Chilli and Bandit walked towards Bluey's room, uncertain about what Chilli had saw just moments prior "Why would there be someone else with a red tail when I'm the only red heeler in the house?" Bandit had placed his hand on the door knob and prepared himself for any possible trouble. Chilli called out to her daughter to check on her "Bluey…..are you okay?" Upon the door opening, both parents gasped, completely shocked at what they would find inside the room. There was a small red heeler laying in Bingo's bed! The two parents gave each other confused and worried looks "Bluey? What are you doing?" Bandit questioned. Sure enough the red heeler turned around and faced her parents, it was Bluey! But she was covered in the red hair chalk that she used when she was pretending to act like Bingo, only this time something felt wrong about it…very, very wrong. Bluey spoke in a slightly nasally voice when she responded to her parents "Why are you calling me Bluey? I'm Bingo, remember?" Both Bandit and Chilli could only stare wide-eyed "Bluey…what are you saying?" Chilli watched in utter shock, was this some kind of joke? Bluey looked at her mother "Mum…don't you remember? Bluey…died" She pointed to a picture frame that had the letters R.I.P engraved in it, the frame originally had a picture of Bingo in it but it had been replaced by a picture of Bluey. "K-kid, this isnt an appropriate game" Bandit spoke with both a mix of sadness and slight anger. Bluey climbed into Bingo's bed, her expression said that she really wasn't trying to play a game "Daddy, you're scaring me" While Bluey had called Bandit, daddy instead of dad plenty of times in the past before, Bluey had perfectly imitated the way Bingo said it, it was as if Bingo and Bluey switched places, or if Bluey became so filled with grief, that she truly believe that she was Bingo now. "Uh…sorry about that Blu- Bingo, I know that wasn't a funny joke" Bandit closed the door and grabbed Chilli's hands and looked her in the eyes "Babe, I really don't think Bluey is playing a game" Chilli nodded in agreement "I think she wants to be Bingo, so she's repressing herself" Bandit's looked sad upon hearing this "But…that's no way to live, we need to get her to a doctor before this becomes worse" Chilli looked towards the door "You're right, we already lost Bingo…we can't lose Bluey too"
Why was Bluey acting as if she was Bingo? It all goes back to around an hour ago where she was talking to Chucky in her backyard. Bluey was sentenced to isolation from her fellow students, and Chucky showed up to worsen her mood once she got home, she then told him to go away. "Well I will, but first I wanted to tell you, there is a way for you to make things better, for your pain to go away" His words had gained her attention, she was confused, why would he help her? Either way she decided to hear what he had to say "and how can that happen?" Chucky smiled "It's really simple, but you have to do exactly what I say" Bluey was a bit confused, she didn't exactly trust Chucky anymore like she would have before, he somehow knew she was the one to cause Bingo's death "First let me ask you this, how did you know about what I did?" Chucky smiled "My dad told me after he died" Bluey was even more confused "After?" Chucky just shrugged "Don't worry about that now" He turned to face Bluey "The only way for you to lose that hurt you are feeling, is for Bluey to die and for Bingo to live again" Bluey stood up and started to walk away "Now you're just not making any sense" Chucky grabbed Bluey's hand "No Bingo, you just think that you're Bluey, Bluey died three months ago, remember…Bingo?" Bluey was getting confused, why was he calling her Bingo? "You just told yourself to look like Bluey, so you wouldn't miss her, and you tricked yourself" Bluey closed her eyes. In her mind she saw Bingo standing in front of her, she quickly felt something roll down her arm "See Bingo?" She opened her eyes to see a streak of red fur going horizontally across her arm "I don't understand…I'm Bluey" Chucky just shushed her "It's okay Bingo, you need to accept that Bluey can't come back if you do this" Bluey's emotions were out of control, and Chucky knew this, he was using this fact to his advantage "Now I want you to remember, who are you?" Bluey held her head "I..I" Images of Bingo flashed in Bluey's head, it was as if Bingo was taking over "I'm Bl-Bingo?" Chucky nodded. Bluey felt overwhelmed and fell on her side. Nothing felt right, soon she closed her eyes again, she couldn't hear much over her thoughts about Bingo she seemed agitated and frustrated. Soon her body stopped moving and she sat up on her own, her eyes opened and yet they looked lifeless. Chucky waved his hand in front of her to try to get some reaction "You there?" No response, Chucky decided to try something else out "So, what's your name?" he didnt expect a response and felt like she would stay silent then shrugged to himself "Maybe I broke her" "My name is Bingo Heeler, I had a sister named Bluey'' she spoke with a slightly nasally tone to her voice like Bingo did. Chucky smiled and stood up "You're right, see you later…Bingo" having felt like he accomplished what he set out to do, Chucky went back to his home
Bluey subconsciously walked over to the toy box and pulled out her box of hair chalk, she looked at her arm then at the red chalk "I'm Bingo" Bluey was in a dream like state, all she could see was Bingo, and memories of Bingo. Her thoughts were overrun with thoughts of Bingo "Bingo's favorite food" "Bingo's favorite color" "What would Bingo say?" "How would Bingo handle this problem?" It didn't take long before Bluey's self image transformed into that of Bingo, it was as if her mind was under attack by a false reality she was creating in her own mind as if this was her way to suppress the truth, and suppress the pain of what actually happened. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a mirror in their bathroom, her fur was red all over "What was I going to do?" she shrugged it off and walked out the bathroom and headed into her bedroom "Hey Bluey want to play?" she looked around but didn't see Bluey anywhere. "Oh, right, Bluey is dead" She sat on her bed and laid down, after a few minutes she heard the door knob turn and her mother spoke "Bluey….are you okay?" Hearing Chilli say "Bluey" would make her feel weird, almost as if her brain was squabbling with her heart. "Did she call me Bluey?" This would lead to the previously mentioned conversation between her and her parents.
