Living in a Frog World (Male OC x Anne Boonchuy)

Part 1: Chapter 12: The Plantar's Last Stand

The Wartwood Farmer's Market was where farmer frogs from all over the swamp came to sell their goods. It consisted of stands where various foods and items were being sold. Some had flags flying over them, and others had balloons of vegetables or bugs. All to show what they were offering to the customers.

"Ah, the Wartwood Farmer's Market," said Sprig as Frank walked over to him with a crate of corn. Together they looked at the market. "Where salt of the earth frogs come to sell stuff and fill up on free samples."

And he did just that by opening a jar of Gentle Jon's Expensive Jellies. He then hit its bottom with his knee, sending the jelly flying up and landing in his mouth. But as Sprig was about to swallow it, Gentle Jon leaned towards him with an angry look.

"That wasn't a sample,'' he said.

Sprig spat the jelly back out into the jar. "Now it's like nothing happened," the red frog said nervously. But Gentle Jon still wasn't happy and wasn't going to be so gentle. He pulled out a giant mace. "I- I can pay for that."

Frank walked away and headed for the Plantar's fruit stand, leaving Sprig to try and find the money in his pocket. He set down a crate of vegetables next to the Plantar's stand. Anne was there too, reading a magazine, and Polly sat on the counter.

Just then, Mrs. Croaker approached the stand, humming happily to herself.

"Good morning, Mrs. Croaker," Frank, Anne, and Polly greeted the old frog.

"I'll take this here gangly gourd, Hopadiah," Mrs. Croaker said, grabbing one of the gourds from the basket on the ground.

"Oh, I sense a batch of Croaker stew coming on," Hop Pop commented with a friendly attitude. However, as he looked at the fruit, he grew concerned. "Hmm... Hang on there, Sadie. You don't want that one."

He walked around the stand and approached the elder frog as she gave him the gourd. First, Hop Pop inspected it. Then he knocked on it and heard that it was hollow. He placed the fruit to his ear and heard something in it. Something slimy.

"Frank, if you'd please!" Hop Pop said, tossing the gourd to him. Seeing that fruit coming at him, Frank grabbed his mantis scythe and used it to cut the gourd in half mid-air.

The two halves fell to the ground, relieving a giant maggot the size of a small cat inside. "A-ha! It's a gourd maggot. These guys taste terrible," Hop Pop said as the maggot jumped out.

It made its way over to the Plantar's stand, where it climbed onto it and crawled onto Anne's arm. This caused her to freak out and scream before it jumped into her hair. "It's in my hair! It's in my hair!" She yelled, slipping and falling onto the ground.

Frank rushed over to help her as Hop Pop talked to Mrs. Croaker. "Here, take this one, instead. It's maggot-free," he said, offering a new gourd, which she gladly accepted.

"Classic Plantar honesty," Mrs. Croaker said with gratefulness. "I've been buying from this stand since your father was running it. And y'all have never steered me wrong."

"Very impressive, Hop Pop," Anne commented. The maggot was out of her hair, and its carcass was being pulled off Frank's knife.

"That is the Plantar difference, Anne. You can't taste honesty. But if you could-"

"...it'd taste like a Plantar stand vegetable," Sprig and Polly droned, rolling their eyes.

"This stand is the heart and soul of our family," Hop Pop said, staring up at the sign of the stand. "I don't know what I'd do if we ever lost it."

"Bad news, everyone! Bad news!" Toadie said, running up to Hop Pop and handing him a rolled-up scroll. "Gonna run away before you read it!" He then started backflipping away from Hop Pop before he could protest.