Showtime

The next morning had been much better than yesterday for the blue heeler. Instead of having to work outside in the hot blazing sun, Stripe was inside the mansion moving the chows' personal items around the house. Right now, he had 2 very expensive lamps he had to move to a different room, carefully making sure to not damage them. Beside the fake brown heeler was Max, showing him around the place.

"Porque do they need me to move the lamparas?'' He asked the German Shepherd while looking at the very well-textured lamps. He sucked in a breath that reeked of irritation.

"I'm just telling you what the chow chows told me; they would usually do it themselves. Though, that means that because you're here to help, they're out in their family boat," the shepherd replied as he guided the young heeler towards the closet.

Max took out a key and opened the closet door, revealing that it was much larger than what the blue heeler initially thought. There were a lot of expensive furniture and items in the room. The pictures of the Chow Chow family screamed high-class, taking his breath away for a moment.

"Find a good area for them, but make sure it is somewhere where they won't fall. I have to go and clean the family room," Max said, leaving the brown heeler all alone in the closet room where there was barely any light entering the room.

Stripe looked around checking out the closet; it was at least twice as big as the living room at his house. He looked down to make sure there was nothing he could trip over. He continued to walk around the room, wondering how much money everything could have cost. He then found an old wooden table, and decided that it was the best place to put it on. The brown heeler then turned around to walk out of the closet, but then something caught his eye. He turned to the right to see pictures of the Chow Chow family. They were all stacked up and leaning towards the wall, letting curiosity get the better of him and picking up the first picture. It was a family portrait of Wendy's family when she was just a baby; Regenold and Victoria were holding her together with a smile.

"I can't wait to dump all the crap I've been saving up in the bucket, on your stupid face.." He said as he neared against the wall to put back the picture.

He stopped in his tracks when he looked at the next photo. It was Wendy when she was just a year old. Curiosity got to the young heeler, he placed the photo down and grabbed the other. She was still smiling with her parents beside her. Stripe then grabbed another photo, but in this one, Judo was noticeably older, probably around 5 years old. She didn't have her smile anymore; she had an almost disassociated look. Her parents also lacked heartwarming smiles, having the same expression as their daughter. It weirded the brown heeler a bit, but he then grabbed another photo where she looked about 8 years old. In this one, she was wearing a pink ballerina dress and holding a piece of paper that said second place. Even though the young chow chow was smiling her parents were not, they both had very unpleasant expressions on their faces. This weirded out the brown heeler even more. He placed the photo down and grabbed the second to last one.

This one didn't look too old from the last one, Wendy's parents still looked unpleased, but what caught the blue heeler's attention was Wendy's eye. It looked different when he looked closer at the photo. She wasn't smiling anymore and she was playing with her hands as if she was nervous. Her left eye looked like it was swollen. Stripe put the picture down and grabbed the last one that was on the wall. It was different; both of her parents were smiling, including Wendy. But there was something odd, her smile looked forced. It just wasn't genuine, the way her smile curved to her ears, but her eyes didn't react with them. She was holding a trophy that said "First Place Winner".

"Why do you look so…unhappy?" Stripe questioned, dragging his paws across the frame.

Thump.

Thump.

Stripe heard footsteps walking up to where he was located. He didn't know who it was, so his fight or flight instincts went off and he ran and hid behind a couch.

"My feet hurt so bad…" It was Wendy, walking close to the door. She paused when she was beside the closet door, noticing the pictures of her and her family on the floor. She walked inside, blissfully unaware of the brown heeler who was hiding behind the sofa. The young chow chow looked down at the pictures grabbing the last one Stripe had held. She stared at it for a good minute, painful flashbacks hitting from a time period when her parents genuinely were proud of her.

"You will never understand how much work it took me to do those moves. You made me practice even when I couldn't stand…..Those horrible nights. Just because I was in second place, you didn't even do it for me…..You just forced me to do it because both of you told me that I looked bad for the family……Even then, I can't forgive you for hitting me.." she growled, a melancholic feeling brewing deep within her.

CRASH!

The chow chow slammed the picture to the floor, as hard as she could. At first, she didn't care, but then she realized just how dangerous that was.

