Chapter 11: Unbelievable

"Bandit! Bandit!"

A male voice shouted through Bandit's ringing ears. Bandit's eyes slowly opened as he awoke from his unexpected loss of consciousness.

"Oh, Bandit, thank God you're not dead!" Co-worker number one exclaimed as he patted Bandit on his belly, "It's a good thing that we came around the corner as soon as we did, otherwise you would've gotten a heat stroke and died in this hot weather!"

Bandit sat up slowly and slightly shook his head, then looked around frantically at his surroundings.

"W-Where am I? Where's the… the cave?" Bandit asked the group of canines as he looked at them individually. The group gave a small glimpse at each other, then stared back at Bandit.

"Uh, Bandit," co-worker number two said, his eyebrow raised, "Where you were lying, you were beside a huge grassy hillside and I didn't see any cave near our surroundings."

Bandit became bewildered by the co-workers' response. No dark cave? That was impossible. He witnessed seeing the ancient paintings and the swift, glowing aura that followed. Was none of that real?

"W-Wait, wait," Bandit began to say as he put a hand up to his head, "you're telling me that there was no… dark cave anywhere…?"

The male canines nodded their heads, answering the blue Heeler's question.

"That's… that's a lie. I know that there was a cave, because I went into it! I also took pictures of an ancient painting along with an ancient language! Here, have a look!"

Bandit pulled out his phone and showed it to the four co-workers.

"Wow!" Beamed co-worker number four, "That ancient painting of a tree sure looks interesting!"

Bandit's eyes immediately went wide. In a blink of an eye, he retrieved his phone from the co-workers' faces and took a glance at the pictures. There was no sign of the photos of the ancient paintings nor the ancient language on his phone. It was as if the photos had not been there in the first place- or had been replaced by photos of trees and beautiful scenery to cover up the ancient ruins of the past and keep it secret.

Mocking laughter erupted from the co-workers as they pointed at Bandit's photos then at the blue Heeler himself. Bandit felt as if he were a small, helpless child, being laughed at by bullies who were much older and taller than him. He felt the tears burning at his eyes, but tried not to cry at a time like this, especially when it comes to him being around mature adults like himself. But he wasn't mature, was he? He plays around with his children as if he were one himself. But, what else could he do? If he didn't interact with Bluey and Bingo, then the pair would grow up to be nonsocial. But this wasn't about the Heeler sisters, this was about proving to the boys that what he saw and witnessed was in fact the truth and not an elaborate lie.

The boys continued to mock Bandit as they guffawed at his so-called made up claims and actions. The only male Cavapoo who was not laughing at Bandit stepped in to break up the laughing and mockery.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, BOYS!" The boss roared at his fellow co-workers as he stomped his foot down so hard that it caused some leaves to dance around the grassy ground.

"Shame on you lot, I know that Bandit had said some pretty crazy things today," Bandit's ears perked up at that sentence and he hung his head low, saddened that the cavapoo boss who was like a dear friend- or even a brother to Bandit- didn't believe his claim either, "but that doesn't give you the right to laugh at him. It probably was just some dream he had when he was passed out."

But it wasn't a dream, it was for real life… Bandit thought in his mind as his eyebrows narrowed.

The boss turned to face the blue Heeler and reached an arm out to help get Bandit back on his feet.

"Boss, I'm telling the truth, what I saw wasn't fake nor a dream, it was real. The voice of good spoke to me and-"

The boss gasped, his clipboard fell out of his left hand and it hit the grassy floor. Pinprick pupils stared at the blue Heeler as if he spotted a giant spider crawling up on his head.

"W-what d-did you just say…?" The Cavapoo boss stammered as his body violently trembled out of fear.

"The voice of good…?" Bandit answered, dumbfounded at the boss' reaction. The Cavapoo boss paced around in circles as the anxiety started to flood out like a broken dam.

"Oh, lord… o-oh, lord…" The boss whispered under his shaky breath, "I-It can't be, it just can't be possible…"

"Uh, b-boss, w-what's wrong?"

"I thought that it was just an old fairytale. I thought it was all fake… No. No, don't think about that now, think about what might happen if someone finds… it…"

The small hairs on Bandit's back stood up as he felt an uneasy chill run down his spine.

It? What was this 'it' that he was talking about? Bandit thought silently. The Cavapoo boss continued to pace in circles until a thought eventually reached his mind.

"B-Bandit, listen to me carefully." He said with a devastating voice as he held onto Bandit's arms tightly. The blue Heeler stared into the Cavapoo's pinprick brown eyes as confusion and fear was stamped onto his face.

"You're not fired or anything, but… I-I just need you to go home… Can you do that for me, pal?" Bandit's ears and tail twitched, telling his body to do what he was told. He nodded softly as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. The boss returned a simple gesture of gratitude and allowed his hands to let go of Bandit's arms.

The blue Heeler speed-walked away from the boss and he eventually reached the parking lot. Bandit gave one more look at the boss before he got into his red car and drove off. While Bandit drove on the road, however, his mind wandered back at the boss' frantic words. The voice of good…? Oh, lord… o-oh, lord… I-It can't be, it just can't be possible… I thought that it was just an old fairytale. I thought it was all fake… No. No, don't think about that now, think about what might happen if someone finds… it…

'It' That word echoed through his mind like a ringing bell. But he had to shove the word into the back of his mind until he got home. Otherwise it'll give him some time to think and brainstorm about what was going on and why the images of the ancient paintings and language had mysteriously transformed itself into images of trees and beautiful scenery. It was truly a mystery, indeed.