Quick Note: This Chapter focuses on the perspectives of Pat and his family and takes place around the same time as the first two chapters
Everything started out normally for the yellow retriever, his day went the same as always, a quick chat with Bandit in the morning, and watching some rugby on the televison with his sons Lucky and Chucky. After the game had finished Chucky approached Pat, seeing how his father was in a relatively good mood he decided to ask "Do you think we can goto the park now dad?" Pat had smiled "Sure thing kid! Just see if your brother and mother want to come along" Chucky's tailed had wagged out of excitement as he ran to go ask Lucky and Janelle. Pat had grabbed a cup of coffee and went into his backyard while waiting where he saw the Heeler sisters playing some games together "Morning Girls Trying to find a way to mess with Bandit huh?" Both of the girls turned and smiled at Pat "Not yet Lucky's dad" Bingo replied "Yeah, he's busy working in his office as usual" Bluey then turned to play scissors-paper-rock with Bingo making a rock with her hand and Bluey making scissors, Bingo giggled and Bluey let out a little grunt "Don't get too confident yet!" she spoke to her little sister with a smirk. 'I'll just leave them to it then' Pat had thought as he went back into his house, whatever he wanted to tell his longtime friend could wait until after he was finished with his job. Not long after he and his family got in their car and left for the park for a nice day of fun and exercise.
"I see what you're saying but I still don't get why they call it American Football" Chucky was talking to his older brother which made him groan in response "It's simple, the Americans call it football instead of Gridiron or Handegg like we do" Janelle chimed in to speak to her boys "I also call it American Football, probably because it's a ball and they…kick it…but our football is better, none of that business with the hands and the needless tackling" Pat thought about what his wife had just said for a second "Honestly, it doesn't look too different from our Rugby games" Pat had pulled out a flying disc and tossed it "Go long boys!" Lucky had sprinted after the disc "I'll get it!" Chucky followed after not as fast as his taller, older brother "Hey wait up!" Chucky tried catching up but he slipped on the wet grass causing a folded piece of paper to fall out of his pocket. Lucky stopped chasing after the disc then turned and helped his brother up, Chucky had gave him an appreciative smile "Thanks" Lucky patted him on his head "No problem little brother" The piece of paper that had dropped out of Chucky's pocket caught the attention of Lucky "Hey, what's this?" He quickly picked up the paper and noticed a heart on it 'Did Chucky drop this? Does he have a crush?' Chucky noticed the piece of paper in his brother's hand and checked his pocket only to discover that the paper had fell out at some point and he quickly entered into a panic "H-hey Lucky…D-DON'T LOOK AT THAT!" He quickly reached for the paper and tried to snatch it away but Lucky turned and opened the paper up "STOP IT!" Lucky had saw a drawing of Chucky and Bingo with a heart in the middle and quickly figured out what his younger brother was trying to hide "Wait, you mean you have a-" Before Lucky could finish speaking, Chucky quickly put both of his hands over Lucky's mouth with a small blush "shhhhh…please don't say anything" Chucky then lowered his hands and Lucky smiled "On Bingo?" Chucky nodded as his face turned a bright red. He had a crush on the little red heeler that lived next door and wanted that fact to stay a secret. Lucky patted his brother's back "No worries, I won't say a thing" Chucky smiled a bit "Not even to mum and dad?" Lucky chuckled, now knowing a secret that he found to be cute "Nope, not even to them"
The four of them spent another hour at the park before Pat drove them back to their house, Janelle stretched as she got out the car "I'm going to take a shower, then get dinner started" Pat nodded "Right, I'll just" he was cut off by Lucky's shouting "Aww, I left my flying disc at the park" Pat rolled his eyes upon hearing this, but he felt it was his job as a parent to retrieve it, he is a Labrador Retriever after all "I'll go get it, you two should stay here with your mum to help her out with anything" both boys nodded as he got into his car and drove off to go back to the park.
They both wandered into their backyard and happened to look next door where they saw Bluey and Bingo playing together. Lucky nudged his brother and gave him a teasing smirk "Hey look, it's Bingo" Chucky felt his heart thump in his chest and turned to Lucky "Knock it off" Lucky nudged his brother again "Why don't ya make me?" he laughed before running in their house. "That's not funny Lucky!" He chased after his brother.
