I opened the front door to find my mother standing there with her arms open. 

“Aden.” Her face scrunched up, and she dropped her arms to her sides. “Good heavens. You smell terrible.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I shuffled past her to the stairs. “Dad made sure to remind me all the way home.”

“Quint?” She looked at my father. “Are you sure this is healthy? I don’t want him getting sick.”

“We’re building character, Karen.” He wrapped his arm around his wife. 

She sighed. “Aden, hurry upstairs and take a shower. Dinner is almost ready.”

“On my way.” I trudged up the stairs to the bathroom and stripped off my clothes. After tossing them in the hamper, I stepped into the tub. I turned the water on as hot as I could stand and just stood there. Today had taken it out of me. 

“Aden.” My mother knocked on the door. “Hurry up, sweetheart. Dinner’s ready.”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” I grabbed some shampoo and quickly washed my hair. Examining my skin, I found little red bites everywhere. The mosquitoes had eaten me alive. I was going to be itching all night. 

I finished washing up and turned off the water. Grabbing a towel, I wrapped it around my waist and hurried to my room to throw on some clothes. I was still wrestling my shirt over my head as I walked down the stairs. My parents were talking in the kitchen, and I distinctly heard my name. My mother looked concerned when I took my seat by the wall. 

“Your father told me.” She patted my arm. “You need to be more careful. Some of those dogs may bite.”

“I will.”

I dished myself some noodles while my mom started to tell us about her book club. I guess they were reading a romance novel from the early 1900s. Chris and Katy hooking up behind my back had left me feeling rather bitter toward the topic of romance, so I wasn’t listening too closely.

“Aden?”

“Hmm…”

My mother glanced at my plate. “You need to eat something.”

“‘kay.” I had been stirring things around for the last couple of minutes.

She kept eyeing me until I took a couple of bites before she went back to explaining the complex love triangle to my dad.

“Aden, are you finished?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“Do you mind taking Demon for a walk for me?”

“Mom,” I whined. “It’s your dog.”

“Please, Aden.” She piled up the dishes. “It would really help me out.”

I scowled at the animal in the corner with its face buried in a bowl. “Fine.” I stood and marched out of the kitchen to the entryway. After shoving my feet into my shoes, I turned to see my mom holding Demon.

“Here he is.” She clipped on his leash. “Make sure you don’t bring him back too soon, or he’ll leave me a little surprise to clean up in the morning.”

“Got it.” I put on my jacket and zipped it up. 

She held him out to me.

“He has legs.”

She placed him on the ground and kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Aden. I really appreciate it.”

I let out a sigh. “It’s fine.” I took the leash from her and opened the door. 

Demon bolted and nearly ripped it from my hand. 

“Stupid mutt.” I stepped outside and slammed the door. 

He dragged me down the road by our neighbor’s cow pasture and started sniffing. At least there wouldn’t be landmines all over the lawn. I grew sick of his constant tugging and unclipped him. The puppy raced around my legs for a moment before running off to smell a bush.

“Hurry up.” I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep them warm. “It doesn’t take this long to piss.” I bounced up and down to keep the blood pumping. 

Demon circled the area, making sure to smell every rock and blade of grass. If he didn’t hurry up, I would tie him to a tree and return in twenty minutes. 

Two bright lights came toward us. I closed my eyes as a car zipped past. 

“Come on, Demon. You’ve had long enough.” I looked down and saw nothing. “Demon? Oh no, Demon!” I had lost my mother’s dog. “Demon, come here, boy.” I searched along the fence. “Demon, where are you?”

A soft bark sounded from up ahead. I jogged over but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Demon!”

He barked again. Dropping to my knees, I pushed back the long grass to reveal a small hole in the fence. Just on the other side sat two beady little eyes. 

“Demon, come here.” I reached through and tried to grab him.

He nipped at my fingers and stayed barely out of reach. 

“Demon, now.” I slammed my fist on the ground.

The stupid little dog turned tail and trotted off into the field. 

“Get back here!” I sat on my heels. “This is just great.” I rubbed my forehead, trying to think of how I was going to tell my mother I had lost her dog.

I searched for a way over, but Demon had to choose the one field with fences to keep the deer out. A large rock sat a few yards from me. I hurried to it and started to climb awkwardly over. I flipped to the other side and fell to the ground, landing straight on my back. Groaning, I rolled to my stomach and rose onto my hands and knees. I was going to kill that dog. 

“Demon, where are you?” I coughed, rubbing my shoulder. 

His collar jingled as he walked toward the middle of the field.

“Stupid mutt. You can forget me ever taking you for a walk again.” Slowly standing, I jogged after him. “Demon, come here, now.”

The little dog stopped and looked around.

“Now you listen,” I sighed, kneeling to grab him.

He darted away from me. I dove for him, but Demon escaped and ran toward the fence.

“Demon!”

That was it. The mutt was on his own. I personally hoped a cow stepped on him. The ground started to rumble. I watched the herd run for the barn. 

“Great.” I stood and dusted myself off. “Now the Andersons are going to yell at me for scaring their cows. Demon—” I turned around and froze. 

A giant animal stood there with its teeth bared. Its red fur stood on end as it let out a low growl. 

“Oh my god.” I backed away.