Dog Days Are Over; Florence + The Machine

| October, 2011 |

Sam Carpenter watched as four young kids ran back and forth around the house, chasing each other. Her brown eyes shifted from Mindy Meeks-Martin to her twin brother Chad, eventually landing on little Wes Hicks and her own younger sister - Tara, last. Wes' cheeks were red and puffy from him, Tara, and Chad running from Mindy, who'd been following them around for the previous ten to fifteen minutes carrying a tiny caterpillar in her hands.

"Wait a minute," Sam said as she stepped between the group, preventing Mindy from shoving the insect onto either the boys or Tara. "We're missing someone here." She then held out a hand, her fingertips painted a purple color thanks to her little sister.

"Willa's outside," Mindy countered, already knowing who had been missing from the group. "She likes Mr. Fluffy."

"Mr. Fluffy?" Chad asked, his brows pushing together. "That's the stupidest nickname for a centipede that I've ever seen in my life."

"It's not a centipede, stupid, it's a caterpillar. How are you going into the second grade?" Mindy asked, her nose scrunching up.

"Because I'm not stupid... stupid," Chad muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's such a lame comeback-"

"Okay, no arguing!" Sam quickly cut in. She glanced back at Wes, who stood awkwardly between Tara and Chad. "Why did you leave Willa outside?"

Of all times, this was probably the worst time to leave eight-year-old Willa outside. Sam may be only fourteen years old, but she watches enough news and reads enough to know what is going on in her hometown of Woodsboro. She's smart enough to know that there's a psycho killer cutting people up, which was why both Martha and Judy insisted she not take her eyes off any of the children for a single second.

This is hard, considering not only is she watching her own baby sister, but she's also watching two sets of twins. One is hard enough, but two is much more complicated.

You'd think that the parents would reconsider, as Sam's not even an adult yet herself. But she takes pride in the fact that they allow her to do such a task, trusting their only children with someone her age - specifically her. 

"Well... she wasn't scared of the bug," Wes answered shyly, almost as if he'd already gotten in trouble. "She didn't chase us with Mindy, or run from it."

"She's the only normal one, it seems," Sam muttered under her breath, before rolling her eyes. "If I leave to go check on Willa, will you guys stay put?"

"I'll just go get her." Chad shrugged as if it were nothing. Sam looked at him, and although his cheeks turned a light pink color, he just shrugged again. "I'll protect her from the bad guys."

"Will you now?" Sam asked, raising a brow at the boy.

Mindy let out a laugh, moving the caterpillar from one hand to the other. "That's funny. You can't even stand up to a harmless bug! You think you're going to protect her from bigger things than that?"

"Stop being so mean, Mindy. Chad's just being a good friend. Friends are nice to have, you know?" Sam asked, her voice slightly more mature than it usually is.

She's never been one to come up with a completely fake persona for children, hiding her true personality. She's always very honest, kind, and compassionate to kids as they're still learning things she learned not so long ago. But now, she couldn't help but feel it was time to act as if she were an older sibling.

Well, she technically is. But this was her time to prove to Judy and Martha that she could handle babysitting them, that way in the future when it's needed more she could do it without them having to question if she was able.

"He's just trying to impress her because he likes her," Mindy rolled her eyes.

"What? That-that's gross!" Chad exclaimed, "Why would you say something so horrible?!"

"Chad's got a crush, Chad's got a crush!" Tara exclaimed, waving a finger in the boy's face.

"Guys, stop I don't like Willa!" Chad exclaimed.

"Okay, okay!" Sam exclaimed, holding her hands out again. "Nobody likes anyone. Besides, you're too young! Chad, go get Willa. You three, get rid of the caterpillar and let's go wash our hands and make something for supper."

Wes and Tara immediately went to the kitchen to wash their hands, Mindy complaining about having to help with dinner. Chad snuck away from everyone else and out of the backdoor of the Carpenter household, tripping over his own feet as he began to search for the little blonde girl.

"Wills?" He called out, unable to see her anywhere in the yard. She'd been there only moments before, sitting on the porch as she watched Mindy pick up the insect named Mr. Fluffy.

She was now nowhere to be seen, completely out of sight from the light covering the backyard. It was dark out as it was getting to be that time of the year when it got darker earlier and lighter earlier, meaning a stricter curfew was set.

Especially because of whatever psycho-killer was roaming the streets. Being eight-year-olds, the Meeks-Martin, Hicks, and little Tara Carpenter didn't know exactly what was happening. They were told in simple terms - a crazy person was doing bad things. They didn't know the details, and they didn't really care to.

Chad stopped in his tracks, looking left and right for any sign of her. She didn't respond, his heart beginning to beat faster. "Willa?" He asked louder. He didn't move any further into the giant backyard, simply because he was afraid to. Like most children, he was insanely afraid of the dark. He hated not being able to see in front of him, not knowing what creatures lay beneath his bed in the middle of the night when it was pitch black.

He rubbed his hands together nervously, not knowing what to do. He knew Sam would be upset and disappointed he didn't come back with her, and he knew Mindy would just make fun of him even more for being too much of a sissy to venture further out than past the first few feet of the yard.

Glancing back, he looked to see the group in the kitchen beginning to work on dinner. They were expecting him back at any moment, Willa next to him. Looking forward again, he moved forward. He was petrified, but instead of letting those fearful feelings take over he just looked for one of his closest friends.

Chad picked a giant stick up off of the ground, waving it back and forth as if it'd hit something before he realized it was there. He used it like a staff, whacking it at nearby trees and bushes.