Her parents would think about what to do in this sort of situation, would she be okay if they took her to Bluey's school? They couldn't take her to Bingo's school, it would be awkward for everyone involved. Was she really not playing some sort of odd game with them? What was causing this to happen? Chilli reopened the door and spoke to Bluey "Sweetheart, why don't we go to the park tomorrow? Just take in some fresh air and enjoy our surroundings?" Bluey looked at Chilli confused "Okay but after I go to school" Chilli had to think of a lie "Oh um…Mrs. Retriever said there is no school for you tomorrow" Bluey stared at her mother for a few seconds, as if she didn't believe her but quickly smiled "Okay mama, good night!" Bluey quickly rolled over in the bed, pulling the blanket over herself and falling asleep with amazing speed. Chilli sighed and looked at Bandit "We've got to figure something out, I can't stand to see her like this" Bandit held her hand "I know babe, hopefully this will all get sorted out soon" Bandit turned and faced a picture of Bingo hanging up on the wall "I miss her so much" Chilli walked towards the bedroom, still holding Bandit's hand "Me too"
Bingo was playing with Millicent and Floppy outside in the Heeler backyard, Bluey was nowhere to be found but Bingo kept hearing the sound of something moving closer to her. "What is that?" Bingo looked around for Bluey "And where is she?" the noise continued to approach her, however it was moving at a slow rate, the noise was starting to make her uneasy "Maybe I should go inside now…" She heard a strange voice speak to her "...Not…." She was confused by whatever it was she heard and picked up Floppy "Come on Floppy, let's go find mum" The noise suddenly became very loud and crashed through the fence that separated their yard from their retriever neighbors. Bingo gasped as she saw a car now in her backyard, the tires spun in place as the engine revved loudly. Bingo ran as fast as she could to try and get away, however the car proceeded to move towards her, speeding up with each passing second. Bingo turned and tried to make it to the stairs but something had grabbed her tail, making it hard for her to move. Bingo turned and saw Bluey was the one that had grabbed her, then she pulled Bingo back and tossed her sister into the way of the car, the last thing Bingo saw was that their neighbor Pat was driving. She had braced herself and clenched her body, all she felt was fear and confusion, why would her sister throw her to the car? She didn't feel anything but she did hear three simple words "You're…not…right"
Bluey sat up in Bingo's bed, she was confused "That's weird, my dreams aren't usually like that" she was then confused by her own words "Usually? I haven't even had a dream like that in my life" She hopped out of bed and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she looked in the mirror and saw Bluey in the mirror for a split second "Bluey?!" She quickly turned around and saw nobody was near her, she looked in the mirror again and only saw the red heeler that she thought she was. "Anyway I guess I get to go to the park with mum and dad today" She scratched her head "I wonder why there's no school today?" After brushing her teeth, Bluey would go downstairs to eat breakfast. Bandit and Chilli looked at each other with concern, she was still Bingo and not Bluey. "You know, I kinda want to go to the park early, what do you say?" Chilli asked nervously, the fact that her living daughter was trying to live as her dead daughter had disturbed her greatly. It didn't take long until they were all done eating their breakfast before they got in the car and drove over to the park. Once all three were out the car Bandit was approached by a chocolate labrador "G'day Bandit!" Bandit turned around and met the friends he made in the very same park "Hey Fido!" Winnie quickly ran over with her father "Hi…er…Bluey?" Winnie was confused by Bluey's appearance. Bluey shook her head "No I'm Bingo, Bluey was my sister" Fido nudged Bandit out of confusion "Is…she playing some new game?" Bandit sighed "I wish she was mate, it's a long story" Bandit pulled Fido aside to explain everything to him while Chilli got out the car and spoke to Winnie "Sorry sweetie, she's not really in the mood to play right now" Winnie nodded in confusion "Alright, see you….Bingo?" Winnie disappointedly walked over to her father. "Why don't you have a walk around the park?" Bluey smiled. "Can I really?" Chilli nodded "Yeah, just stay where we can see you" Bluey had walked around and observed her surroundings "This is pretty boring"
