Sprig took us to the annual Grubhog Day festival. "Carnival games, fair food, why can't it be like this all the time?" Anne asked. "I know, right, this is amazing." I replied. "Welcome to Grubhog Day, girls!" Polly exclaimed. "It's the one day a year that no one works and the whole swamp cuts loose, it all leads up to a big ceremony where the Grubhog pops out of his official stump!" "And, let me guess, predicts the weather?" I asked. "How'd you know?" Polly gasped. "Believe it or not, we have the same thing in our world." Anne explains. "Grubhog, schmub hog." Sprig scoffs. "The best part is the vomit inducing, death defying, unforgettable rides!" "That's what I'm talking about!" Anne cheered. We ran over to the ride until we were stopped by Hop Pop. "Not so fast, kids!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "Hop Pop, what are you doing hiding in the bushes?" I asked. "Uh, I'm not quite sure myself, Rowena." Hop Pop replied. "But nevermind that, great news, Ralphie Underbrook has the plague!" We gasped. "That's terrible!" Polly shouts. "Oh, he'll be fine." Hop Pop said. "But now, someone has to take care of the grubhog, and I volunteered you, Sprig." "What?" Sprig asked. "This is a big deal." Hop Pop explains. "The last Plantar to do it botched the job so bad, we shunned him for life." "Botched it?" Anne asked. "Let's just say he got hungry." Polly replied. "And he ate it." "Ew!" I gagged. "Isn't this exciting?" Hop Pop asked. "You'll have to miss the fair, of course, but it's for a good cause." "Of course I will." Sprig hesitated. "There's nothing more important to me than family." "That's my Sprig!" Hop Pop exclaimed. "I knew I could count on you."

Anne and I went with Sprig to see the grubhog. "Aww, he's so cute." I cried. "Like a little sock puppet!" "Careful, it spits acid." Hop Pop warns as the grubhog spits acid on the ground. "You got that costume on yet, boy?" Sprig sighed. "I'm so happy I lived to see this." Sprig picks up a scroll. "Congratulations, lucky child, on being chosen!" Sprig reads. "Now just follow this one rule: keep your eye on the grubhog and... don't pull a Plantar." "Well, that's frog abuse." I added. "Polly, let's go spread the good news, the Plantar's are back, baby." Hop Pop said. "And just remember, the family name is in your hands." "Alright, dude, what's going on?" Anne asked. "I know you don't wanna do this." "I don't, but I can't let Hop Pop down." Sprig sighed. "He's counting on me." "Sprig, buddy, just tell Hop Pop how you feel." I said. "No way, those eyes he made earlier, those were "I'm proud of you, Sprig" eyes." Sprig replied. "I've only seen them maybe twice, so you guys just go and enjoy those incredible rides without me." "Hey, what did that scroll say your one job was?" Anne asked. "To keep an eye on the grubhog." Sprig answered. "So, why not keep an eye on him as he's sitting next to us?" I asked. "On a ride." "You're a hopping genius, guys!" Sprig exclaimed. "As long as we're back before the ceremony, what's the difference?" Anne questioned. "But, what if Hop Pop sees us out there?" Sprig asked. "He won't." I replied. "This plan is flawless!" Sprig cheered.

We went on a couple of rides for a while, trying not to get caught by Hop Pop and or Polly. "This is amazing!" Sprig exclaimed. "Not only are we having fun, but I'm also doing Hop Pop proud!" "In our world, we call this a win win." Anne said. "Uh, we call it a win win here too, Anne." Sprig corrected as he saw something amazing. "A new ride." Sprig gasped. "Let's do it!" I exclaimed.

