry for her to fully see. She yawned, "Huaah… Yeah sure, why not…?"

"COOL! I'll set up the board!"

A few minutes later, the board was finally set. It was square in shape with the path going around and twisting, barring the middle. Said area had a little wheel and arrow to spin for chance and three decks of cards, one called 'Truth', another known as 'Dare' and the last one was a deck of 'Wild Cards'. There were also a bunch of different player pieces to choose from, modelled after random household objects like a hat or a theoretical self-propelling automated vehicle known as a 'kar'.

Depending on where the arrow fell, you get either truth or dare from the cards and the number of steps you can take. Answering the question or performing the dare allowed you to move forward while failing would give up your turn. Additionally, there were the so-called 'empty cards' that had nothing on them, and the deck of 'wild cards' that change the structure of the game. The objective was simple; get your piece to the end of the board first and you win.

It was a fairly simple game for kids, and one of the few board games that Hop Pop bought when he was still young and full of dreams. They're actually quite expensive nowadays, being a collector's item since it was discontinued due to the arrow 'easily getting stuck in newtlings' eyeballs'.

The lawsuits went on for days.

"Pick your pieces!" Sprig exclaimed, showcasing all the player pieces available. Sprig chose a flask as his piece, followed by Polly with a war axe, Hop Pop with a little ship and finally Sasha who chose a religious stork statue which she was pretty sure was not a common household object.

Polly placed her piece on the board. "So, who goes first?"

"Well, we should go around the board and since I did find the game…" Hop Pop spun the arrow, landing on a truth.

He picked up a card from the truth deck and began to read. "Let's see here… 'What are your favourite flowers?' Pssh, that's easy! It's tulips!" He confidently answered before throwing his card into the used pile.

"Polly, you're up next!"

"Alriiight!" Polly hopped forward and spun the arrow, earning herself a dare. She pulled out a dare card, staring and quietly giving it to Sprig, who took it after several little slaps. "Huh? Oh, right. Forgot you can't read."

"SPRIG!" Polly scolded, clearly embarrassed.

Sprig ignored her and began to read. "Okay, 'Perform 10 push-ups'. Think you can do it?"

Polly scoffed. "Psst, do you—" the pollywog flexed her baby muscles. "EVEN KNOW ME?!"

Immediately after, Polly dropped on the floor and performed ten perfect push-ups, counting each and everyone, to the extent of her baby frog fins. Still, it was somewhat impressive.

The game went on as normal with a few wild cards in between such as mixing or skipping turns, double or nothing, and the infamous 5-second rule. After a while, Sasha started to enjoy the game despite her exhaustion. Then at one point midgame, the first empty card was pulled by the human girl.

"Huh, this card's got nothing on it." Sasha said out loud. Sprig opened his mouth to explain, only to be taken over by Hop Pop. "That there is called an empty card, Sasha. You spin the arrow here and whoever it picks gets to give you the truth of dare."

"Well, I landed on truth so…" She flicked the wheel around and watched it spin before slowing down and stopping. The arrow pointed at Hop Pop, not even a little surprised.

"Alright, Hop Pop. Lay it on me." Sasha lazily said towards the old frog, who smiled.

Hop Pop cleared his throat first, "Uh-hum, okay here it comes. Now tell me, Sasha, why aren't cha going to sleep at night for the past few days?"

Instantly, the whole mood and atmosphere shifted. Everyone became quiet and the Plantars all stared at Sasha for an answer, who in turn was shocked by Hop Pop's question and a moment later, turned to glare at the old frog.

"What. Kind. Of question. Is that?" Sasha replied with venom.

"It's an honest question, Sasha." Hop Pop answered, not bothering to look at her. "Are ya gonna answer or are ya gonna give up your turn?"

Sasha, not wanting to back down, took the bait. This usually wouldn't work but she wasn't currently at an optimal state of mind. "If you must know, the reason I haven't been sleeping at night is because I was doing other stuff."

"Other stuff?"

"I don't have to answer that." Sasha concluded, moving her piece forward a bit too aggressive. "Sprig, you're up."

Sprig slapped the arrow to spin, landing on a wild card. He picked one from its deck and showed it to everyone. "It's a reverse wild card! I guess it's your turn again, Sasha."

"Urgh, fine." She begrudgingly accepted, flicking the arrow, only to get herself another truth. Taking from the top deck, she showed it was an empty card again.

Wordlessly, she spun it again, though this time pointing towards Polly. "Alright, Polly. You get a question."

"Cool! So… WHAT'S THIS OTHER 'STUFF'?!"

Sasha quickly turned to Hop Pop, her left eye slightly twitching. Hop Pop wasn't even bothered. "Don't look at me. Polly's just curious."

"YEEAAHH!"

Sasha frowned deeply. "I was just thinking, okay? There, you got your answer."

"What were you thinking?" Sprig asked. In response, Sasha lifted her finger, shushing him. "IT'S… not your turn, Sprig."

"Oh ya, you're right!"

Sasha moved her piece again. "I'm guessing it's your turn now, Polly?"

Polly spun the arrow and immediately picked up a wild card once stopped. She looked at her card when suddenly, both eyebrows rose and with the might of the frog gods, slammed her card on the board.