"Well well well," Stripe said walking slowly up to the chow chow; Wendy was surprised and turned her back to see the brown heeler walking up to her with a big smile on his face.

"Could you imagine what your parents will say when they see all this trash on the floor?" Stripe said not caring to hide his voice. Wendy was starting to panic; she felt her breaths become shallow and sporadic.

"Th-Th-They won't believe you! It will be far easier to bless this on you." Wendy said, stuttering in her words.

"Yeah, you're right……they won't believe me……unless I have proof," Stripe cunningly smiled, showing a photograph of the chow chow. It was when she was just about to throw the photo down on the ground. "Luckily y'all had a camera…it helped me take this marvelous shot of you breaking what looks like to be a very expensive portrait, isn't that right?" Stripe said while teasing her, flipping the photograph in front of her face.

Wendy was starting to panic, Her parents couldn't find out. Stripe was waiting for her to try and take it, so he could run out as fast as he could. However, what happened next was something he couldn't anticipate.

"Don't SHOW IT TO THEM!" Wendy yelled as she got on her knees and grabbed the brown heeler by his stomach, begging him. Her eyes started to water up and she shocked the brown heeler, begging him. "PLEASE, y-y-you don't understand what th-th-they would do to me if th-th-they found out!"

Wendy continued to cry; there was snot coming out of her nose. This put the brown heeler in an awkward position. He couldn't believe the chow chow was at her knees, begging him not to show the picture to her parents, which made him realize something…She had to listen to him now. "Shut up..Look, I won't show them the picture." Stripe said as he hid the photograph behind his back.

Wendy felt a sigh of relief, She looked at him with a smile.

"Thank you," she said, getting up from the ground and back on her feet. She gradually felt better, but still felt the shakiness that came with anxiety.

"But…. you're going to be doing the majority of my job." The brown heeler said with a smile, which caused Wendy to lose hers.

"I-I'm not doing that, what makes you think y-you can make me?!" Wendy said looking a bit brave, but Stripe kept his devilish smirk.

"Picture," he said, whispering, causing the chow chow to shiver in fear.

"F-F-FINE"! She said, looking away with her ears down; she was beyond terrified. She looked back at the fake brown heeler, and she looked worried.

The mansion was large in size, but what was larger was the land surrounding it. The backyard had a large pool about 20 feet wide, 30 feet long and like if that weren't enough, 12 feet deep. It was surrounded by white concrete, and there were 4 seats. On the far right was Stripe sitting on one of them, relaxing and taking a break. This time instead of dying in the heat, he was enjoying the sun. On the edges of the wall, there were palm trees, even though they were at the edge. The wind was blowing them all around the yard; the one that was picking them up was Wendy. She had to go around all the way picking up one by one with about 5 in one hand as she grabbed another. Since she had a lot of fur, it was overheating, nearly suffocating her. She was sweating a lot, hating how the disgusting and sticky sweat felt in her armpits. She had her tongue out as she was panting, But the worst part was the horrible amount of pain she was feeling in her feet. It luckily was the last palm tree leaf she forced herself to walk up to Stripe while grunting from the pain in her feet.

"Here it is, It's all the palm tree leaves I could find, happy now?" She said as tried to sit on the chair; she continued to pant.

"Don't even try to sit down," Stripe said as he got from the chair pushing the chow chow. "You don't deserve to sit down, until you get the palm trees out of the water".

He grabbed the palm tree leaves from the ground and threw all 6 of them inside of the pool. The chow chow was shocked, and gave the brown heeler a hateful look.

"I'm not doing that!" She walked away from the brown heeler; Stripe didn't even do anything. He just waited for a few seconds, and then saw Wendy walking back with a pool skimmer.

"I knew you would come back," Stripe said with a smile, as he waved the picture in front of the chow chow's face. Wendy was beyond angry; her legs were wobbling from the amount of pain she was in. But she determined herself to get the pool skimmer inside to get the leaves out of the pool. One of the leaves was really far and hard to reach, so the brown heeler had an idea to help her out.

SPLASH!