We got on the ride and screamed at the top of our lungs. But at a loose bolt, the cart we had caused us to drop the grubhog on the track. "Hog overboard!" Sprig shouted. "No, look, we can pick him up when we come back around." Anne said. As we headed to where the grubhog was, a bird picked it up and flew off as the ride came to a complete stop. "We are so dead." I said as Sprig screamed in our faces. "Whoa buddy, don't freak out." "Maybe we can go into the woods and find a new grubhog." Anne suggested. "The ceremony starts in 5 minutes!" Sprig panicked. "Hop Pop's gonna be so disappointed!" "There's gotta be something we can do." I wondered. "Wait, earlier I said that the grubhog looked like a sock puppet, so, what if we made a sock puppet, even though a friend of mine was once turned into a sock puppet, but that's a story for another time." Luckily, this frog was selling socks and buttons for no reason. "Presenting one grubhog!" Anne announces as she intimidates the grubhog. "Hmm, I don't know." Sprig said as Anne made the puppet lick Sprig's face. "He's a friendly little guy, maybe we can actually pull this off." "It's just gotta pop out of the stump, right?" I asked. "And predict the weather, yeah." Sprig replied. "We totally got this!" Anne exclaimed as the bell rang. "Let's do this thing." We whispered as we did a fist bump and a button fell off the puppet. "I can fix that." Anne said.

At the ceremony, I sat with Hop Pop and Polly, just to try and avoid suspicion. Man, I'm such a rebel now. The plan was simple, Sprig was gonna be on the stage while Anne controlled the puppet, worst case scenario, Anne predicts the weather incorrectly. Mayor Toadstool walked onto the stage to begin the ceremony. "Frogs, friends, welcome to the annual Grubhog Day celebration!" He announced as the crowd cheered. "Wait, simmer down, I now wanna hand it over to the next town scandal just waiting to happen, Sprig Plantar!" "Welcome, fellow frogs, it's my honor to present the one, the only, the absolutely real and not fake grubhog!" Sprig announced. Anne peeked the puppet out of the stump. "I can't believe it, we're pulling it off." Sprig whispered so the audience couldn't hear. "And now, the ceremonial feeding and cleaning of the grubhog!" The mayor said as Sprig feeds a veggie to the puppet and Anne spit it out. "That grubhog has got some sass in him." Hop Pop commented. I nodded nervously. Sprig cleans the puppet and continues to fool the other frogs as Anne put on a show. "I must say, this is the best ceremony we've ever had." Mayor Toadstool compliments. "Consider the Plantar name restores in full!" The crowd cheered and Hop Pop cried. "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, it's time to cut open the grubhog!" Oh frog! Mayor Toadstool was gonna cut off Anne's arm! "This is NOT like Groundhog Day!" I panicked. "Now remember, spots in the liver means two more weeks of winter!" Mayor Toadstool exclaimed. "I love this part!" Polly shouted. Sprig screams and blocked the mayor's blade from cutting Anne. The crowd gasped. "What's gotten into you, boy?" He asked. "Has the grubhog taken over your mind?" "I can't let you do this, the truth is I lost the grubhog!" Sprig exclaimed. The town gasped again. "That's right, I lost the grubhog because I was goofing off at the fair, Anne, Rowena and I tricked you all to cover it up." Sprig kicked the stump to reveal Anne with the sock puppet. "Hello, everybody." Anne chuckled. "Sprig, I don't understand, I thought you said fixing the family name was important to you." Hop Pop said. "I knew it was important to you, so I played along." Sprig confessed. "I just wanted to make you proud." "Sprig, I owe you an apology." Hop Pop replied. "I put way too much on your shoulders, I should've let you just have fun at the fair." "Well, Plantars, you've ruined everything surprising absolutely no one." Mayor Toadstool complains. "I knew this goofy kid would mess things up somehow." "Hey, you make fun of me all you want, but leave him out of this!" Hop Pop snapped. "Wake up, Plantar, the night is ruined!" Mayor Toadstool argued. "We've got no grubhog, all we got is a puppet that everyone seemed to love!"

Sprig came up with the idea of making a puppet show. "Chop the grubhog!" Sprig exclaimed. "No, chop you!" Anne replied. "Grubhog 2, the reckoning." I read. "And queue applause." "Ten shows nightly." Hop Pop announced. "They can't get enough, I'm proud of ya, all of ya." "Sprig, this was a great idea, looks like you redeemed your family name after all." I complimented. "That whole killing-the-grubhog stuff has always been pretty severe." Hop Pop said. "Not to me." Polly added. "To the VIP seats!" "Hey guys, thanks for sticking with me today." Sprig thanked. "It was a ride I won't forget." "Anytime, dude." Anne replied. "Real talk though, I almost peed myself when they were gonna cut off my arm." "Yeah, too bad about that grubhog though." I replied. "I hope he's in a better place."