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Scarlet looked at the time on her phone. It was about nine, but the sun had just barely set and the heat of the day still managed to slink its way through the house. She could head off to bed since it was certainly a reasonable time to do so. Though it was a Friday night so she could stay up however long she wanted. Maybe even go for a drive and hang out at the park. Specifically the one further out, since it wasn’t so well known for its snakes to the point of being named for them.
She sighed and looked over at the coffee table. It had magazines, coasters, and a book she’d sworn she’d read over summer but only got through a few chapters of before abandoning. Nothing interesting, and the games on the shelf built below the table top all required at least one other player.
She shuffled slightly to lay on her stomach instead of her back, resting her arms on one of the pillows and her legs up against the far arm of the couch. Yet another summer night with nothing to do. It happened enough with the fact that the moment school was out everyone did their best to scatter that even sleeping seemed too boring. Though she could always go over to Ariana’s, she had the same job keeping her pinned down over summer. Jules and Cub were probably back in town as well, not being able to take as long of a break as some of her other friends. She didn’t feel up for it though, she’d had to wrangle kids away from just going and touching Penny: their darling little porcupine as if he wasn’t covered in spikes. Frankly the reason why some parents decide that it’s fine to let their kids touch wild animals- especially ones that are at a wildlife hospital even if as animal ambassadors- will never be something she’ll understand.
So she was staying more or less put. At least the couch was comfortable.
Scarlet spent a few more minutes switching between staring into space, moving, and checking the time before she decided to grab some ice cream and watch something.
Shuffling off the couch, she braced against the arm as head rush hit her for moving too fast. She always did, so holding on and squinting her eyes for those few seconds was muscle memory by now. She could still make it to the kitchen with the fuzziness, but once that had resulted in dropping several knives and poke-y things on herself and she didn’t want to risk that right now.
Once her vision was clear, she made her way to the kitchen and pulled out a bowl and a spoon as well as some sprinkles. She set them down before grabbing the chocolate ice cream from the freezer. Taking off the lid and picking up the spoon, she scooped a decent amount of ice cream into her bowl and then re-lidded the ice cream and put it in the freezer once more.
As she turned back to put some sprinkles on it, she took a glance out the kitchen window. A figure stood in the backyard, just out of the direct light from inside the house. But enough still illuminated the area to outline twisting arms and legs tied together but appearing in a set of four each instead of two. A bulbous head lined with barbs and six beady eyes that gave it almost a complete field of vision and shone in the dark. Its mouth was closed and hidden by an almost-shell that could raise up to show it was a threat. Tusks still jutted out from the underside of its head.
Scarlet groaned and rubbed her temples.
“Hey, Mom!” She called, turning towards the far end of the living room where the stairs led up.
“Yes honey?” She heard the muffled response.
“There’s dotlin in the yard again!” She called.
“There’s a vinegar spray bottle under the sink! You see it?” She heard.
“Yeah! Thank you Mom!” She called, reaching down and opening the cupboard doors. There was indeed a spray bottle with the label removed and a vinegar smelling liquid inside. She walked over to the doors to the backyard. She could see the dotlin rooting through the flowerbed and tearing up the roots.
She took a picture of it before she opened the door, and stepped out onto the still warm ground. She held the vinegar loosely as she walked over. The dotlin raised its head, the shell that covered its mouth moving to create a clacking noise. Once she was few feet away from it, she held out her arm and squeezed the trigger a few times.
The dotlin leaned back and ran one limb over its head a few times, making quieter but faster clicking noises. She sprayed it again and it turned around and clambered over the fence rather inelegantly.
The grass didn’t look too torn up, but that had to be checked tomorrow under daylight, so she turned around and went right back inside.
“I got it!” She called as she closed the door behind her.
“Good job! Thank you!” She heard from upstairs.
The vinegar went right back under the sink, and she washed her hands to make sure none of it was on her. Then she opened the lid of the sprinkles and scooped some out onto her ice cream. She put the sprinkles back, then took the bowl and went back to the couch.
Settling down, she placed the ice cream on the coffee table and grabbed a blanket from where it hung draped over the back of the couch. Curling up slightly she took the bowl and turned on her phone to go through her contacts list.
Right at the top, as always, was her and her friends' current group chat. Currently it was named ‘Tungsten Cube’ for some unknown and probably god-awful reason. The image of a stretched out radiation warning sign representing the chat did not inspire confidence on why that name was chosen.
The ending of a discussion on the dangers of tomatoes was visible when she opened it. She sent the photo of the dotlin along with a message saying ‘Look who wanted dessert’. She set her phone down, or more accurately just dropped it next to her on the couch, and took a bit of her ice cream. It was nice, the sprinkles crunched well. She heard a few pings and opened up the messages again.
J.I.M.
Did you give it any?
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
They pretty much just eat worms and roots, unless she’s eating a potato for dessert that thing probably shouldn’t have any food
J.I.M.
Way to be boring
Is it still there? If so, say hi for me!!
You
No, I scared it off already. Sorry
J.I.M.
Awww, come on
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
Well then, what is dessert?
You
The best dessert ever known to man: chocolate ice cream w/ sprinkles
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
Huh.
You
Do you think something else is better?
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
Yeah.
S’mores.
J.I.M.
Unfortunately I have to agree there
You
You’re heathans, the both of you
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
You know I’m right.
You
It’s still like 80 degrees out! S’mores require too much heat for these conditions
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
You wouldn’t eat ice cream when it’s below freezing, would you?
You
I would.
Also fire hazards with s’mores.
Do you really want me around fire??
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
Yeah. I think it’d be funny
J.I.M.
I think someone would get seriously injured
You
Exactly! Jules gets it
J.I.M
So I think Scarlet should get gasoline as well
You
I spoke too soon
‘Jessica’ Totally not Ari
HAHA
Two against 1, not only are s’mores better you should also be put near fire
You
I never said I didn’t Want to be near it
Just that it was a bad idea
J.I.M.
Well it’s close enough
Scarlet set down her phone and focused on eating her ice cream. She couldn’t wait until school was starting up again and she’d get to see everyone again. At least picture day was somewhat soon, they’d all get to hang out for that before any homework could be assigned.