By pushing her in the pool, Stripe tried to contain his laughter as he saw the chow chow struggle to try and keep her head above the water. Wendy, however, was trying her best to swim to the edge; her fur was wet and she was gasping for air. She had managed to make it to the edge and crawled back up and she laid down on the white concrete gasping for air. Stripe walked up to her, with a large smile on her face.

"You looked like you needed to cool down," he said, shaking his head at the chow chow. At first Wendy was scowling at the brown heeler, but the scowl turned into a pout, which made the brown heeler stop laughing.

"D-Do you wanna know why I don't want my parents to see that picture?" Wendy said as tears rolled down her eyes; Stripe was starting to feel like he had gone too far. The chow chow then proceeded to move her fur on her arm to show him a purple bruise she had.

"I got this yesterday when I was showing my parents my ballerina skills for the competition. Do you know what happens when I don't satisfy them?! They beat me. Countless times, over and over for every mistake." She showed the red heeler other bruises on her body, even one on her neck.

Stripe then felt a wave of guilt hit him, even though she treated him like trash, he still felt bad for her. Wendy struggled to get up, she felt a sharp pain in her feet.

"I can barely even walk, they make me wear ballerina shoes until I get bruises." She said as she walked up to the brown heeler trying to push him. Instead she tripped and fell onto him, he luckily caught her. He placed her down on the ground; Stripe didn't know what to do in this situation. Wendy continued to cry as she placed her hands on her face.

"What's going on here?" Demanded an older voice; Stripe turned around to see Max speed walking up to Wendy with a worried look on her face.

"Are you alright kid?" Max said comforting the young chow chow; Wendy looked back at the brown heeler. She had the chance to tell the German shepard what happened to her, And got him in trouble. Even then there was still the possibility of him showing the picture to her parents.

"I-I-I accidentally fell inside the pool, B-But Gabriel saved me, Max.." She lied, the german shepherd however believed her and nodded to the brown heeler.

"It's alright kid, let's get you inside and get you dry; Gabriel, you can go home early, i'll take care of the backyard." He carried the young chow chow inside the mansion; Stripe however kept on staring at her. She could have told him and gotten the brown heeler in trouble…but she didn't, which left him confused. Now he felt like a complete jerk; he wanted to get revenge, but now it doesn't feel worth it. He looked at the ground in shame and began to walk to the front gate that was opened.

He eventually returned home and walked inside his house to see his older brother, Bandit, playing video games by himself. The older blue heeler noticed the brown heeler walking with a down face, which confused him.

"Dang, did she get you depressed as well?" Bandit said as he paused the game; Stripe just sat on the couch and curled into a ball with a worried look.

"Bandit, what would you do if you realized you might have gone a little too far in a weird situation?" Stripe said as he pulled his hair with his left hand, feeling stressed. Bandit gave the brown heeler a confused look, but he shook his head and unpaused his game. "Your way too sensitive dude.."

THE NEXT DAY

Stripe was walking down the street to the chow

chow's mansion. He had his head down as he reached the gate. The gate was left open; he closed it as he entered, walking towards the front door. He looked at the front door and knocked on it, waiting for a response. It took about a minute, but someone did open it. He expected it to be Max. It wasn't, instead the one that opened the door was a chow chow, she wasn't pleased to see him.

"What are you doing here?" She growled in an attempt to look tough, but in reality she was a bit scared, not knowing if he still had the picture of her.

"Hi," Stripe said, looking embarrassed. He then grabbed the photo from his back and tore it in front of the chow chow. It surprised Wendy greatly.

"I feel really bad after what happened yesterday, And everything you told me about your parents.." Stripe said, tucking his tail between his legs.

Wendy was surprised at how honest he was towards her.

"I also just came by to ask if your parents needed help with anything," he wondered, the chow chow shook her head. "No they are not here, and this is Max's day off, so he's at home. It's only me in the house." She stared down at the torn pieces of the picture on the floor.

"Oh…..well I guess I'll be going back home right now…..sorry for asking," Stripe said, feeling a bit defeated that his whole plan was pretty much over. However, a small part of him was happy about the defeat. The fake brown heeler turned around and began to walk away back to the large door, feeling as if he had been relieved of all the stress he had gone through. He no longer hated the chow chow. He hated to admit it but Bandit was right, he should have just gotten over it instead of making some ridiculous plan that could never work out.

