Summer Pups

4th of July

Summer Pups

Chapter 28:

[4th of July]

Thursday July 3, 2020

11:11 pm

[No one's POV]

Chase had been staying inside his house for days. He was too bored to even leave his room. Of course, he could always come out and hang out with Everest, but she was out of town for the fourth of July, so he didn't necessarily have anyone to spend time with. He thought about hanging out with his friends for the day, but they were all busy with their families. But all of that didn't seem to matter to him since he had to go with his dad for a cookout tomorrow. It's not that he didn't want to go. He would go because of the food, and the location was in an open field, so he could just move around and distance himself, but the main reason he didn't want to go was because of his cousin, Jasper.

Jasper is a German Shepherd Pit Bull mix, the same age as Chase, who has had a habit of making snide remarks and teasing Chase in front of everyone, which made him feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. The thought of spending the whole day with Jasper's constant presence was enough to make him reconsider attending the cookout altogether. Even his sister, Carly, didn't like Jasper. Though he rarely said anything about her, she never appreciated the way he would talk about her brother.

But this year, they didn't have a choice. Plus, it would be their first fourth of July without their mother, which hit them even harder. And their father was certainly not going to let them both stay home alone since some animals do weird things on this holiday. Carly and Chase had a small talk before about the cookout. All Chase could say was that he did not want to go. Besides the whole Jasper thing, going to family events just wasn't his thing anymore. Carly understood as well, since she would often distance herself from the family, including their uncle, Darrell. In fact, they were both praying that he wouldn't be joining this one, even though they were pretty sure he was.

[Marshall's POV]

I was relaxing in my room, watching my favorite TV show. During a road trip, a family unintentionally entered a little town from which they were unable to leave. And then they have to survive from monsters who disguise themselves as normal people. The show's amazing narrative turns and tense moments never failed to keep me on the edge of my seat. As I watched, I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if my family and I ended up in a situation like this. However, deep down, I knew that our family dynamics were far from perfect, and the thought of being trapped together in a small town filled with monsters was both terrifying and oddly intriguing. But just when the show was about to get to the good part, I heard a knock coming from my door. I paused the show with the remote and sat up.