Chapter 18: Not So Different
"And then what?! And then what?!" One of the three Terriers exclaimed impatiently and excitedly, his focus completely drawn into the story.
After I had been taken back to the Heeler's home with the help of Andrew, to say that Bandit and Chilli were shocked upon seeing my state was an understatement. Whilst Bandit was more or less stumped with how I got into such a scrape, Chilli was leaning more into mild fury. Not at me mind you, but whoever was responsible for my impossible to overlook injuries. Thankfully, Andrew explained the whole situation involving Hailey and Daniel but I made sure not to forget the detail about Harley and her dad who had patched me up and the little Akita having trained me a bit in martial arts should I ever end up locked in a fight again.
My worries went away as Bandit and Chilli reassured me that I wasn't in trouble since I was only defending myself with the latter telling me that I had done the right thing in walking away when Daniel was down, but from now on until things calmed down, they were going to take some precautions.
For one, I wouldn't be allowed to do any more errands outside by myself, especially near night-time and would have to have one of the Heelers keep an eye on me or at least have me in places with enough public eyes in case if anything went wrong which, to be honest, I could live with. I just hope that me having a Heeler bodyguard wouldn't be a permanent thing.
All of that happened two days ago and on the morning of today, my bandaged up wounds were already showing slow but great signs of healing. The bad news however was that it was a work day for both Bandit and Chilli and Bluey and Bingo had to go to their respective schools. Of course, I had learned during then that Bandit was an archaeologist whilst Chilli worked in Airport security. Kind of funny that a dog's occupation would involve digging up bones.
Wendy would be busy for the whole day and so were Muffin and Sock's family so those two options were out of the question. And then, with a bit of a reluctant sigh, Chilli decided that the best option would be for me to accompany Bluey at school even after the incident last time. But she did make sure however that Bluey would hand a written note to her teacher, an Australian shepherd called "Calypso" which would explain why I'd be with Bluey for the day.
Of course, when we got there, the peace only lasted a second when I was welcomed in the open arms of Bluey's friends, especially Mackenzie. Bluey gave Calypso the note and given that she had saw the news about me having become an accepted citizen of Canistralia, saw no issues in this and even gave me a friendly greeting as well.
The next thing I know, I was approached by three of Bluey's other friends, the Terriers; Triplets whom were all boys with folded ears and thick fur around their muzzles, the only way to tell them apart was their main fur colour which were different shades of grey. Whilst everyone at Bluey's school referred to either one of them as "Terrier", they were nice enough to tell me their first names to avoid confusion; Joe, Dan and Adam.
Apparently, word had gotten out about my battle with Daniel and the Terriers, with their games often involving battles were the most eager to know how it went down.
So here I was now, recalling the whole clash that had happened days ago to the triplets, making sure however to leave out any violent details.
"So with Daniel standing on one leg, I swept my leg across it and made him topple and he was about to fall onto me! And then without a second thought, I shot a fist out towards him and BAM! I ended up getting him on the nose!"
I concluded, slowing my words and adding suspense to make the story sound more incredible to the Terriers and I could tell it was working as they were now staring at me with nothing but awe in their eyes.
"That…"
"Is so…"
"COOL!" The Terriers exclaimed which each one saying a fraction of the sentence before they all sprang up to their hind paws and hugged my sides.
"You're amazing, Nathan!"
"You're like the most bonza human we've ever met!", Two of the Terriers said as I couldn't help but chuckle a little at how much they were idolizing me. Some of the other kids, Rusty, Mackenzie and a Jack Russell cheered as well.
"Hey, let's play Martial Arts!" The Terriers encouraged before rushing off with Rusty and Mackenzie following behind, but not before the Border Collie gave me a pat of respect on my arm.
So now I was alone with the Jack Russell whom walked over to me with a friendly smile on his muzzle.
"So you're the… "hugh-man" that's staying with Rusty's friend, Bluey?" The Russell asked as I nodded before speaking.
"Indeed I am. Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Nathan." I confirmed before holding out a hand which he looked at for a few seconds before taking a hold of it and shaking it.
"Hi Nathan, I'm Jack!" The Jack Russell then introduced himself. Rather sweet how the first word of his species happens to be his first name.
"So I heard you mention, Rusty. He your friend?" I inquired, having remembered that he referred to Bluey as Rusty's friend.
"Oh yeah! We've been best friends since I came to this…" Jack's answer fell as his gaze focused on something else. My eyes followed where his were going and saw nothing other than a single leaf sailing across the sky by a gust of wind. I looked back down to Jack and saw that he was still watching the leaf.
"Um, you were saying?" I piped up, getting Jack's attention.
