Many people knew the unfortunate events surrounding a small red heeler and her death. What many people didn't know was that a young Maltese was hit pretty hard upon losing her best friend. The two didn't know each other for very long, but for the two of them, it felt like they'd known each other their whole lives. They would go to each other's homes and enjoy various games together, they cheered each other up, and made each other laugh when they really needed it. As all good things, this too would come to an end. The days would pass and Lila hadn't seen Bingo in kindy for a few days and she would wonder if Bingo had gotten sick, or if she had any other reasons for not showing up.
It was an ordinary day like any other, Lila was enjoying her cereal with her younger brother and their mother when she heard a knock on the door she could see red fur, but she couldn't quite exactly make out who was at the door "I'll get it!" She exclaimed. She ran to the door and opened it only to be greeted by a red heeler, however it wasn't the one she had hoped to see. It was Bingo's mother Chilli, she had a forlorn look on her faced however she gave a weak smile once she saw Lila "Hey there, could you please fetch your mum for me?" Lila was a bit confused to see Chilli by herself but she had no problem and went to fetch her mother. Within a few minutes Sheila went to the door and spoke with Chilli "Hey, if you don't mind, could we probably take this conversation outside, it's not easy to talk about" Sheila was a bit confused but obliged anyways, she closed the door behind her so Lila couldn't hear what they were talking about. All she could make out was the sad sounds of Chilli's voice and the mention of Bingo, at the time she wasn't able to put two and two together. After a few more minutes of conversation Chilli would get into her car and drive off, Sheila would return inside the house and similar to Chilli, she now wore a sad expression on her face.
Lila would run over to her mum with a smile on her face but quickly noticed that something had upset her "Everything okay mum?" Her mother patted her on the head, inhaled, then exhaled, she wondered how she would break the news to her young daughter. "Sweetie, we need to talk" Lila was concerned and wondered if she had done anything to make her mother upset "About what?" she inquired. Sheila lifted the small pup into her arms and carried her over to the couch "About your friend Bingo" Lila looked her mother in the eyes and gave her all of her attention "Is she alright?" Sheila only looked to the side as she sat on their couch, pulling Lila into her lap and not immediately answering "Mum? Is Bingo okay? Is she in trouble?" Sheila still refused to look her daughter in the eyes and simply shook her head "Well, what's the matter?" This was not going to be an easy conversation and she knew that, but there were no other options but to state it bluntly "I'm afraid, Bingo has passed away, Lila" Lila tilted her head "I…don't understand…"She took a deep breath and looked her daughter in the eyes "Lila, I'm so sorry to tell you, but Bingo is dead"
The young pup had an understanding of the word, in fact she'd heard it many times to not understand what it meant, what she never expected was to hear that someone her age had died "N-no…that can't be" Lila backed away from her mother. "Bingo isn't…she's not dead" Sheila knew exactly what to expect the moment she told Lila, she was a small child after all. "Lila-" Lila looked to the ground "Mum, don't lie to me,why would you lie?" It was apparent that her current reaction to the news would be denial "Do you want me to cry?" She quickly turned to her mother and grabbed her hand. Sheila shook her head "Of course not! I love you!" Lila didn't have anything else to say, she just hopped off their couch and ran to her room. "When I see Bingo again at school, I'll ask her if she knew what mum is talking about" She spoke to nobody in particular.
Two weeks would pass and Lila would still not see the girl she had called her best friend. At this point she had grown a bit frustrated with everyone, her mum, herself, Chilli, and even Bingo herself, her friend just couldn't have been dead, even so why was she not showing up at kindy? Was she trying to avoid Lila? One day after arriving home from kindy, she had noticed what appeared to be a small pamphlet sitting on the kitchen table. Upon approaching it she saw it had a picture of Bingo on the cover with some words and numbers…if only she could read. Sheila walked over and saw her daughter looking at the picture and figured she was trying her best to read it "It says,you are invited to Bingo Heeler's celebration of life ceremony, it's being held this weekend" Lila set the funeral program down "Her birthday isn't this weekend, it's in a few months!" Sheila shook her head "A funeral is also called a celebration of life ceremony, its where we remember the person and celebrate the unique life they lived" she explained. Lila glared at her mother "Bingo is not dead! Stop lying to me!" Sheila sighed "Lila please, it's your last chance to say goodbye to her forever" Lila ignored her mother again, the doubts about her thoughts were heavy, she just couldn't believe Bingo was dead they'd promise to be friends forever and ever and ever, Bingo wouldn't break a promise.
