Rain. It always soothes me, whether I'm reading, writing, or even sleeping. "Nothing like sleeping to the sound of rain." Anne sighed. "This is so relaxing." I added. "I feel like we're supposed to be doing something." Anne wondered. "No." I nodded. Suddenly, Hop Pop came running into the basement." "Anne, Rowena, move!" Hop Pop ordered. "This is the third time I've called you!" "No it isn't." Anne replied. "No, okay then." He said. "This is the first time I'm calling you, let's go, we've got work to do!"

Hop Pop told us to come upstairs to do some house work. "Okay, we've got a full day of hard work ahead of us." Hop Pop explains as he gave us all rain coats, except for Polly, who he just wrapped up in plastic. "Rain gear?" Sprig asked. "Hop Pop, we're frogs, we should actually be taking off our clothes." "Keep your pants on, boy." Hop Pop ordered. "This here ain't no ordinary rainstorm, we gotta cover up the crops before they're destroyed!" Out of nowhere, Anne started coughing a lot. "Whoa, Anne." Sprig said. "Everything alright?" "No, I think I'm sick." Anne replied with a suspiciously hoarse voice and continued coughing. Hop Pop walked over to Anne to check on her. "No slimy coating, so that's good." Hop Pop said. "Hop Pop, humans don't get slimy at all." I explained. "Great grubs, her tongue has shrunken to an unnaturally tiny size!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "My tongue is the same size because we're humans." I corrected. "Rowena's right, I've got human problems that you know nothing about..." Anne added with a cough. "Oh no, sounds like I've got a bad case of the... mocha lattes." I kinda figured that she was lying. "That sounds horrible!" Hop Pop gasped. "C'mon, kids, let's stay away from Anne and her illness." "Rest up, Anne, we'll handle the work today." I played along. "Feel better, Anne." Sprig added. "I'll try my best, bye." Anne waved sounding weak.

A couple hours have passed and we were almost blown away by the storm a few times, but at least the crops were safe. "Oh, you're back?" Anne asked with a cough. "Whoa, are you guys okay?" Hop Pop and Polly were feeling sick from the weather. "Oh, me, I'm fine." Sprig smiled. "Me too!" I added. "Looks like Polly and I have come down with something too." Hop Pop explains. "Oh, it was brutal out there, Anne." Sprig added. "Rowena almost died out there, good thing you stayed inside." "Rowena, seriously, you almost died." Anne asked. I nodded. "Sure the work would've been much quicker if you were with us, but you probably would've gotten worse." Sprig explains. "Yep, sicker." Anne lied. "But nobody has to worry, because Rowena and I will take care of everyone..." Sprig explains and started sneezing his tongue out, (not literally.) "Oh no!" "Yup, it got Sprig too." I admitted. "Wait what?" Anne asked. "So you're all sick?" "They are, I'm not." I replied. Someone needs to take care of them, Polly was in the trash bin, Sprig had uncontrollable use of his tongue, and Hop Pop was sticking to everything. "Who's gonna take care of us?" Polly asked. "Me, I'm gonna take care of you guys." I replied. "Me too." Anne added. "But Anne, you're sick too." Sprig reminds her. "And you could get Rowena sick!" "Sure am, buddy." Anne coughs. "But you're all way more important to both of us." I added. "Besides, if Anne's fine with helping me out even though she's "sick," I won't stop her." "That's uncharacteristically generous of you." Hop Pop compliments. "Now let's get you all better!" Anne exclaimed.

During the storm, I was trying to put Sprig's tongue back in his mouth. Anne gave Polly some eye drops and examined Hop Pop. After that, Anne made soup. "Finally, my famous broccoli kale super soup, now with cricket." Anne said. "Anne's cooking the soup, guys!" I called to the Plantar's. They sat in the kitchen and each grabbed a bowl. "So, feeling any better?" Sprig's tongue came out again, this time hitting me in the face. "No." They replied. "Aw, man, I thought that would've helped for sure." Anne frowned. Suddenly, Hop Pop's legs looked more red than usual. "Uh, Hop Pop, are your legs normally that red?" I asked. "This can't be good." Hop Pop said.

Hop Pop grabbed a book from his study and showed us a possible illness he had. "Yup, it's red leg alright." Hop Pop explains. "Is that a bad thing?" Anne asked. "Uh, yeah, Anne." Polly replied. "The red leg works it's way up your body, and when it finally covers you completely, you... you..." "You depart from this ungrateful world." Hop Pop sighed. "What?" Anne and I gasped. "It's okay, kids, just pick a corner for me to pass away in." Hop Pop whispers. "No!" I snapped. "We're not picking a corner!" "There's gotta be a way to fix this." Anne added. "The guide book says that red leg can be cured by wading in a mineral pond high in the mountains." Sprig reads. "Mountains, the journey alone would do me in." Hop Pop said. "I'm just gonna get ready for the hereafter in my corner." "Sorry, Hop Pop, but you're gonna live to see another day." I confirmed. "Anne and I will take you to that mineral pond." "Even though I'm still pretty sick." Anne added with a cough. The Plantar's cheered.

