The Snowing

The Snowing is the thirty-ninth episode of the spin-off, Absorbent Days, and the nineteenth episode of season two. In this special, Mrs. Puff and her class is trapped in a ravaging snowstorm known as "The Snowing". Trapped in the classroom, the only way to signal help is through the use of the lighthouse. However, SpongeBob is only one able to drive there without freezing. Will he be able to finally successfully drive a boat, or will the class be deserted?

Characters

 * Mrs. Puff
 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Miscellaneous students
 * Student 1
 * Student 2
 * Student 3
 * Student 4
 * Student 5
 * Student 6
 * Student 7
 * Student 8
 * Student 9
 * Miscellaneous police officers
 * Police officer
 * Police officer 2

Transcript

 * (episode begins with a shot of the gray sky, nearly entirely clouded by a snowstorm; the camera slowly pans down to a barely visible "Mrs. Puff Boating School"; the camera slowly pans forward, and the school's campus becomes more visible; the camera cuts to the inside of Mrs. Puff's Boating School, where Mrs. Puff is standing before her pupils)


 * MRS. PUFF: And that it is why we are still having school this morning.


 * STUDENT: (sitting at desk; leaning head on hand) I still don't get why we're forced to come out in these conditions. Why couldn't we just stay home and sleep?


 * MRS. PUFF: (to self) No one listens to my lectures anymore. (aloud) Anyways, since we have class today, we are not going to waste anytime. Get your coats on, students. We're going outside for our boating tests.


 * (groans fill the room)


 * MRS. PUFF: I'm aware it is cold, but we're going to have to all brave through it. (looks at SpongeBob) Hopefully.


 * (scene cuts to Mrs. Puff, standing with a clipboard before her students; a cement boating track lies behind her)


 * MRS. PUFF: Alright, students. I believe I have graded all of you, and we can now go back inside and heat up.


 * SPONGEBOB: (raises arm, and rest of body cannot be seen in student crowd) Ooo! Ooo ooo ooo! Mrs. Puff! Mrs. Puff! Ooo ooo!


 * MRS. PUFF: (snaps pen) What?!


 * SPONGEBOB: (scootches through crowd) I haven't taken my boating exam yet.


 * MRS. PUFF: Oh, would you just...?! (sighs) I don't get enough sleep for this. Let's get this thing over with. (walks toward boat; sits in passenger seat; closes door)


 * SPONGEBOB: (sits in driver's seat and straps on seat belt) I'm ready to succeed, Mrs. Puff!


 * MRS. PUFF: We'll see about that, SpongeBob. Just start the car and do your...


 * SPONGEBOB: ...Best?! As always! (starts boat; slams foot on pedal and zips down the track)


 * MRS. PUFF: (quietly fakes a scream) Aaaaah.


 * (SpongeBob crashes through many obstacles, including a tire swing, several minature building models, road signs, and cardboard pedestrians)


 * MRS. PUFF: (writing on clipboard) Beware of the Ramp of Roughness.


 * (SpongeBob drives onto a wooden ramp with many ascending angles and descending angles; the boat is launched into the air)


 * MRS. PUFF: Beware of the Hoop of Hurt.


 * (the boat crashes down onto a flaming hoop, suspended by a pole; SpongeBob's vision is now obscured by the hoop in his face)


 * MRS. PUFF: And finally, perpendicular park here.


 * (SpongeBob feverishly steers the car left and right; his boat his the curb, and is launched into the lighthouse; the boat strikes the lamp, causing it to shatter; the boat falls and lands on the cement ground, dismembered on impact)


 * SPONGEBOB: (gets out of car wobbly) So...uh...did..how..do..I?


 * MRS. PUFF: You failed again, SpongeBob.


 * SPONGEBOB: Oh, barnacle shavings! (grabs form)


 * MRS. PUFF: Face it, SpongeBob. You fail the same test over and over again. With any luck, there will come a day where you will finally pass, and I am feverishly waiting for that day!


 * (a thunder clap sounds; a snowstorm suddenly starts, and SpongeBob, Mrs. Puff, and her students are blown back to the classroom)


 * MRS. PUFF: Quickly! Into the classroom!


 * (SpongeBob, the students, and Mrs. Puff storm into the classroom and shut the door)


 * STUDENT 2: What's going on?!


 * MRS. PUFF: It's happening. Has it been thirty years already?


 * STUDENT 2: Thirty years? Thirty years since once?


 * SPONGEBOB: Yeah, Mrs. Puff. What's causing the storm?


 * MRS. PUFF: (lights shut off) I'm afraid you students are stuck in the middle of the thirty-year phenemenon known as..."The Snowing"!


 * (all gasp)


 * MRS. PUFF: (lights shut on) Oh, there are the backup generators. That's a relief. As I was saying, The Snowing occurs once every thirty years. It's the most violent kind of snowstorm known to fish-kind. And the worst part of it is...I don't get paid any extra for being forced to teach during it!


 * SPONGEBOB: What do we do, Mrs. Puff? How do we save ourselves?