"DARE TO THE KING, BABY‼" Polly shouted upwards.

"Dare to the King?" Sasha asked, one eyebrow up.

"It's a special card, even among wild cards." Hop Pop explained. "Basically, Polly can choose any one us to do a dare. If ya pass, both of your pieces move with your steps doubled. If ya fail, Polly moves the usual number of steps, while ya don't move at all. Then, she gets to spin the arrow again."

"It's like, a SUPER wild card!" Sprig exclaimed.

If Polly gave an easy dare, she'd win the game so long as the chosen one succeeded. But even if they failed, she'd still be the closest to win. Any choice she made would ultimately lead to her victo—

"I DARE SASHA TO TELL ME WHAT SHE WAS THINKING AT NIGHT, FULL STORY!"

"OKAY, THAT'S IT!" Sasha stood up and angrily stomped her way outside at the back, leaving the game. The Plantars all watched as Sasha left, everything grinding to a halt.

A few moments of silence later, Sprig stood up as well, feeling worried. "I'll go check on her." The little frog boy went on, following her trail.

With two players gone, the game was officially cancelled. Something Polly thought she should bring up.

"So, did I win?"

Sprig walked out of the kitchen door, leading himself to the lake area at the back of the house. On weekends and sometimes in the evening, the Plantars would spend their leisure time here, just practising their spitting or watching the sunset. A little special moment from time to time.

It didn't take long for Sprig to find his human friend. She sat at the edge of the docks, watching the ripples in the water, the sunset illuminating the horizon with a calm and warm orange light.

Sprig didn't say a thing. Instead, he strolled to her side and took a seat himself. The two of them continued to watch as the sun sets itself, the warm glow slowly disappearing.

About a minute later, he finally broke the silence. "So… that happened, huh?"

"Yep."

Sprig nodded, leaving another few moments devoid of speech. Once done, it began again. "… Hey, Sasha?"

"Yeah, Sprig?" Sasha asked in return.

"I'm sorry for what happened back there. We shouldn't have forced you on that." Sprig apologized, splashing the water lightly with his froggy feet. "We were just worried, that's all. But if you don't want to tell us about it, it's fine."

A few seconds, that was all it took. They were long seconds but every last one of it counted. A choice was made to reveal one's truth, even if they weren't comfortable about it. In the end, sometimes it was just better to say something about it anyway.

"I… haven't been sleeping well." Sasha admitted. "I keep having the same nightmares every single night. And the worst part? They weren't nightmares at all."

Sprig wanted to ask what she meant but stopped himself. Right now, she needed someone to listen instead.

"Before I got sent here, I… did something… bad. And I'm pretty sure it's this thing I did that got me here in the first place." Sasha turned upwards, looking straight at the setting sun. "And right now, my friends are also out there! I nearly died in the forest and that was close to town! Who knows what else is out there?!

"I don't want to say it but it keeps coming back. The nightmares, they aren't nightmares. They're memories of that bad thing I did."

Sasha's breathing became more rapid. "They keep playing back, over and over again. And every time I watch, the more I realize…"

"What if it was my fault?"

Sprig stared at Sasha as tears slowly leaked out. They started slow but the more she explained, the faster they flowed. Sooner than later, droplets were formed and fell onto the wooden docks, staining it momentarily.

The sun finally disappeared from the far reaches, leaving nothing but an afterglow. Without hesitation, without a second thought, Sprig wrapped his little arms around Sasha and hugged her tightly. His body was still slimy and weird but she didn't struggle. She might have not deserved it but at the moment, she needed it.

A few minutes later, when the fireflies come out, Sprig let go and moved a step back, giving his human some breathing space. Sasha turned towards her little froggy friend; no, her froggy BFF, and wiped off the wetness around her eyes.

"We'll find your friends! Don't worry about it!" Sprig said, full of spirit. "And if they're anything like you said, they'll definitely be okay! I'm sure of it!"

Sasha smiled. "Thanks, Sprig."

"You are super welcomed! I—" Sprig pounded his chest. "—AM YOUR BFF‼" He then shouted, enthusiasm oozed through each and every word.

"Haha, you definitely are." Sasha laughed, pointing at him with a finger gun.

"So… I guess you don't want to keep on playing, huh?" Sprig asked.

"What do you think?" Sasha asked back sarcastically. "Tell Hop Pop I'll be back in a minute. And tell him never to use a game to forcefully make me tell my problems, like ever again."

"YOU GOT IT!" Sprig exclaimed before saluting and hopping back inside.

Sasha turned back towards the lake but this time, looking at the stars above, finally visible and twinkling brightly. She watched a shooting star coming around briefly and continued on for a minute or two. Satisfied and calmed down, she sighed sadly and yet looked up with hope.

"I promised I'll find you guys, but it's gonna take a bit while." Sasha told the night sky. "When I do, we'll find a way home and everything will go back to normal."

"I'm sorry I got you guys into this mess but don't worry about it. I'll get you out of this mess too." Sasha stood up and strolled towards the door. Placing her hand on the handle, she looked up one last time.

"Just… wait for me, kay?" She then entered her temporary home, feeling somewhat lighter and ready for a good night's sleep.