Gortimer, narrating: I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between
is anything but normal.
Most days are ordinary.
You wake up,
you make breakfast.
You don't think twice about it.
[sneeze]
But sometimes in a moment...
[sneezing]
an ordinary day becomes...
[sneezing]
Seven.
[sneeze]
a day you'll never forget.
Eight.
[whistle]
Hey, bud.
Here you go.
Eat that.
I need you at 100% today.
Because today's the day
you finally let me drive your convertible.
Not yet.
But I drove you to Egg's on the riding mower.
You said I took the sidewalk ramps like a pro.
You're a little speedy.
I'm talking about something better.
Motorcycle.
A flower.
Not just any flower.
The oxalis normalis.
The fabled flower of Normal Street.
It springs up once a generation,
and it is spectacular.
Legend says it smells sweeter
than a hundred candy factories.
If you pick it,
it makes you stronger than ten oxen
and smarter than 20 professors.
Some even say it can make you fly.
This flower is all the more rare
because it only lasts one day.
The only time I sneeze repeatedly
is when it's in bloom.
[sneezing]
On the day I married your grandma,
one of its perfect pink petals-- [sneezing]
actually fell at my feet.
It was magical.
I had to wait 25 more years before it bloomed again.
[sneezing]
I searched far and wide and was about to give up,
and then I saw it again.
I ran as fast as I could.
And I lost it.
But today could be our day.
I sneezed eight times.
It's out there.
Wait. How long is a generation?
Uh, about 25 years.
And how old are you?
Old enough to know I'd better catch a glimpse this time.
- We'll find that flower together. - Yeah.
Whoa. Let's try that again.
- [grunt] - There.
Thanks. Now look,
you go get your friends.
I'll get my hiking boots.
Great.
[sigh] Gortimer needs a distraction.
Go.
Done.
6.6 seconds.
Better. Let's go again.
[chuckle] Let's go outside.
We're always outside.
10% of the time is the human average.
You've been out, like, 2% since you--
well, humiliated yourself in front of Abigail.
You're becoming a mole person.
No, no, no, no, no. I'm not.
I'm just minimizing chance encounters.
One more time. I'm getting really good at this.
Guys, you've got to help me find a flower.
Yes. We do.
Uh, wait. Why?
It's this flower that blooms once a generation,
and I told my grandpa we'd all help him look for it.
All right. Let's go.
All right. Yeah, yeah.
Let's take a look.
Nope. Not here.
Well, we've done all we can do.
I thought this might be hard to sell,
now that Gortimer's a mole person.
Mel: Oh. My mom's home.
Let me go help her with groceries,
and then we'll look for the flower--
outside.
I'm not a mole person.
Ohh.
Ah. Hi.
Thank you. Hey, Mel,
I found that yummy trail mix from my camping trip.
Guess what the secret ingredient was.
Cayenne pepper.
Habanero salt.
- Oh, I'll take that. - Hey.
Sorry. I'm doing taxes. I need sustenance.
Yeah, well, I bought two because I'm on to you.
He's been pillaging my trail mix ever since I got back.
Oh, yeah. How was your trip?
Cascade Volcanoes, right?
Yeah.
Did you pick anything up?
Maybe a fossilized pterodactyl skull?
Uh, I didn't come across any, no.
Laura, question. How could you hike a volcano
and not bring back something awesome?
Uh, well, I did find an arrowhead,
but I left it on the trail.
That's like an arrowhead right through my heart.
Take only memories. Leave nothing but footprints.
That's what Chief Seattle said.
My mom always comes back from her trips
with some new philosophy that only lasts a month.
Hmm. Well, outdoors is for shoes.
Indoors is for slippers.
I learned that on my trip to Japan last year.
Hmm.
Are those, uh, little mops
at the bottom of the slippers?
Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Makes it easier to clean the floor.
What? Whatever, weirdo.
Hmm.
Oh. Honey, dinner might be on the late side, okay?
I'm-- I'm running around all afternoon.
Okay.
Where shall we start?
Since few people have ever seen
the oxalis normalis,
it's probably in an unpopulated area.
- Agreed. - If it needs full sun,
it could be near the lake.
Maybe it's in the forest out by Castaway Cave.
Wow. Castaway Cave.