 * MRS. PUFF: I'm afraid the only way to signal for help is to light the lighthouse. (looks out of window; lighthouse is revealed in far distance) I could press the emergency button on the wall there, but unfortanetly, the light has been shattered.


 * (SpongeBob whistles and looks away)


 * MRS. PUFF: But that's a mile down the boating track. It's too far away to walk through this weather to replace the light! Hmm...I know! I'll drive down there! I'll be back much quicker before I freeze! (opens door and runs to boat) Got to hurry! *(begins driving down the track, yet her hands begin to freeze to the steering wheel) Huh? (crashes through the fence, and boat breaks down) Fiddlesticks! (breathes on hands, freeing them) It's too cold! (runs back to classroom) I'm afraid it's too cold to even drive.


 * STUDENT 4: You may not be able to, Puffy... (whispers) Sorry, Ms. Puff. I'm making a point here. (aloud) ...but we're young and I think we as students can make it! Let's try!


 * (the students run out of the classroom; after a few seconds, the camera cuts to the fence, where all the students have crashed their boats and have their fins frozen to the steering wheel)


 * STUDENT 5: It's no use! We're not able to make it to the lighthouse! Our fins freeze right to the steering wheel!


 * SPONGEBOB: (raises arm in his boat) Ooo ooo! Ooo ooo! Ooo ooo! Ooo ooo ooo! My hands didn't freeze to the steering wheel. I'm a sponge, and my hands can't freeze.


 * MRS. PUFF: (walks into scene) Oh no. You know what this means, don't you.


 * SPONGEBOB: That I can drive to the lighthouse and replace the bulb?


 * MRS. PUFF: (gulps) Yep. (grabs SpongeBob) It's up to you, SpongeBob! Don't you see? You have to drive down the track and change the bulb in the lighthouse. It's...up...to...you!


 * (students stare at Mrs. Puff's fit)


 * SPONGEBOB: You can count on me, Mrs. Puff! (zips out of the scene; returns seconds later with a busted boat) So...plan B?


 * MRS. PUFF: Plan B?! There is no plan B, you twit! You're going to doom us all if you don't reach that lighthouse and signal for help!


 * SPONGEBOB: (to self) Signal...for...help. (snaps fingers; aloud) I've got it! (zips out of scene; returns a second later with an armful of rocket-esque entities) I'll just light these flares and help will be here before we freeze!


 * MRS. PUFF: SpongeBob, no! This field isn't open enough!


 * SPONGEBOB: It'll be fine, Mrs. Puff! (lights flares all at once) There we go. Now we just wait for nature to take its course.


 * (camera cuts to a medium shot of Bikini Bottom, right in front of the Bikini Bottom sign; an explosion can be seen in the distance through the ravaging snow; the camera cuts back to Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob, covered in black ash)


 * SPONGEBOB: Plan C?


 * MRS. PUFF: Everyone, back in the classroom! We'll think of another way.


 * STUDENT 6: (shivering on ground) There...i-i-is no...classroom, Mrs. Puff. The...flare...destroyed it. (points to rubble, where the classroom once laid)


 * MRS. PUFF: Oh no! We have no shelter! (looks at horizon, covered by snow) I don't see the rest of the campus. We're deserted!


 * (all gasp)


 * SPONGEBOB: (offscreen) Not quite, Mrs. Puff. (camera cuts to SpongeBob, in the rubble of the classroom) I know a way we can survive. (picks up two wood planks) I'll just use these planks of wood to create a fire. The fire will keep us warm long enough to find shelter. (begins rubbing planks together) Just need a little finesse here. (struggles to light fire)


 * MRS. PUFF: (facepalms) Oh, just give it here! (rubs planks together violently; a fire starts) There!


 * (the students immediately swarm the fire, and attempt to warm themselves)


 * SPONGEBOB: (rubbing chin; looks at student's hands) I've got another plan! (grabs firewood, along with the fire) Each of you take a piece of flaming firewood, and use it to keep those fins warm while driving the lighthouse.


 * MRS. PUFF: That's actually a good plan. (grabs stick of flaming firewood) I think this might just work. (hops into boat and begins driving; begins driving toward the lighthouse) I should be there in no time.


 * (the camera begins to pan with the flaming firewood, as the flame lights the steering wheel, which causes the flame to travel to the engine of the car, lighting it on fire; Mrs. Puff pulls over immediately, and hops out of the car; the car combusts and lights on fire, which quickly freezes due to the cold)


 * MRS. PUFF: (shivering) It's getting colder, and the plan didn't work. (walks back to SpongeBob and students) Got any more ideas, SpongeBob? The temperature's dropping.


 * SPONGEBOB: (scribbling on plank of wood) Luckily, I kept a plank of wood and had my handy map of the campus with me. (reveals drawing, which shows a blue line running from the former classroom sight to another shelter) All we have to do is take this route, get to the teacher's lounge, and call for help there.


 * STUDENT 7: Teacher's lounge?! (to Mrs. Puff) So that's where you go get away from us? You're not out making sure the boats are full before our tests!