"Oop, sorry! Yeah, me and Rusty have been best friends since I first came here. The first time we met, we played Army!"
"Army?" I asked, having little idea of how they played that.
"Well, Rusty was my drill sargeant and told me hand signals, code names and dust offs. He then told me that he knew so much army stuff because his dad is in the army. Then when it was time to go home, Rusty's dad came to pick him up!", Jack explained.
The mention of Rusty's dad working for the army, possibly Canistralia's army put me in thought. Perhaps he knew of the New Zealand war? As much as I wanted to ask him about it, I had no ways of contacting him so I knew I would have to leave that alone.
"Sounds like you had a brilliant first day at school." I then said with a small smile which made Jack grin before he turned to see a large hill not far from where we were. He then looked at me silently as if in thought.
"...You okay?" I asked, wondering if Jack was worried about something.
"Oh nothing… I just kind of wish I was as tall as you. My dad says I'll be taller when I grow up but, I don't think I want to wait so long…" Jack said, his tone sounding a little downtrodden.
I couldn't help but frown with sympathy at his current plight until I suddenly had an idea as I leaned over, my face just inches from the ground.
"Climb on my shoulders."
"What?" Jack looked back at me again with an arched eyebrow.
"I can show you how it feels to be tall." At that moment, Jack soon figured out what was going on as he walked over and I felt the small weight of him on my back and as soon as I got the all-clear, I slowly stood up, keeping a firm but gentle grip on Jack's hind legs.
"WOOOAH-HOH!" Jack exclaimed as it must've felt to him like he was shooting upwards in a space shuttle, but I soon heard him laugh a little as he came accustomed to his surroundings with his paw-hands on my head.
"Okay… March, soldier!" Jack barked eagerly as I responded with a playful "Yes, sir!" as I began my trek onwards up the hill.
Along the way however, I felt as if Jack's weight was repeatedly shifting a little on my shoulders, his legs in my hands were even wobbling a little. I briefly stopped to glance back at the little Russell.
"You okay, Jack? If this is getting uncomfortable, I can help you down." I assured him as I felt his fidgeting cease as soon as he realised I was talking to him.
"Oh, sorry Nathan! I'm just not good at sitting still." He apologised as his legs had stopped shuffling as well.
"It's alright. If you want to walk, just let me know." I told him as I resumed upwards towards the hill, it only took a few minutes or so to reach the summit of the hill as I sat down, letting Jack slide off down my back before he sat down on the grass next to me.
The first few minutes were rather silent as neither of us had any idea of what to say to each other which only made the moment more awkward, at least until Jack was the first to speak.
"S-So… Are you here because… there's something wrong with you?" Jack asked a little nervously, almost as if he was worried about offending me in some way.
"Huh?" I looked down at the Jack Russell with a look of confusion before he spoke again.
"Well… I came here because I can't sit still, follow instructions or remember things. ...And then Rusty told me that I was good at playing Army because I did all those things." Jack's small frown turned into a small smile.
I thought back to when Jack was shuffling on my back and how it had seemed like he was hesitating before shaking my hand or climbing on my shoulders…
Unable to go a second without moving, not able to focus on something… That's what made me realise something.
Jack had some kind of mental condition, the best I could sum it up to was Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Now I just felt really bad for the poor pup. Considering he had just vented out to me his problems with his disorder, it sounded to me like he saw the disorder as some kind of curse.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with you, Jack." I said in the most honest tone imaginable.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Just because you think differently, have trouble not moving or remembering stuff… that doesn't mean you're any less different than Rusty, Bluey or anyone else at this school. And like you said, even though you said you couldn't do any of those things, you were able to do them anyway when you were playing Army with Rusty. Infact… When I first arrived in Canistralia, I was scared because I was the only human and I thought that everyone here would see me as some kind of monster… But one family didn't, and thanks to them, everyone here sees me as like I'm one of them. Just like how Rusty made you feel like you're one with his kind." I said before slowly patting Jack on the head. "You're a good dog, Jack. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Jack just looked up at me silently, before his eyebrows fell and he looked like he was about to tear up… before clinging to my side in a hug with a smile on his muzzle.
"Thanks, Nathan… You're a good human…"
Those words and the affection the small Jack Russell gave me was enough to tug at my heartstrings as I couldn't help but return with a smile of my own. We had both gone through fears and concerns and we were just lucky to have someone there for us, Jack had Rusty and I had the Heeler family.
At the end of the day, even if I wasn't a dog like Jack…
We're not so different after all.
A/N: I praise you all for your insane patience, I can't thank you enough. Trying to get the motivation to continue this fic has been a major struggle for me.
Anyway, see you all next update.