"Hey."

Stripe stopped walking and turned around. The chow chow walked up to him avoiding eye contact and scratched the palm of her hand. She stood there for a second until she looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you for…...understanding……even after everything I've done to you, I'm sorry for being a jerk to you," Wendy said to the brown heeler, Stripe was surprised by her kindness. They stood there for a bit not talking to each other, in awkward silence. Wendy eventually broke the silence. "I don't have anything to do right now…….Do you have any plans?"

Stripe scratched his head, a bit confused on where she was heading with the conversation.

"Well…I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the fair today," she smiled. Stripe widened his eyes and he felt as if it was a trap, But he shook the idea out of his head.

"Well…..yeah. Let's go to the fair," Stripe said, his lips curling upwards. His tail even began to wag. Wendy nodded, they both walked out of the gate and headed down to the fair.

It was a big for a fair, located near the beach. It had small roller coasters, rigged games, a jungle theme playground, a large water sled, and many more activities. The brown heeler and chow chow walked through the entrance; families and friends were waiting in line and riding rides. Stripe and Wendy entered the fair; this wasn't their first time. Stripe had visited the fair multiple times when his family was on holiday, but for Wendy this was only her second time. Her family had only let her out of the house a few times, but she snuck out when they weren't around. This was her second time sneaking out of the house, for the fair.

"Wow, it looks so cool.." Wendy said, smiling while wagging her tail.

"We should go on the roller coasters for a bit, And then get some cotten candy." Stripe said pointing at the rides as Wendy nodded and they both ran to the end of the line.

About a few yards away were Bandit and Rad walking together. They got bored from riding the rides and bought some cotton candy.

"Hey Rad, how do you think Stripe is doing with his whole master plan……Rad?"

Rad was looking at the picture of Doreen, distracted by her old beauty. Bandit shook his head, looking away from his older brother and got distracted by a large machine, it was a square metal box with maroon paint.

It had a large metal board that said "I can read your future", which interested the blue heeler. He walked up to it as his older brother kept on walking away. Bandit took a bite from his cotton candy, while he looked around the machine to see how it worked. He then found a slot where it said 5 cents. Bandit looked up at the machine again, shrugging. He was bored and wanted to see what his future was. Even though it was most likely it was just a random written fortune. He took out a nickel and placed it inside the machine, waiting for something to happen. The curtains then opened, revealing a mechanical hand coming out of the box, which startled the blue heeler. The mechanical hand was holding a piece of paper, Bandit took it giving a weird look to the mechanical hand as it went back inside it's box. He then looked down at the piece of paper he was given.

"You will find love one day, and lose that love but regain it from a different individual. Afterwards, you will live a perfect life. A life that will make death feel like your final destination."

Bandit was a bit surprised by what the paper said, but he shook his head feeling a weird sensation in his body. He walked away from the machine, scowling at it. He finished his cotton candy and threw the paper in a recycling bin nearby.

"Yeah like that's ever gonna happen," Bandit said looking for his older brother.

Meanwhile, Rad was still walking aimlessly looking at the picture of his future wife, at least that's what he called her. Then, out of the corner, he bumped into 2 dogs.

"Oh my bad mate-" He stopped himself as he looked up to see a chow chow and a fake brown heeler looking straight at him. It was a bit of an awkward situation, since Rad thought Stripe hated Wendy. She looked down at the floor and saw a picture frame; she picked it up and looked at it.

"Who is this old lady?" She asked, confused. Rad quickly grabbed it from the chow chow.

"For your information, that's my future wife. She is 40 years old," Rad said proudly; the 2 younger dogs looked at him weirdly.

"You're weird," Wendy said plainly, and Rad took offense to that.

"YOU DONT KNOW WHAT TRUE LOVE IS IF IT HIT YOU IN THE FACE!" The older heeler yelled as he ran away holding the picture in his chest.

……..

"Um…..do you wanna go on the rides?" Stripe interrogated. Wendy nodded and they walked off.

Bandit was still looking around for his older brother, The blue heeler than saw Stripe walking with the chow chow. He was surprised to see him talking to her, He assumed it was part of his master plan to embarrass the chow chow. What weirded the blue heeler out was how his younger brother was smiling. He looked happy, but he might be faking it to fool the female.