Within the next three months Lila had fallen into a deep depression, she was forced to accept that Bingo truly was dead upon going to her funeral the weekend she saw the funeral program on the kitchen table. She wanted this all to be some terrible dream that she would wake up from, that she would hear an alarm clock, or her mum would shake her awake, she would go to kindy, and Bingo would be there to greet her again like she had many times before. Unfortunately,whenever she woke up she would go to kindy and Bingo would never be there. Lila would repeatedly be picked up early due to her outburst and due to the fact that her depression would interfere with her academic work. Lila had stared at the friendship bracelet that she and Bingo had made together, on some days all she would do was stare at it and not utter a single word. "Why Bingo, Why did you have to go? Was I a bad friend?" One day Sheila would decided to take her daughter to the park to help her get some fresh air and to possibly help with Lila's acceptance of Bingo's passing. What she did not know was that this choice would drastically affect her daughter, and how her daughter would view a certain young blue heeler.
Lila would sit at the park with her younger brother who tried in a futile effort to make her feel better. Lila would indulge her brother for a while until he decided to play with their mother, then she would sit on a bench and speak to herself "I wonder what Bingo would do if it was me instead?" She would soon hear two voices nearby in an argument "I'm telling you, it's all Bluey's fault" another voiced sighed "Chucky, you really need to let this go, even if Bluey did cause that to happen to Bingo, she's been pretty beat up about it" Lila turned upon hearing someone else mention Bingo. She saw Chucky and his older brother Lucky, while she didnt know much about them they had met a few times in the past. Lucky had walked away from his younger brother, causing Chucky to grumble angrily to himself until she spoke to him "Hey…Chucky right?" Chucky was surprised to hear anyone, he turned to face her "Yeah, I remember you Lila" he gave her a small smile. Lila wasted no time asking him a question "Is everything okay? I thought I heard him mention Bingo" Chucky nodded "We were talking about her, he thinks I'm making things up" Lila was intrigued by what she heard them discussing "Making things up about what?" Chucky scratched his head "Well I told him Bluey is the reason why Bingo died" Lila's eyes widened hearing him say that. "Do you have any proof?" she wanted to know more about what he was saying, but only if it wasn't nonsensical. Chucky thought about it for a few seconds then looked at her "Well it's fine if you don't believe it but my dad left a note saying that Bluey pushed her into the way of his car, and that his car had caused her to die" Chucky sighed "Then on the day of the funeral, he….killed himself out of guilt I suppose" Lila gasped "Bluey? But…she loved Bingo!" Chucky nodded "That day, Bluey seemed really mad about something, then their family left home, and Bingo never returned, just makes sense if you ask me" Unlike many others,Lila was quick to believe Chucky, he lost someone close to him as well, what reason would he have to lie?
Lila's sadness had vanished completely, it was replaced with a whole new feeling. Her own words couldn't describe what she felt, it was similar to anger but far more intense, this new feeling was strong whenever she thought about Bluey, and how she removed Bingo from everyone's lives. "Bluey…" Lila growled her name with an intense rage. This surprised Chucky but a smirk formed across his face "You know, Bingo meant a lot to me too" he put his hand on her head "I didn't want to believe Bluey would do something so horrible either, but I heard her say it with her own mouth one day when she was talking to her parents" lila clenched her fists at the thought "I want Bluey to pay for what she did, and I think one day, I might make that happen" Lila turned and faced her mother "I hope you do Chucky" she started walking towards her mom, she wanted to go home "I really do" anger-fueled tears filled her eyes, she felt the same rage Chucky felt towards Bluey, and now she wanted to take that rage out on the same girl for what she believed in her heart to be an injustice to Bingo.
A.N: This is my shortest chapter so far, I tried but couldnt find too many ways for Lila to fit into the story despite really wanting her to have a larger role than just appearing at Bingo's funeral, thanks for any and all reviews you guys leave,and please keep on reading!