I almost forgot about that place.
I haven't been there since that summer.
We practically lived there.
You camped outside.
There were bats.
There weren't bats.
Look.
Get it.
Smells nice.
Is that it?
Let's take it to Grandpa. He'll know.
Grandpa.
Check it out. Is this it?
That's it.
Yes.
Hey. Save some for when we find the whole flower.
Okay, here's the plan.
We hit the Botanical Society,
get as much info as possible,
and then--
and then we do something with it.
[chuckles]
Whoa.
I think I stood up too fast.
Are you okay?
I'm a little dizzy.
Okay. Here we go again.
Here we go.
Uh, are you okay, Bob?
Yeah.
Maybe it's not such a good idea
to go hiking through the wild today.
But it'll only be there today.
I'm just not up for it.
Grandpa, we are going to find that flower
and bring it to you. I promise.
[chuckle]
Thanks, meat ball.
Welcome to the Normal Street Botanical Society.
Would you like to play Name That Plant?
Coyote mint, wild ginger, desert grape,
wind poppy, monkey flower.
That was incredible.
It's what she does.
What can you tell us
about the oxalis normalis?
Order oxidalis.
Family oxilidacii.
Hasn't been spotted in over 20 years.
Until today.
Where did you find this?
It just landed at our feet.
I see.
Do you know what direction it came from?
It blew in from the east.
We were near Normal and Rockland.
The east? You're sure?
Positive.
Interesting. Okay.
Let's take a look at a soil composition map.
- Uh, thank you. - Yeah. Okay.
The normalis is so rare that at this point
it's more legend than science,
which, to botanists, makes it
the girl who keeps getting away.
Anyway, uh, from what we do know,
the flower should be in one of these four areas.
Those areas have low nitrogen and high phosphorus,
so not them.
That's true. Even if it did grow there,
it would need more balance to bloom.
And this area was paved over years ago.
Strip mall.
That's where the Shrimp Blimp is.
That place is awesome.
♪ The Blimp don't skimp, y'all ♪
Nothing?
Oh, well. More for me.
I guess that leaves spot number 4, then?
No. That area has a high clay concentration.
The oxalis can't grow there.
So, then, where does that leave us?
That leaves us nowhere.
Now, whatever that was,
it was not the oxalis normalis.
All right, I'm taking lunch.
Better luck next time, kids.
Hmm.
That was weird.
She ran off with all the subtlety
of a diabolical mastermind.
Do you think she was trying to throw us off the scent?
I'm sure of it.
She's probably racing to the flower right now.
Yeah, but where is she going?
We've ruled out all four possibilities.
In graphic novels,
when you're dealing with a diabolical mastermind,
you try and best them through their minions.
- But how? - Simple.
There are seven steps.
1, ask directly
because he won't expect that.
2, sow the seeds of discord.
3, harvest the seeds of discord.
4, appeal to his ego.
- 5-- - She's at the fourth spot.
I can hear you guys.
But I thought the flower doesn't grow in clay.
Normalis isn't like other oxalises.
It actually thrives in clay.
That's why she took her boots.
A minion doesn't just turn on his own.
Why is he--
Why are you telling us this?
I'm a sucker for underdogs.
Get going.
Thanks.
Gortimer: Okay, okay, I've got another one.
Would you rather--
No. Come on. I'm still trying to figure out
if I'd rather have hiccups for the rest of my life
or an itch I can't scratch.
Travel back in time or forward in time?
- Ranger: Back. - Mel: Why?
To bring Neanderthals chocolate ice cream.
They would flip out.
Whoa.
Castaway Cave.
Wow. It's been what, five years?
It looks--
Not as scary.
Okay. A little scary.
If that scared you, I wouldn't come in.
We've already been in there.
Yeah, we found this place.
We used to play here every day. It's ours.
Well, my friends and I play here every day now,
and it's ours.
Hayden Hollow? Who's Hayden?
Wait. Where's our rock?
It said "Castaway Cave" on it.
Must have rolled away.
It had a flat bottom. I highly doubt that.
Whatever. Let's just go.
This isn't over. We will reclaim our dominion.
Gortimer: We've covered pretty much the whole area.
What if we're looking in the wrong place?
Plus it's getting pretty late.