 * MRS. PUFF: I, uh, that's not important! We have to go now if we want to live.


 * (the camera cuts to the students, Mrs. Puff, and SpongeBob, trekking down the route)


 * SPONGEBOB: We should be nearing the left turn by now. (turns left, yet walks into snow wall) Whoa.


 * MRS. PUFF: How do we get past this thing?


 * SPONGEBOB: Only one way to find out. (begins rotating arms speedily; using them as pickaxes, he begins to shoveling through the wall; Mrs. Puff and the students follow) I think it's working! I can see sunlight! (a thunder-like sound roars) And I think I hear civilization. We're almost out!


 * MRS. PUFF: That doesn't sound like the outside world to me. It sounds like an...


 * (snow is seen speeding toward the students, Mrs. Puff, and SpongeBob)


 * MRS. PUFF: ...avalanche!


 * (the students, Mrs. Puff, and SpongeBob begin running out of the snow wall; the snow catches up to them, and they whisped away from the wall; they are carried back the way they came, and the snow wave ends at the rubble of the classroom)


 * SPONGEBOB: Oh, barnacles. (sits down, turned away from the students and Mrs. Puff)


 * STUDENT 8: What do we do now?


 * MRS. PUFF: Yeah, SpongeBob. What's our next course of action? SpongeBob? SpongeBob, are you listening to me?! (turns SpongeBob around)


 * SPONGEBOB: (with sleepish eyes and serious face) This is my fault. If it hadn't been for me, we wouldn't be in the freezing cold with no help. (stands up) And thus, (looks up) it's me that has to get us out of this mess. I'm going at this alone. (turns around) If I don't return, feed Gary for me. He gets hungry during the winter. (begins marching toward the lighthouse)


 * (scene cuts to a montage of SpongeBob, marching toward the lighthouse; it shows him slowing and becoming more tired and more cold; soon, he stops and gets on his knees)


 * SPONGEBOB: (with tears in his eyes) Must keep going. Must keep on. Oh, what's the use?! We can't go on. I've failed. (lies on his back and looks at the sky) That's it. I'm done. I've failed Mrs. Puff, my classmates, (takes out form) and I failed my driving test...just like Mrs. Puff said.


 * (flashback occurs)


 * MRS. PUFF: (writing on clipboard) Face it, SpongeBob. You fail the same test over and over again. With any luck, there will come a day where you will finally pass, and I am feverishly waiting for that day!


 * (flashback ends)


 * SPONGEBOB: (throws form onto ground) That's it! (sits up) Today can be that day! (stands up) I just need to focus! It's now or never! Today shall be the day I pass my driving test and save the day! (looks to right, and sees Mrs. Puff's boat) Mrs. Puff's boat! (runs over to it) Oh, it's busted. (opens hood) Oh no! (takes deep breath) I can do this. Focus. (quickly repairs the boat's engine) There. (hops into boat) Now, time to fix that bulb.


 * (foot zips toward the gas pedal, yet stops and gently presses the gas pedal; he slowly accelerates and drives calmly toward the lighthouse; a montage of triumphant music begins, and as he approaches the lighthouse, he hops out with the bulb and hooks onto the top of the lighthouse; SpongeBob climbs down and opens the panel; he takes out the shattered bulb, and replaces it with the new one, causing it to shine; SpongeBob is knocked back by the light and lands in the boat; SpongeBob begins driving back)


 * (camera cuts back to Mrs. Puff and her students, waiting for SpongeBob)


 * MRS. PUFF: So, who volunteers to buy the snail food? I need answers, people.


 * STUDENT 9: We don't know if SpongeBob has given up yet, Mrs. Puff.


 * MRS. PUFF: Well, I know. For all we know, SpongeBob could be... (hears engine in background; looks up and sees SpongeBob driving back in horizon) ...coming back unharmed...and... (squints) driving?! (SpongeBob stops before Mrs. Puff and her students) SpongeBob, you've returned, and you fixed the bulb! (sees lighthouse shining) We're saved!


 * (suddenly, helicopters, police cars, tanks, fire trucks, and the SWAT team parade the campus)


 * POLICE OFFICER: (offscreen) We are the Bikini Bottom Police Department. What seems to be the issue?


 * MRS. PUFF: (runs up to SWAT team) We've been freezing for hours! Get us out of here!


 * POLICE OFFICER 2: Can do, ma'am. Are these students of yours?


 * MRS. PUFF: (looks at students, and then SpongeBob) Why, yes...yes, they are.


 * POLICE OFFICER 2: Right this way, then.


 * (Mrs. Puff, her students, and SpongeBob follow the police officer as they are hop into the helicopter)


 * MRS. PUFF: I don't know how you've done it, SpongeBob, but you've saved me and my students.


 * SPONGEBOB: Hey, it's what I do. (leans on flare in pocket, setting it off; the flare zips around, and finally lands in the helicopter; the students, Mrs. Puff, and SpongeBob are left in a black ash tint; laughs) Plan D?


 * (special ends)