“Get the ball!” I yelled to my dog Ruffy. The sound of me breathing filled my ears. Ruffy jumped up and caught the ball. Ruffy and I were playing catch in my backyard all afternoon. It was a hot summer day in the middle of July; the type of weather where you’d rather be chilling with your friends at the beach, eating ice cream and drinking lemonade. I live In California so obviously the weather’s gonna be pretty hot. I could hear the sound of Ruffy panting heavily as he approached me. Then as Ruffy came to me, I held out my hand and Ruffy dropped the soggy, dog-drooled, ball in my hand.
“Good boy”, I said.
“Now walk that way”, I said pointing in front of me. The dog followed my finger and ran in that direction. I threw the ball as far as I could while Ruffy ran towards it. As Ruffy got the ball, I looked around my backyard. Everything was perfectly still, and quiet. I could hear the air conditioning generator in the distance. The flowers in her backyard had just been watered and perfectly taken care of.
“Of course”, I thought to myself. My mother was obsessed with gardening. Even if one little tiny non-visible weed was sticking out, she automatically ran out the backyard door and picked it out with her bare hands. Immediately, interrupting my thoughts, Ruffy came panting towards me once again, and dropped the ball next to my foot. But I didn’t really notice because now I was standing next to my walk-out, backyard door staring across the street, to my neighbor’s house where a black Honda accord had parked in front. A woman came out wearing a sundress, with fancy gold gladiators. Then a man came out of the driver’s seat wearing a green plaid shirt, with green Bermudas and White polo’s. Finally, a girl, that looked just about 14-15ish, was wearing jean booty shorts, and a white shirt with black writing that I couldn’t quite make out, along with black flats. I noticed my new neighbors move in just a while ago when summer vacation had just started. Every time I saw my neighbors leave or come home, they were always so serious. I never once saw them laugh with one another. What a family. The family began walking up their walkway to the door. When they got to their door, the woman took out keys from her purse and opened the door, and each family member disappeared into the house. I looked around the neighborhood, and everything was still, and quiet. I got bored of looking around my backyard, so I shut the door. When I turned around, I just noticed that Ruffy was sitting next to me panting softly. I grabbed the ball next to my foot.
“I guess that’s enough for one day, boy”. I said walking toward my backyard door and dropping the ball in the grass. I snapped next to my thigh, to signal for Ruffy to follow me. The dog followed the command and I walked inside the cool house with him. I had a single family house that was pretty big and relaxing for me. As I entered my house, the cool air conditioning felt so good against my face which was sweating like crazy. I walked to my kitchen and opened my refrigerator. I reached for a bottle of water and shut the refrigerator door. I opened the bottle and drank out of it and set it down on the island counter. We walked across the hall to the room where Ruffy sleeps. I opened the door and walked in. On the floor, Ruffy’s sleeping matt lay there, with a food bowl and a water bowl both freshly filled. Ruffy ran toward the water bowl and began licking the water as fast as he could. I gave a chuckle and walked over to the cabinet. I opened the bag where Ruffy’s treats were kept and took out two treats. I stuck one in my pocket and kept one in my hand. By the time I was done, Ruffy was finished drinking and eyed my hand. Ruffy ran over to me and began sniffing my hand. He made whining noises over and over again. “Alright, alright” I said. I threw the dog treat in the air and Ruffy jumped up and caught it. Then he began chewing it as if it was the last piece of food he would ever have. I walked out of the room, keeping the door open, so that Ruffy could come out when he was done. I went down the hall to the living room and laid down, on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping through channels on the TV. Nothing on TV was good until something caught my attention on Fox 8. A reporter was talking in the microphone, and on the screen it read, “Random Mystery: 2 Missing People”. The Reporter said that 1 person was missing. It was a female and her name was Andrea Sanchez. Her picture came up, and she had straight blonde with brown roots, and eyes. The picture went back to the reporter and she said that the Andrea’s family was having a party in their backyard for the 4th of July. Then by midnight the party was over and everyone went home but Andrea’s mom couldn’t find her.
“The mystery still remains unsolved, back to you Martin”, said the reporter. Suddenly I felt someone sit next to me on the couch. It was my brother, Steve. Steve was 21 years old, had black hair in a normal boy hair cut style and was 6 feet and 4 inches with light brown eyes that looked really pretty in the sun just like mine. Well, to give you a little brief description of myself: I’m 19 and I have black silky wavy hair, bangs that stop right above my eyes, and I’m about 6 feet and 1 inch.
“What’s up?” Steve asks, “You seem to be really into something, what are you watching?”
“Just watchin’ the news and it said that this girl’s missing” I said.
“Oh, I heard about it a while ago. Sucks to be her”, said Steve. Steve was a very selfish uncaring brother all the time. If you call him to come rescue you from a criminal when his gun is to your head, he would probably stop by Starbucks to get some coffee and then come rescue you. He also, was barely ever happy unless something bad happened to me, or he played a little prank on me and I would get mad or start crying. It was like his happiness fed on my torture. Honestly, I was never happy to have a brother.
When I was little, I always asked my mom, “Why on earth didn’t you have another daughter instead?”.
Instead, she would always say, “Well, honey it’s a very complicated process that you haven’t learned yet. But when you grow older, you will understand.” I was such a confused little girl back then. I remember my brother always making fun of me because I always thought babies were bought from the store. I was soon to figure out why my brother always laughed at me when I said that.

Suddenly, my mother walked through the door into the house.
“Hello all!” she said happily.
“Hey” I said actually happy for once that she was home. I walked with her into the kitchen.
“How was your day at work?” I asked her. My mom works as a nurse in Downtown Midfields Hospital. Normally, she doesn’t come home until late, which is always good for Steve and me because they are always a nuisance.
“It actually wasn’t that bad, but I’ll tell you guys all about it during dinner. Right now I’m exhausted so I’m just gonna take a nice little shower while dinner is cooking in the oven.” She said walking across the hall and up the stairs.
“Alright.” I said. Every Friday night, was family dinner night where all of us were required to come to dinner at 8:00 pm and eat with the family at the kitchen table. Steve and I didn’t really like to eat with the family and preferred to go out with our friends to hang out, but after a while we got used to it and we didn’t really care much anymore. On the brighter side, my mom always makes mine and Steve’s favorite dish: Alfredo shell pasta with grilled parmesan chicken and Cesar salad.

I walked over to the living room and sat down next Steve. Ruffy trotted across the living room over to my leg and sniffed me. He jumped up on the couch between me and Steve, and licked my face.
“Turn around and lick Steve!” I whispered in Ruffy’s ear. Luckily, Ruffy understood me and turned around. He probably only understood Steve’s name and the word ‘lick’. Steve heard me and said,
“No I swear if he licks---‘’ But it was too late because Ruffy had already jumped on top of Steve and started licking his face. Steve screamed really loud while Ruffy continued licking him. After 30 long seconds, Ruffy jumped off and barked. I think I could see Ruffy smiling through his little shaggy mouth. Steve got up and slapped me on my arm.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he yelled and got up to run to the bathroom to wash his face.
“Nothing”, I yelled back nicely.
“OH THAT IS THE BIGGEST LIE I HAVE EVER HEARD FROM YOU!” he yelled at me in reply.
“I’m sorry, I don’t lie.” I said smirking as I got up from the couch. I walked over to the door.
“You are such a liar, I swear I’m gonna tell mom and you’re gonna get busted and…..” He kept on talking without realizing that he was talking to himself because I had already drowned out the sound of his voice by walking out of the house and shutting the door behind me.