Pat had been in the park for a few hours looking for the disc 'I hope someone else didn't find it and take it home' he thought. After a few more minutes he decided to give up "I'll just buy the kid a new one" he spoke to himself before getting back in his truck and deciding to drive to Hammerbarn. Traffic seemed to be a bit slow today but that was alright with Pat, as long as he didn't have to hear some pointless argument or watch his favorite teams losing on tv he didnt seem to mind bad traffic at all. Soon enough he saw the Heelers crossing the street 'Must be going to spend some time at the park together' After they had crossed he kept his eyes on the light…only the light. The light had turned green and traffic continued to move. He heard angry shouting and what sounded like a brief argument, he turned his head only to see Bluey looking furious and push Bingo away from her, and directly in the path of his car! Pat in his panic tried to step on his brake to avoid hitting the small 5 year old girl only for his car to speed up. Pat quickly realized his error and managed to step on the brakes but it was to late
THUD
Once he opened his eyes he saw a small body bounce off his windshield and fall to the ground, then he heard the screams of both Bandit and Chilli as they ran to car had finally come to a complete stop and he dashed out of his car to help them after they set her on the sidewalk "BINGO?!" Bandit didn't even turn his head, keeping his focus on Bingo "CALL AN AMBULANCE PAT" Pat quickly pulled out his phone "R-right" he looked at Chilli who was holding Bluey back, most likely so she couldn't accidentally damage Bingo's body any further and waited for the dispatch to answer his call "What's your emer-" Pat didn't wait for them to finish asking the question "THERE'S BEEN AN ACCIDENT, A KID GOT HIT BY A CAR AND NEEDS HELP IMMEDIATELY" after being asked a few more questions Pat finally hung up. They waited a pretty short time for the paramedics to arrive but to them it felt much, much longer. After the paramedics placed Bingo in the ambulance Pat offered to drive the Heelers to the hospital, which they accepted. After arriving to the hospital the three Heelers rushed in, leaving Pat in the car and he proceeded to call his wife "Janelle, there's been an accident, Bingo is in the hospital and I'm with her family now, I'll tell you more about it later" Pat could've left home right then but he felt that it wouldn't have been right to just leave the Heelers there, it was his car that had hit Bingo, he felt like he was sworn to staying with them the whole time. Two hours passed…then four…then eight…Pat still never left the hospital, he'd only go in to use the restroom then go back to waiting outside. Finally Bandit would leave the room and step outside the hospital where he would meet up with Pat who was waiting with anticipation "Is she alright?!" Bandit just lowered his head and sighed "She's gone Pat" Pat began to hyperventilate, tears filled his eyes as he dropped to his knees, guilt was the only thing he felt. 'I've killed a child! A sweet innocent child!' This was the only thought running through his head until he felt's Bandit's hand on his shoulder "You should get home Pat, you were a big help to us and we can just have my brother drive me home, we need to finish up here" Pat didn't say a word, he was too ashamed of his actions to even speak to the blue heeler, he just nodded and got in his car then drove away 'Bandit and Chilli must hate me now, I hate myself' Something in his car hat slid and touch the back of his foot, after stopping the car he looked down and saw it….Lucky's flying disc, it had been in his car the whole time…under his seat 'This must be some kind of sick and twisted joke'
Janelle sat on the couch with her two boys watching tv, she was wondering what could've happened to Bingo for Pat to sound extremely panicked. Chucky was too focused thinking about Bingo to actually relax "Why is she in the hospital?! What's happening?!" Lucky noticed his brother's behavior but couldn't find the words to cheer him up or calm him down, all they could do was wait. Not too long after Pat had walked into the home and everyone's eyes focused on him, Janelle finally spoke "What happened?" Pat let out a long and deep sigh, he began to tell them the events of everything that happened in nearly perfect detail including the fact that it was his car that hit Bingo and he broke down as he told them all about how she didn't make it. Chucky's hair began to stand, he couldn't catch his breath and he felt sick. Pat's told some odd jokes before but this? This was the most unfunny and cruel joke he's told yet. "Please tell me it's a lie" He grabbed his father trying not to cry "Someone gave you some money to pretend it's all real?!" Pat looked at Chucky "I'm so sorry…she's…s-she" he couldn't finish his sentence as it had become too much for him. Chucky teared up and ran upstairs to his room, his first time having feelings for someone and she was dead. Lucky walked into the room to check on his brother "Chuck?" Chucky turned around to look at Lucky before his emotions overwhelmed him he didn't say a word, he felt dizzy and Lucky's voice began to sound weird as if someone was slowing time down "Yoooooou ooooookaaaay?" Chucky fell on the floor, his vision was darkening, the last thing he heard was Lucky's voice echoing and calling out his name "CHUCKY!" It was all too much for him, he simply passed out from the sudden stress.