We grabbed Bessie and I started driving. Anne was in the back, looking after the Plantar's, especially Hop Pop. "C'mon, Bessie." I said. "Anne, how's Hop Pop?" "Just fine, considering the red is up to my stomach." "What?" Anne gasped. "It's spreading quicker than we thought." Sprig added as he started hitting his stomach like a drum. "Knock it off, boy!" Hop Pop snapped. "Just find me a nice tree to leave me under." "Better make that a tree for two." Polly added. "Rowena, we've got a situation." Anne commented. I looked in the back to see Polly's tail was turned red. "Polly too?" I gasped. "I gotta get the cart moving faster." I unhooked Bessie from the cart and carried it the rest of the way. "Rowena what are you doing?" Sprig asked. "If Bessie can't get you there, then I'll get you there myself." I replied. "Not alone you're not." Anne said as she grabbed another end.

We walked for about an hour and we faced many obstacles, but we finally made it to the top of the mountain. "How much further?" Anne groaned. "We just have to cross this plateau." Sprig replied. "We have to cross that?" I asked. "There's no way Anne and I can get the cart to the other side without going through the plateau of frog abuse!" "Sure you can." Sprig said as the cart was destroyed. "Well, not now of course." "There's no shame in failure, girls." Hop Pop whispers. "Just pick a nice rock..." "No!" Anne exclaimed. "No rock, no tree, we're getting you to that mineral pond." Anne grabbed Hop Pop and Polly as I grabbed Sprig and we all quickly ran through the plateau. "I knew you guys would get us here." Sprig said with encouragement. "And it's a good thing too." Sprig also had the red leg. "Sprig, you too?" I exclaimed. "C'mon, let's get to that spring." "Wait, those are stairs?" Anne asked. "We can't walk up these." "Ain't for walking, they're for hopping." Hop Pop replied. "The stairs are made for frogs." Sprig added. "How are we gonna get up there?" I asked. "We're not frogs." "Well, we tried." Hop Pop groaned. "Hang on, everyone." Anne said as I ran behind her. "Anne, what are you doing?" I asked as she grabbed my hand and jumped for one of the steps, but we had a boost from a huge fly that for once didn't want to eat us. The bug flew above the pond and we jumped in. "We made it!" We cheered. "I knew you guys would be okay." Anne commented. "Thank goodness too because..." "Wait, shouldn't the red be going away?" I asked. "In theory." Hop Pop replied. "Sprig, what does the book say?" Anne asked. "The pond should cure us instantly." Sprig answered. "It's not working." "What, the book was wrong?" Anne asked. "Books are wrong all the time, a lot more than you'd think." Hop Pop explains. Sprig hits Hop Pop in the face with his tongue. "Dang it, boy!" "This is all my fault!" Anne exclaimed. "No, Anne, you and Rowena did more than anyone could've asked of you." Hop Pop comments. Anne and I started crying. "Yeah, you guys are the best." Polly compliments. We cried some more. "Even though Anne's as sick as we are, you both tried to save us." Sprig added. "But I'm not sick!" Anne cried. I knew it. "What?" They gasped. "I never was." Anne sighed. "I faked it so I could take a day off, I swear as long as I live, never to fake being sick again!" "Don't be ridiculous, kiddo." Hop Pop said. You and Rowena probably just gotten sick with the rest of us." "Yeah, we'd probably all be dying now." Sprig added. "At least you two made it." Polly whispers. "You guys are the best." I whined. "That's enough now, it's time to let us go." Hop Pop said. "Goodbye Rowena, Goodbye Anne." "No!" Anne cried as she hugged me tight as I did the same. "Rest in peace you beautiful frogs." I frowned. "Uh, anyone dead yet?" A voice asked. It was Hop Pop. "Not yet." another voice replied, which was Sprig. "Present." A third voice added, which was Polly. "That's odd." Hop Pop wondered. "Unless, Sprig, get over here and show me that book." Sprig shows the book to him. "It says here that red leg isn't the only thing that can cause a frog to turn red." Hop Pop reads. "It says there's a mushroom that gives you the exact same symptom." "Wait, I think I saw Anne put that mushroom in her soup." I commented. "I put it in the soup I gave you!" Anne cried with tears of joy and hugged us all. "That mushroom ain't for eating, Anne, I use it to scrub the pots and clean the bathroom floor, and clean Bessie's stable." Hop Pop explains. "Looks like we were just normal sick." Sprig said. "You're gonna live!" Anne cried. "Is she gonna stop." Polly asked. "Let her have it kids." Hop Pop replied. "Let her have it."