I can't believe we're about to find some answers on how to get home. "Did you see that sign?" Sprig asked. "We've officially left the valley, this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to anyone, are you excited, I'm excited, Anne, Rowena, you should be more excited!" "We're excited, Sprig." I said. "We just wanna keep our expectations in..." In front of us was this beautiful view of the outside of the valley.
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"It's amazing, it's majestic, it's hurting my eyes." Anne said. "It's even better than I could've dreamed, full speed ahead, Hop Pop, keep driving and don't look back!" Sprig exclaimed. "Hold on, Sprig, look back here for a sec." Hop Pop instructed. "Now that we're out of the valley, things can get dangerous fast, so..."
"...from now on, we're going to follow Hop Pop's rules of the road, by me, Hop Pop." We groaned. "Another huge book, seriously?" Anne complained. "You kids got a problem with books, why, without books..." "Our civilization would crumble to nothingness." We replied with a groan. "Now, the only way we'll get to Newtopia in one piece is if we follow these rules, like this one here, Rule #98: Never strike a heroic pose on the Fwagon." Hop Pop explains as he straps Sprig into a car seat. "That should keep your sense of adventure in check, alright, kids, let's stick to the rules and we should have a safe and completely uneventful trip, 'kay thanks bye." Hop Pop shuts the door and begins driving again. "Man, this stinks." Sprig complained. "All those adventures out there, and we're stuck in here with these dumb rules!" "Not much we can do, my dad was the same way back home." I explained. "One time, we drove to the Grand Canyon, and didn't stop once." "Well, if anyone can learn how to have fun with these rules, it's us." Sprig said. "Newtopia, here we come!" We shouted. "Road rule #29: No shouting, marauders will follow the sound and steal your skin." Hop Pop commented.
I didn't do much during the drive, I was mostly writing in my journal about the time we entered the potluck. Sprig and Polly kept begging Hop Pop to make some stops, but it never happened. I joined the others just as we were about to pass a diner. "Oh, what's that?" Anne asked. "Whoa, Amphibia's best diner?" Sprig gasped. "Okay, we have to stop here!" "Rule #193: don't stop anywhere claiming to be the best." Hop Pop explains. "Look, they have crickets and cream ice cream!" Polly shouts. "Rule #194: no ice cream in the fwagon." Hop Pop said. "We complained about how many rules he had. "Hey, I just enforce the rules, I don't make them." "You did make them!" I shouted. "They're called Hop Pop's Road Rules!" "Darn straight, and I stand by it." Hop Pop snapped.
A little while later, we met inside the fwagon for a meeting. "I can't take it!" Sprig exclaimed. "All of these once in a lifetime experiences are literally passing us by!" "I know, and I really want to complain about it, but Road Rule #345: no complaining, takes care of that." Anne grunted. "I swear to frog, if one more cool and exciting thing passes us by..." Sprig exclaimed. "Red alert, kids, were coming up on the ruins of despair." Hop Pop interrupted. We looked out the window to see this cool looking fort. "What are those weird structures?" I asked. "No one knows, Rowena, they've been here long before any written history, just a mystery better left unsolved as far as I'm concerned." Hop Pop replied as Anne shuts the window. Sprig looked like he was having a panic attack. "This place is the coolest place I've ever seen!" Sprig cried. "If I don't get out and at least touch something, I'll regret it for the rest of my life!" "Don't sweat it, dude, I've got a plan." Anne said as she and I opened the hatch on top of the fwagon for the plan. We both started shaking to create a distraction. "Hey, HP, Anne and I have never ridden in a wagon for this long and we both feel like we're gonna hurl, can we stop for a second?" I asked. "Dang it, girls, how do humans cope with such unreliable inners?" Hop Pop asked. "Let me know when we can start moving again." "Okay thanks." Anne said as she closed the hatch and Hop Pop pulled over, allowing us to make our escape. "Hey, get back here!" Hop Pop shouted. "That was your plan?" Sprig asked. "Girls, you've done it again!" "Pretty sure Hop Pop is onto us, so let's take some selfies and get out of here." We struck a pose for the selfie, but as soon as Sprig leaned in, he opened up a door and fell in. "Sprig!" We shouted. Anne and I followed him down to help him out. "You alright, buddy?" I asked. We looked around the place, which kinda reminded me of a bunker. "What the heck?" Anne asked. "Are those computers, I thought you guys were pastoral or whatever." "I'm gonna touch everything!" Sprig exclaimed as he did just that. At that moment, Hop Pop came down, looking upset, which I kinda expected. "Do you three realize how many rules you broke, 17, 29, 36, 55!" Hop Pop snapped. "Forget the rules, just look at this place, Hop Pop, it has everything!" Sprig groaned. "Cool atmosphere, implied historical significance, levers." "Don't you dare, Rule #68: never ever pull a lever." Hop Pop ordered as Sprig put his weight on a huge lever and nothing happened. "Well would you look at that, I broke Rule #68 and we're all still alive." Sprig said as the computer began to start up. "Whoa, the building can talk, I'm not sure how I feel about that." "Assembly line activated, routine protocols engage." The computer said. "Assembly line, guys, I think this is a factory." Anne explains. "But what are they making?" I asked. "It is mighty impressive." Hop Pop compliments. "Additional materials required, please place them on the glowing access point." The computer instructed. "Glowing what now?" Hop Pop asked as he was standing on the access point, which put him inside the factory. "See this right here, kids, this is why we follow the rules!" "Rowena, you and Sprig try to shut this madhouse down, I'm gonna get him out of there." Anne said as me and Sprig went over to the computer to find something to shut it down. "If you wish to cancel the operation, please insert new disk." The computer said. Sprig began to hit some random buttons and set off a security alarm. A robot arm tried to crush me and Sprig, but he found Hop Pop's book and grabbed it. "Insert disk." The computer repeated. "Rowena, what the heck is a disk?" Sprig asked. "I don't know, Anne and I are from a different dimension, not the 90's." I replied. "Would you shut up!" Sprig exclaimed as he puts the book into a slot and causes the computer to malfunction. "We did it, fam!" Sprig cheered. "No talking until the running is done." Anne said as we all left the building. We cheered. "Road rule #2: don't celebrate until you're completely out of danger." Hop Pop interrupted. "C'mon, Hop Pop." Sprig said. "The danger is clearly..." The building explodes. "I know, I know, we should've followed the rules." "You think?" Hop Pop asked. "You know, you three should be more like Polly, I told her to stay put and look where she is." Polly was nowhere to be found. "Where's Polly?" Polly came dashing over to us on the fwagon. "Bessie made me do it." Polly said as Hop Pop glared at her. "Alright, I'm sorry, okay, that's the last time I break a rule." "Yeah, us too, HP." I sighed. "For the rest of the trip, we'll follow the rules." "Hang on, kids, maybe this all happened because I was being too strict with you, we've never taken a trip like this and I just wanted it to go smoothly, what do you say we set aside the rules for a bit and make a stop or two?" Hop Pop suggested. "Sounds good." We agreed.