…Or maybe he was…actually happy.

The sun was setting over the sun, making the water look like a beautiful light orange. On the beach were Stripe and the chow chow. After playing in the fair for a while, the two young dogs wanted to do something else and since they were near the beach, it was the only other option.

"Hey could we stop for a bit, I need to take a rest," Wendy said as she laid down on the warm sand. She winced from the pain. Stripe sat down beside her waiting for her to feel better.

"Your parents overwork you dont they?" Stripe said; Wendy nodded. She was in a lot of pain, but what was worse was the fact she had to go to the contest tomorrow. If she didn't manage to get first place in the contest, they would beat her. Stripe patted her back trying to make her feel better.

Wendy eventually felt better and got up by herself. She was still in pain but it wasn't as bad as before.

"Could you come with me?" Wendy said as she offered her hand to pick him up. The fake brown heeler got up, still holding Wendy's hand. They walked off and into the beach water with their feet in the warm water. They stood there together looking at the sunset, admiring its beauty, staying in complete silence. Stripe was so distracted by the sun that he didn't notice that he was still holding her hand until she started to rub it. The brown heeler was blushing, feeling a wave of emotions hit him. He felt his cheeks get red, remembering how much of a crush she had on the chow chow. She then rested her head on the fake brown heeler's shoulder. "Can we be friends, Gabriel?" she asked solemnly.

…….

That was when Stripe had a realization: She didn't like him, she liked the fake him. She doesn't even know, which is the worst part. She probably wouldn't even like him if he were to reveal who he really was. She doesn't like the real him.

"Hey you know there is a contest tomorrow, And…..well it's sold out, But I stole one of the tickets from my parents. I was planning on selling it somehow for a higher price, but I want to give it to you. I want you to see me at the contest."

She offered him the ticket; Stripe took it and looked down at it, thinking about his original plan. Wendy then walked up in front of the brown heeler and gave him a small kiss on the side of his cheek, surprising him.

"I hope to see you!" She yelled as she ran away from him with a blush on her face, leaving the fake brown heeler alone.

"She only likes the fake me.." He said to himself.

When she left the blue heeler walked back to the fair planning on walking back home until he looked to the side and saw a maroon box. He looked down to see where it said 5 cents. Stripe shook his head and began to walk away.

CREAK

Stripe turned around to see the mechanical hand holding a piece of paper. It creeped the brown heeler a bit. Stripe looked around to see if anyone was looking. He walked up to the box, and grabbed the piece of paper with caution. The mechanical hand then returned to its box. The brown heeler looked at the piece of paper, curious to know what it said.

"While the dog you hate the most might appear to be your enemy, she will one day be your permanent love."

The next day

Today was the day of Stripe's plan. The young blue heeler disguise was off, he had washed his fur and was back to his blue purple color. It was late evening and Stripe put his headband on, having the ticket in his hand. A part of him didn't want to do the plan,but he had to do it. He told himself over and over that she only liked the fake him, until he convinced himself. Stripe looked at himself in the mirror he took in a deep breath and let all of his doubt out of his body.

"Showtime," he muttered as he walked out of his room and inside the shed where he kept the dead shark's organs. He opened the door and grabbed the bucket, walking towards the street.

"So you really plan on doing this," spoke a familiar voice; Stripe turned around to see Bandit on the porch looking down at his brother. "Do you really think this is all worth it Stripe, Do you really want to do this?"

Bandit gave his brother an emotionless look; Stripe stood there looking straight at his brother's eyes. But the young blue heeler did not respond, all he did was turn around walking down the street. Bandit shook his head.

The fair was not far from his house. As Stripe was walking towards the entrance, he could see the lights illuminating from the rides. There were more people than there were before hanging out with their friends. Some of them were on dates, others were with their family. Stripe was moving around them trying his best to look for the entrance for the contest. He then managed to find it, it was a large canopy and there was a guard dog, guarding the entrance. Stripe walked up to the guard dog and showed him the ticket. The large dog looked down at his bucket confused.

