Family reunions were killer...

SUMMER

It was one of those hot and humid summers, the type where mosquitoes congregate around every bit of wet or dampness they can find, ruining anything vaguely resembling outdoor fun with their constant biting and blood-sucking. Not that there was much fun to be had when your blood was boiling in your veins and your skin was ready to peal off like old paint even under the park’s huge umbrella canopies. Even the huge, bug-like Vartin were hiding under the trees, heat sizzling off their shining green exoskeletons, wondering what they’d done for shade before humanity had terriformed their planet.