She heard an argument coming from two other kids nearby and decided to have a look. There she saw two kids with wild-styled fur. One had blonde fur and brown eyes with black spots, the other had dark brown fur with grey spots and green eyes, they didn't look like any breed she had seen before. "That's not what dad meant at all!" the blonde one spoke, the brown one shrugged and turned away "It is what dad meant and you know it" Bluey tried getting closer to hear what they were talking about, but she would happen to step on a nearby twig, the snap would alert the other two who instantly turned their heads towards Bluey "Hey look! A blue heeler!" The brown one smiled and waved at Bluey who decided to correct him "I'm a red heeler!" they both tilted their heads in confusion to Bluey's statement, despite her fur appearing red, they still called her blue for some reason. "Anyways" the blonde one spoke "My name is Kaz Wolfdog, and this guy is my older brother Green!" The brown one looked at Bluey "Our parents named me that because my eyes are green also because it's my dad's favorite color" Bluey smiled at them "I'm Bingo Heeler!" Green had looked closer at Blue "Your fur looks red but…" Bluey looked at him a bit confused "But what?" Kaz seemed to be on his brother's side "Are you sure you're not a blue heeler Bingo?" Bingo thought about it for a second "Well you probably could say that, my dad is a blue heeler, but my mum is a red one like me" She tapped on her chin thinking about it, would she be a purple heeler? Is her Uncle Rad a purple heeler? "Anyway, what's a wolfdog?" she asked the brothers "Well, our dad is a wolf, and our mother is a dalmatian, so that makes us and our siblings all wolfdogs!" Kaz exclaimed with a bit of pride. "How many siblings do you have?" Kaz began to count on his hands "Um…about fifteen, we have a large family" Green chuckled and nodded "So there's seventeen of us in total, and we came to Australia on holiday!" Bluey stared at them wide-eyed "Oh wow" "So do you have any siblings Bingo?" Green asked. Bluey looked a little sad at the question Green realized and looked the other way quickly "Uh, you don't have to answer that if you don't want" Bandit yelled to Bluey "Bluey! Come here for a Bit!" Bluey had rolled her eyes "Daaad, I told you, I'm not Bluey!" Bandit seemed to have forgotten "Oh right, sorry" Kaz was a little confused "Who's Bluey?" Bluey sighed "Bluey's….gone" there was an awkward silence followed by Green elbowing Kaz in the stomach "That's why mom says to mind your own business" Kaz grunted in pain and glared at his brother. Bluey's eyes widened "Oh! Please don't hit!" They both smiled at Bluey "S-sorry about that brother" Green rubbed his head, Kaz laughed a little "Yeah no worries" Soon a smaller girl, walked over to them, like the other two she had wild fur and and spots, however her fur was a reddish color and her eyes were blue "Dad said it's time to leave" she turned her head to Bluey and smiled "Oh cool, a blue heeler! I've heard you all have lovely fur" Green interrupted her "Actually sis, she's a red heeler" The girl tilted her head "Is she sure she knows what she is?" Bluey seemed confused by the question "Yeah I'm sure" The girl tried to speak but she was quickly picked up by Green "It was nice to meet you Bingo, our dad says it's time for us to go back to the hotel so, hope you have a good day!" Green and Kaz walked away with their sister who was struggling to get out of Green's grasp "Unhand me!" Kaz laughed "Keep holding her Green!" Bluey watched them leave and continued to walk around the park. "Everyone keeps calling me Bluey, even mum and dad, I know we look alike but I'm not a blue heeler" She then thought about the trio of siblings she just met "They never even knew Bluey and they called me a blue heeler, why?" She seemed especially confused by the sister's words. Is she sure she knows what she is? What an odd question, but things just aren't adding up, she knew Bluey had died, but when she thought about it, how did Bluey die?
