Thank you, wildhorses1492, for reviewing my stories, but if no one else reviews it, then I will move on to something else.
The annual Darton Fourth-of-July picnic was a large event that everyone looked forward to. Around 4:30, families from all of the neighboring ranches would gather in a large park. Fireworks would be going off as soon as it was dark and would continue until midnight; until then, they would talk and play the kinds of games that you would expect to find at a picnic.
The men would play football until it would be too dark to see, the children would play tag and hide-and-seek, and the women would talk together. But the biggest event of the night, besides the fireworks, would be the Sibling War. Whether you were ten or eighty, as long as you had a sibling, you could participate in the Sibling War. For the majority of the game, the siblings have to work together as a team to beat the other teams of siblings, but when there are only two teams left, the players not only have to compete against the other team, but against their brother/sister as well.
Samantha and Cody Forster had never played in the War, the main reason being that Cody was too little, but the year he turned ten, he wanted to join the fun. Unfortunately for him, however, Sam was busy catching up with Jen, who had been away at college.
"Sam, let's join the War!" Cody exclaimed as he came running up to his big sister.
"Not right now, Cody," said Sam.
Cody considers that the best way to get his sister to do what he wants is to use smack talk.
"What's the matter, Old Lady?" he sneered," Afraid you can't beat me?"
Sam tried not to smile as she turned to look at him.
"Go ahead," laughed Jen," We can talk later."
Sam made her way to the starting line, but found that instead of following her, like she thought, Cody had stopped to talk to Emma. Emma was the daughter of Nate Ely, who had gotten married the summer after Cody was born. Emma was a few years younger than Cody, and they often went for rides and played together. Some people laughed and said that it was Sam and Jake all over again, but Sam didn't see it that way; she saw it as an opportunity to tease her little brother. This often bothered Jake almost as much as it bothered Cody; most likely because his brothers teased him in the same way about Sam.
"Hey, Pipsqueak!" shouted Sam," Let's go! You can talk to your girlfriend later!"
Cody glared at her with as much animosity as a ten-year-old can muster. Jake, who was standing beside her, also glared at her, but Samantha just smiled sweetly at him. Quinn, Jake's partner, caught both looks and laughed, which got him a glare from Jake.
The first event in the Sibling War was the three-legged race; this was won by Jake and Quinn. One team got eliminated after each event, but it was not Sam and Cody. The next event was dunking for apples. Dallas, who was officiating, said that the only rule was that you can't use your hands. Sam and Cody, remembering an old episode form Dragon Tales, used their feet and got an apple in record time, winning the event. When they finally got to the last event, Quinn and Jake, and Sam and Cody were the only teams left. This was the event where the teams split and it was everyman for himself.
The last game was called "Cow". The game is rather simple: the first player takes a basketball and shoots a hoop after doing something like spinning three times or shooting with their back to the hoop. If the ball goes through, then the next player has to do the exact same thing, and if they miss, they get a the letter C ; if they miss a second time they get the letter O. The first person to spell "cow" loses.
Sam thought that since Cody was the smallest, he would have a difficult time keeping up, but he did really well. Quinn was the first one to lose and then Cody, leaving Sam against Jake. She tried to distract him by saying something just before he threw the ball, but he was prepared for it and never missed. Sam, however, missed twice, making her one letter away from losing. Jake knew this and used it to his advantage. Instead of calling her names and telling her she was going to lose, he said nice things to her and even cheered her on! This threw her off, and she missed. Jake won.
Samantha briefly congratulated him before she walked over to Cody.
"Hey, Buddy," she greeted him," You did a really great job."
"Thanks!" Cody responded," It was a lot of fun! Can we do it again next year?"
"You bet!" exclaimed Sam.
A shadow fell over them and they both looked up to see Jake standing there with a blanket under one arm and holding cake in his other.
"You two want to watch the fireworks with me?" The question was directed more towards Sam, but it was Cody that said yes. And so, they laid down the blanket, ate cake, and watched the fireworks together.