-A week later-
Janelle had told Pat of Bingo's funeral, he simply told her he didn't have any right to attend and would stay home. She understood and didn't blame him "Well try to get some rest, please" she kissed his head and walked to the car with their sons. Pat heard the car leave and heald his head, he had been having terrible nightmares of Bingo, her body was broken and she would repeatedly ask him why did he kill her and why did she have to die. His lack of sleep for the past few days had begun to make him delusional and now he was seeing Bingo outside his dreams as well. "Please Bingo….please stop" The Bingo he was seeing laughed at him "Stop? Why would I stop? You didn't stop your car for me" Pat started to tear up "I tried!" The delusion started to get razor sharp teeth "You could've tried walking to the park like I was with my family, it's not far from your home" Pat saw the teeth and started to back away, it's as if he believed this was Bingo's vengeful ghost. Soon, he bumped into a coffee table that had nothing to defend himself with. It only had a pen and some blank pieces of paper "T-that's not fair Bingo!" Soon this illusion stretched and contorted "Fair?! What's not fair is the fact that you took a life" soon the vision changed to resemble Pat himself making him more afraid "All because you were looking for something….now what were you looking for?" Pat's eyes widened "Lucky's flying disc…" The vision chuckled "and where did you find it?" Pat had frowned at the thought, this wouldn't have happened if any of them looked in his car, under his seat before he drove back to the park. The vision, knowing what Pat was thinking lost it's smirk and changed back into Bingo "You could say that this is Lucky's fault, and if you really want to be fair about taking my life, you know what you should do next" Pat just closed his eyes and slammed his fist on the table, making it fall over "NO!" The delusion vanished, Pat was used to this by now but it still bothered him every time. He opened his eyes and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water however something glimmering in the kitchen caught his eye. He took a sip of water and walked over to the glimmering object. It was a clean knife "Lucky…" Pat muttered under his breath "I'll-I'll make it up to you Bingo, if it makes you happy" his hands shook as he held the knife, lots of thoughts ran in his head as he looked at his reflection in the knife. He had come to a conclusion, one nobody else would be prepared for.
-Hours after the funeral-
Janelle, Chucky, and Lucky all walked into their home, Chucky had been quiet and hasn't said a word since Bingo was buried, he was till very much heartbroken over the events. "We're home Pat!" Janelle spoke but didn't get a response. She didn't think much of it as she assumed he had finally managed to sleep. Chucky walked to his room with Lucky following, nobody had been in the mood to eat. Janelle went into her and Pat's room where she noticed an odd smell coming from their bathroom. "Pat?" She didn't see him in the bed so she decided to see if he was taking a shower.
Chucky was sobbing into his pillow "Why Bingo?" Even though both of them were only 5, he knew and understood he had strong romantic feelings for her, but he'd never get the chance to tell her now. Lucky finally spoke "Hey Chuck…I'm sorry I made fun of you before" Chucky just ignored his brother "I was really hoping you'd get to tell her" Chucky's continued silence made Lucky more bummed "I just hope you can find the strength to move on" Chucky sat up "Move on?!" Lucky gave him a confused nod "I dont know if you noticed but she just died, and youre already telling me to move on?!" Lucky understood he said the wrong thing at the wrong time "Maybe you don't get it because you haven't found the right girl yet or maybe you don't get it because you're too busy focusing on balls all the time!" Lucky had feelings for another girl at times but she didnt live anywhere near them but he felt like his brother had stepped out of line with his 'balls' comment "I'M ONLY TRYING TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER BECAUSE I LOVE-" Lucky's sentence was cut off by their mother's high pitched scream "PAT! NOOOO!" Both boys looked at each other before they went to see what happened with their mother. They finally made it to her and saw what had their mother so upset. Pat was laying in the tub,blood was dripping from his neck, he was no longer moving or breath and beside him in the tub was a bloody knife, on the toilet seat was a note. Pat's grief had caused him to commit suicide. Janelle fainted upon discovering she was now a widow. Lucky picked up the note and decided to read it.
Bingo appeared to me in my dreams and delusions, she wanted me to kill someone from my family to make things fair. Lucky was my first choice, but when I thought of that I knew I was far too gone. Under these circumstances I knew there was a fourth choice. Even though some people wouldnt agree, I'm a member of my family. Yet by this decision I know someone would hurt, but I cant stand the guilt anymore.
Perhaps with this, they will forgive me. Unable to rest normally maybe now I can have Silence. Hopefully my family will forget about me. Even now, Bingo is staring at me, judging me, making me guilty. Death is the only freedom I can think of. How did my guilt become so horrible? Everything was fine until then…Regretfully, this is how I leave the world, and hopefully nobody else experiences this mental torture.
-Pat Retriever
His children couldn't believe this, first they lose a friend and now, their father was gone too. Lucky was disturbed with how casually the note admitted that Lucky himself came close to death, but more importantly, he was completely devastated.
A.N.: This chapter took me a while but I am glad to have it done. The bold letters in his note are not seen as bold within the story, it is simply for the reader's benefit.
Until next time!