Great. There's no flower, I'm covered in bug bites,
and Castaway Cave is Hayden Hollow,
whatever that means.
Just forget about it, the way I forgot
about making a complete fool of myself
in front of Abigail.
I thought if I said it out loud,
I might actually believe it.
Okay, you need to stop whining,
and you need to whine slightly less.
What am I missing? Where's this flower?
Mel.
Look.
Huh. I thought it would be bigger.
Are we sure this is it?
It-- It's a match,
but it doesn't look like it can make you fly.
It's none of the things the legend said.
Still, it is kind of sweet.
I mean, look at it. It's like this little jewel.
It's actually kind of sad it only lasts 24 hours.
Maybe that's part of what makes it special.
- Stop! - What?
I'm taking that.
I've been searching for that flower
for half my life.
No, this is for Ranger's grandpa.
It's his last chance to see it.
I don't know who Ranger's grandpa is,
but he's not here.
None of us would be if it weren't for him.
None of us would be here if it weren't for my research.
Mel: He discovered it. He sneezed eight times.
Oh, he sneezed? Why didn't you tell me?
Well, then of course he can have it.
No. No. I did the field work.
I wrote the papers.
That flower belongs to me.
Mel: It belongs to Ranger's grandpa.
It doesn't belong to anybody.
What did your mom say?
Take only memories
and leave nothing but footprints.
That's a lovely sentiment,
but science isn't sentimental.
This flower only gets 24 hours to live,
so why do we think it's our right to take it
just because it's here?
But, Ranger, you hiked all this way.
Don't you want your grandpa to have it?
If he could, yeah, but he can't
any more than we had Castaway Cave.
We borrowed it for that summer.
It never belonged to us.
We all got to see it.
That's what's ours.
It's perfect.
If you guys aren't going to take it,
then I will.
- What? - What?
Okay.
I guess you were right.
Here.
Thank you.
[beeping]
Holly Fox.
Yeah. You're Ranger, right?
Yeah.
It's your mom.
Uh, hey, Mom. What's up?
Ranger, Grandpa's in the hospital.
W-What? What happened?
It looks like he has a blood clot.
Is he going to be okay?
- Mom! - Ranger, honey,
the doctors are in with him.
I'll know more when they come out.
My grandpa's in the hospital.
We can take my car.
Mom, the lady from the Botanical Society
says that she'll drive us there.
Tell Grandpa I'm on my way.
[monitor beeping]
Do you need anything?
I know this is easier said than done,
but just try to relax and not jump to conclusions.
I should have taken it.
The flower?
Grandpa could use it right now.
How were you supposed to know?
What was I thinking?
Why did you let me say that about footprints and stuff?
It was pointless.
It was really beautiful.
Who cares? Grandpa needs it.
Hey.
It wasn't a blood clot.
Grandpa's going to be okay.
The pain in his leg was just an infection.
They've got him on an IV.
They're going to keep an eye on him overnight.
- Can I go see him? - Yeah.
There he is.
- Hi. - So.
So what?
Did you find it?
You did? Where is it?
Grandpa, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were sick.
I should have picked it.
Whoa. Whoa.
What's going on?
Well, we got there, and we saw the flower.
- Yeah? - It wasn't big,
but it was, you know, really cool.
And it just didn't seem right to take it.
Wow, Ranger.
I'm so sorry.
Are you kidding? I'm proud of you.
Why?
You saw something.
You knew it was special.
And you were smart enough to keep it that way.
You're only 14? I'm impressed.
But you might never get to see the flower.
Well...
Did you get a picture?
[sigh]
No. I was so caught up in the moment,
it didn't occur to me.
And now it's gone. It blew away.
W-Why are you smiling? I feel horrible.
Would I rather see a flower
or watch you turn into a fine young man?
That's an easy one.
You did the right thing, bud.
I'm glad you're okay.
Me, too.
Gortimer: Most days are ordinary.
You wake up.
You make breakfast.
You don't think twice about it.
But sometimes in a moment,
an ordinary day becomes...
a day you'll never forget.
Dad?
Mel?
Gortimer.
Mom?
What's going on?
It's Laura.
She was...
in a car accident.
Is she going to be okay?
No. he going to be okay?