Bluey had walked over to her parents, Bandit had finished his conversation with Fido while Bluey spoke to the brothers. "My head is hurting, can we go home now?" Chilli nodded "Sure thing…Bingo" Something was definitely wrong and Bluey could tell. "Daddy?" Bluey looked at her dad, her worries seeming to grow "Yes mate?" She was unsure how to ask the question but decided to ask anyway "How…did Bluey die?" Bandit and Chilli looked at each other, they were unsure how to even answer that kind of question, if she really was being serious and genuinely believed that she was in fact Bingo, how would they break the news to her, that Bingo was the one that was dead and that she was Bluey? A short drive later, they arrived at their home. Bluey looked around and she looked over at their neighbor's home, Chucky was outside and smiled at Bluey "Afternoon Bingo" Something about Chucky was making her highly uncomfortable, however she simply waved at him. Once she heard the sound of Chilli unlocking the door to their home, she ran inside as fast as she could "Bluey?" Chilli had accidentally called her by her actual name. Bluey ran into the same bathroom she had used earlier, she looked down at her hands, there was some blue on her hands.
Quick Note: The Italicized words represent Bluey realizing/remembering the truth for this section of the story
Without saying a single word Bluey turned on the faucet and grabbed soap, she expected the blue to leave but before she knew it, the red was being washed off instead "N-no" an image flashed in her head. She was walking to the park with her family after eating a meal, and someone was angry. She scrubbed her arms, more blue was being revealed. "What?!" She fell to the ground, her and someone else, someone had tried to apologize. Bluey quickly jumped into the tub and turned the shower on. "GET OFF OF ME!" Blue hands pushed Bingo away. The water sliding off her was red, the chalk was being washed off her body. Bingo moved backwards into the busy street, her small body was hit by a car. "I…can't" Bingo was rushed to a hospital, Bingo died that day. The shower finished washing all the red chalk off Bluey. Bluey turned the shower off, walked over to the mirror and realized her fears were true, Bingo had been dead the entire time and she was only trying to make it up by becoming Bingo, a facade that would not last. Bluey stood in front of the mirror she began to hyperventilate. "My life was perfect" She grabbed a soapbar and pointed at the dog she saw in the mirror "You took Bingo away" She glared at her reflection "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" She threw the bar of soap as hard as she could. Before she knew it the mirror would shatter into many pieces before her, she would look at the shards at the ground, the various sizes made Bluey appear different in every piece. Bluey took a few steps, she would cut her foot on one of the pieces, causing her blood to drip on another. Bluey winced and looked at the piece that her blood had dripped onto, the coloring of the bloody shard made her appearance closer to Bingo's "You're hurting, Bluey" the reflection seemed to speak, though Bluey was sure she was going crazy at that point because she was sure her reflection sounded identical to Bingo. Bluey dropped to her knees and sobbed, Bandit rushed into the bathroom having heard the shatter "What happened?!" Bluey sobbed louder and looked at Bandit "I'm a bad dog dad….I'm a monster" The sight alone was enough to bring Bandit to tears. He was careful to avoid getting cut on the glass shards as he picked up his daughter "You're not a monster, you're our precious Bluey" he held her close and was careful to carry her over to the couch. Chilli gasped seeing Bluey's injury and quickly ran to her room to get a medical kit. "I don't want to be Bluey, Bluey caused Bingo to die" Chilli returned with her kit and pulled out a small bottle of antiseptic "Bluey made a mistake she didn't mean to, but that doesn't mean she deserves to die instead" she poured the antiseptic on a cloth then held it to Bluey's cut. Bluey winced and tried pulling her leg away but set it back where it was to allow Chilli to continue "Sorry dear" Bluey nodded understanding why the cut had stung. Chilli wrapped Bluey's foot in bandaged when she was finished and held her close "Come on Bluey, you didn't really think you could be Bingo, did you?" Bluey held on to Chilli's tail "I tried being tough and I couldn't, so I tried being happy, and I couldn't, then I tried being Bingo" "But you couldn't" Bandit interrupted "There's only one Bingo and one Bluey in this whole world" he sighed and patted his daughter's head, he hated not being able to make her feel better "If you want to honor your sister, don't try to live as her, but try living for her" Chilli nodded "You also need to remember to live for yourself, nobody ever said life was always going to be easy" Bluey nodded, despite it still being early in the day she had felt tired and leaned onto her mother's side "I'm sorry" she said weakly as she closed her eyes.
This chapter took me….longer than I'd like to admit, but I finally got it out of the way. As for the Wolfdog family, don't worry about them as they won't play any major roles in this story.
Until Next Time!
