And the story continues! I was on a church retreat for a week so I had no time to update, but it gave me some brainstorming time to think up more ideas. Enjoy. :D

The animals had all gotten back a few hours ago. They were all glum at the news that Bones was moving the very next day. In fact, the more saddening fact was that Bones already had all of his stuff delivered to him, so that trip to the hospital was basically their goodbye. Bone's house was bare and empty now. And Dragon didn't set a foot inside it. It gave him the creeps for one thing and just made him very sad.

That particular day was cloudy. The animals wanted some sun, but Dragon was happy that it was cloudy. He liked cloudy, breezy weather. It gave him a sense of ambience in his mind.

Dragon was perched on a tree. It was June 28th today. Almost July. Dragon had moved here on… June 17th or 18th. He had been at Portrait almost two weeks. Ugh. Dragon removed the thought. No need to keep tabs.

Hopper walked up to the tree Dragon was on and called up to him,

"Dragon! Mind throwing me an apple, slushie?" Dragon picked a ripe apple from the tree and dropped it down to Hopper's fins.

Hopper smiled. "Thank you! Gives me a little pay at the store. Hey, can I ask you something?"

Dragon looked down. "Uh… go ahead."

"Alright. Well, today is June 28th right, slushie?"

Dragon nodded.

"Okay then. My question is, are you celebrating Independence Day on July 4th?"

Dragon stared back, not understanding, then asked, "Independence Day?"

Hopper's eyes widened. "Are you seriously asking what it is, slushie?!"

Dragon nodded, "Uh… yeah. What is it?"

"You must not get out much!"

"Shut up." Dragon snapped.

"Sorry. But don't you see the fireworks on that day?"

Now that Hopper mentioned it, Dragon remembered seeing those fireworks on that day. He always ignored them after seeing them though. So that day was a holiday…? For what…?

Hopper started, "That subject aside, we're having a fireworks show over the big lake on July 4th! You should be there! Everyone will, slushie."

Dragon looked over at the big lake, a short distance from the two villagers.

That was the lake… that Portia talked about… the one that lit up at night. Oh man… combine that with fireworks and… wow.

Dragon nodded. "I guess I'll come. Not very long though."

Hopper shrugged, "Eh, better than nothing. Tom's bringing snacks and drinks, and Crazy Red will be there handing out whirligigs, slushie."

"Crazy Red? Who's that…?"

Hopper laughed. "Ah, man, I have a lot to teach you, slushie! Crazy Red is a fox who sells some crazy stuff down at the city! But the guy overprices a lot of his things. He only let's members of his club buy his stuff. You need a ticket."

Dragon shook his head. "The guy sounds freakin' shady."

Hopper nodded, "I guess you could say that, slushie."

Dragon hopped down off the tree. Hopper stared at Dragon, then started,

"So, are you bringing anybody to the lake that day?"

Dragon stared back. "Eh…? What do you mean, bringing anybody?"

Hopper winked. "Y'know. A date, slushie?"

Dragon shook his head. "You got the wrong idea there. I don't date."

Hopper's eyes got wide. "What is wrong with you? You don't DATE? Everybody dates. Except me. I'm too old now, slushie."

Dragon did a face palm. "You're not old Hopper. What about you? Are you bringing anybody?"

"Haha! No. The girls in Portrait are too young for me, slushie."

Apparently, Hopper ignored Dragon about the whole old age thing.

Hopper continued, "But why don't you date?"

Dragon shook his head. "I don't need to tell you crap about why. It's none of your business."

"C'mon! Please! It'll be between us, slushie."

Dragon shook his head, but out of some weird urge, he started talking. He didn't know why. It just happened.

"I dated a girl not too long before I moved to Portrait. But, uh, it didn't go so well."

Hopper closed his eyes and nodded. "Ah, the ol' breakup eh? Probably didn't like that attitude of yours!" Hopper winked.

Dragon glared at him. "What the freak does that mean? You got somethin' to say?"

Hopper nodded. "Exactly my point, slushie."

Dragon looked away, fuming. "Anyways, we broke up. And I decided not to date. It's just not worth the heartbreak, in my opinion. That, and I'm a human. You all are animals. It's a bit awkward."

Hopper nodded. "I can understand that. But there's someone out there for everyone kiddo! And besides, you've never thought of Human-Like-Female-Animals attractive, slushie?"

Dragon narrowed his eyes. "No. Not really."

Hopper waved it off. "Okay. Okay. I need to get going Dragon, because I will be preparing for Independence Day, slushie!"

With that, the penguin waddled off.

Sure, the female animals here did have all the traits, body features, and qualities of an actual HUMAN girl. But it was still awkward either way. And besides that, Dragon didn't date anymore, period.

Dragon grabbed an apple, started eating, and walked to his house to get some sleep.

Well, c'mon. I had to break in some dating things to Dragon in this. It's fun pushing it all on him. XD I love being the author. I HAVE CONTROL. XD jk

Get ready for the next chapter. I'm debating whether I'll skip ahead to July 4th, or just fill in the days in between. If anybody wants to, gimme an opinion in your review, if you leave one that is. And with that, I'm out.