"What's in the bucket kid?" He asked, pointing at it. Stripe then got a little worried that he may search it, but he kept his cool.

"It's just some food, my parents are in a financial crisis," he said with confidence; the guard dog looked at him with a weird look.

"And yet they bought you a ticket for this contest.. just go inside.." The dog said, ripping the ticket up. Stripe just nodded and walked inside with his bucket.

The inside was filled with lights and seats covering the large stadium in front of it. All the seats were taken, except for one but the blue heeler was planning on sitting down on it. He looked around trying to think how he was gonna execute his plan. That was when he found the perfect spot; there was a metal bridge on top of the stadium, where he could splatter all the disgusting organs on the chow chow. He looked around the stadium and saw a metal ladder leading up to the bridge. He snuck around the audience until he reached the ladder. It was a bit difficult getting up using 1 hand to carry the bucket and the other to pull on the ladder. When he managed to get to the top, he lifted the bucket to the middle of the bridge, looking down at the stage waiting for the right moment. "No regrets." He said to himself.

CLICK

The lights were off, the audience was silent, waiting to see what was to happen next. The lights then turned back on, and in the middle of the stage was a chow chow wearing a pink ballerina dress with matching shoes. She stood perfectly still until the music started playing, an old song played in the 1800s. Wendy moved with the notes of the music, jumping around the high notes and tapping her feet to the minor parts of the music. She twirled to the notes, The audience was amazed, aweing her dancing skills. On the bridge, Stripe was looking down at the chow chow; he was hypnotized by her dancing. To him, she looked so beautiful in her dress. His eyes were glittering, but he had the bucket in his hands on the edge of the bridge.

"I can't do it.." Stripe said to himself as he dropped the bucket on the bridge, But he dropped it too fast causing it to fall on the edge and drop the guts over the bridge, Stripe tried to stop it but it was too late.

SPLAT

CRACK

Stripe looked down as the rotten maggot filled red and brown fish organs hit the chow chow, causing her to lose her footing and break her foot. She was on the ground crying in pain, tears rolling down her eyes. Yet.. something was wrong, Stripe couldn't hear her screaming. All he could hear was a ringing in his ear as he looked at the chow chow, with terrified eyes. His stupid mistake caused her to get seriously injured. The chow chow looked down at her foot, then looked up to see a blue heeler staring back at her. They both stared at each other for what felt like hours, until Stripe snapped out of it and began to ran to the ladder. He quickly got down until he hit the floor; he looked to his right and saw a door that read exit. He rammed it, still running away from the large canopy. He ran until he was far away from the fair; he was gasping for air. He tried to catch his breath, as he fell to the sand. He was back on the beach by himself. The moon half sunk in the water, The blue heeler felt the biggest wave of regret, embarrassment, anger.

"It's all my fault……It's all my fault…..It's all my fault". He repeated to himself.

End of flashback

Present

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Wendy yelled at the blue heeler as she was trying to beat him. But Bandit was holding her back with all his strength. The chow chow was crying and screaming, filled with anger as it rained heavily during the night. Stripe got back up, in a bolt of a shock.

"Wendy, I didnt mean for you to get hurt. I was young and stupid. It was a horrible mistake!" Stripe yelled, feeling the same wave of guilt he felt decades ago.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT MY PARENTS DID TO ME?!" She yelled, then she managed to kick Bandit in the shin, making him lose his balance, kicking him right in the face. She ran up to the younger blue heeler brother and pushed him up to his car. She had her fist up, planning on punching the shit out of him. But yet she didn't, she looked at him straight In the eyes, just thinking for a few seconds. Stripe's kids looked at both of the adults waiting to see what would happen.

"You were Gabriel weren't you," The chow chow said as she lowered her first, still looking at the blue heeler. "I'm so sorry Wendy…..I….lov.."

"GGGGRRRRRR"

Something was growling close to them, the adults turned their heads to the left and saw a figure walking on all fours towards them, missing the bottom lip of its jaw. It walked up towards them, growling at the dogs. None of that caught their attention; what did was the glowing eyes it had, there weren't any pupils on it's eyes, just a bright whiteness.

"Trixie!"

End of chapter 32

Edited by: RiverWater46!