"Wills!" He exclaimed, unable to see clearly. His eyes eventually adjusted, spotting the familiar girl crouching down at the end of the backyard.

She was sitting by a small creek located at the end of the Carpenter property, her hand in the water as she spoke to herself. He couldn't hear what she was saying, her tone too soft to hear from the distance he stood.

Dropping the stick, he found himself moving over to her. She sat on a giant rock, the ends of her dress wet from the water bouncing off of it and flowing back into the water.

"What are you doing so far away from the house?" Chad asked, sitting down next to her.

"I wanted to see the pretty water," Willa said. 

"It's probably much prettier in light." Chad glanced around, almost as if he were afraid the bad man would come and take them.

"The moon makes it the prettiest." She shrugged, pulling her hand out. "Did you get away from Mindy and Mr. Fluffy?"

"Yeah, I totally wasn't afraid." He lied, his cheeks burning as she looked over at him.

"You're so brave," Willa told the boy. She knew he was lying, that the boy absolutely hated insects, but she didn't want to upset him. So she fed into his little white lie, knowing it'd make him happy. "The bravest."

"I could defeat any monster that comes out of the woods," Chad bragged, itching at one of the cuts on his arm. "Even the bad man."

"Mindy says the bad man is the same one who killed your uncle," Willa admitted.

"Uncle Randy? How would that be possible when it happened so long ago?" Chad asked, scrunching his nose up. "Mindy doesn't know what she's talking about."

"I think she has an idea. Your mom says she's just like him." Willa kicked a foot forward, not caring that her boot was beginning to get soaked.

"You talk to my mom?" Chad asked.

"Yeah," Willa answered.

"But why? Adults are boring." Chad told her, splashing some water on her.

Willa giggled, kicking some in his direction. He just shied back before moving back to where he previously sat, not taking the splash war any further.

"She's nice to me," Willa said. "I like to talk to nice people. Besides, we're going to grow up someday."

"You think so? I don't. I'm never growing up," Chad denied.

"Why don't you want to grow up?" Willa asked.

"Because then we'll be boring," Chad answered simply.

"I won't," Willa said.

"Then don't grow up." Chad shrugged.

Willa looked at him before back at the water in front of her, her young mind turning in thoughts. Surely someone this young shouldn't be thinking so much? Sometimes she wishes it were as simple as Chad made it sound, or as if she could think the way he does. But then again, part of her thinks she thinks so much because of how exposed she's been to the real world, unlike Chad and Mindy.

"What if the bad man gets my mom?" Willa suddenly asked, pulling her legs in.

She didn't know much about who the 'bad man' was, but she knew her mom was a police officer. This meant she had to deal with the bad man, which surely didn't protect her, right?

If her mom protected the town, who was to protect Willa's mom?

"Why do you ask that?" Chad asked. He'd completely forgotten he'd come out here to bring her back to the house, having gotten easily distracted by the younger Hicks sibling.

"Well, she's protecting us, right? What about her? Who protects her?" Willa asks. "Who will protect me then?"

"I will," Chad said without hesitation.

"An insect is far different than a bad man, Chad," Willa told him. "It's not funny to joke about things like that."

"I'm not joking. I'll protect you always," Chad shrugged. "You're my friend."

"And you're eight." She countered.

"So? It doesn't change that I'll protect you from the bad man. It'll be like... oh!" He exclaimed, slapping his hands to his knees. "It'll be just like Superman and Lois Lane!"

"They don't exist, Chad." Willa frowned, holding her hands together. It was chilly out, and it didn't help she'd been messing around in the creek water. Her fingertips were frozen. "This isn't a comic book, this is real life."

"Of course they're real!" Chad argued, "We've been over this, remember?"

"Right," Willa agreed, despite the fact that she didn't agree with him. She just didn't want to argue, she wanted Chad to be happy.

And saying superheroes aren't real makes Chad very upset.

"Superman protects Lois, and I'll protect you. Maybe we can even-" Chad stopped, glancing around to see if anyone could hear. He then leaned in, attempting to whisper in her ear. "We can get married too."

"Chad! We're eight!" Willa cried out, jumping back.

She jumped a little too far, however, and slid off of the rock. Chad was quick to react, reaching out to grab her flailing hands. As he got a grip on her he used as much strength as he could muster, yanking her out of the water.

They tumbled back into the grass, Willa's soaking wet dress now covered in dirt and grass. Her short blonde hair stuck to her chubby cheeks, dark pink from embarrassment and the cold air.

As soon as Chad landed, he let out a laugh before looking over to Willa.

"I told you, Wills. I'll always protect you. Even from the bad man that lurks Woodsboro."

++

PLEASE READ IF YOU HAVE A CHARACTER IN THIS STORY!

I know I said I refused to start my stories until all character opinions are finished, but I just couldn't wait anymore. That being said, minus a few who just have a couple they need to finish before being completely done, there are only 2 characters who've done none whatsoever. I've decided since this has been sitting in my drafts for a while, that I'm going to begin writing it anyway.

HOWEVER, if you've yet to do character thoughts for a character at all, you'll most likely be killed off early on in the story, not in it until later. If you haven't finished your thoughts, you'll be more of a side character than a main. I will continue to ask for updates on character thoughts and reminders for those who have been amazing and told me they needed an extended amount of time, but if you haven't even bothered to let me know when you can do your thoughts, this is your last reminder.

Please finish them, even if it's only 1 or 2 character thoughts left for your character. It helps more than you know.