MacKenzie woke up the following day. The sun was coming through the curtains, shining bright on his face. He yawned and stretched and then jumped out of bed. He smacked his lips and walked over to his desk. On it was a plastic toy car that he pushed aside to grab the comicbook he had been reading. He took a chair and sat down and opened the book. He was holding it with both of his arms.
Both of his arms…he jumped up and looked at his arm. There was no plaster cast around it!
''Uh..where is it?'' he wonderd. He moved his arm. It felt fine.
''Did i take it of last night or did it fall of?'' he mumbled to himself. He threw the blankets of his bed and looked but couldn't find anything. 'Strange…' he thought. On the other hand, he couldn't be bothered to look for it. His arm felt fine. So with a 'whatever' he turned around and went to the bathroom. In the hallway he could smell Bandit making breakfast. It smelt really good. His stomach was growling at him.
''Alright, be patient'' he told his belly. ''You want me to empty you just so i can fill you up again within ten minutes? What's the point of that?'' he said annoyed.
When he walked in the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror and gave himself a light smile. Just as a way to cheer him up but also fast enough not to see his scars and bruises. He turned away, walked to the toilet and stopped. He turned around and looked in the mirror again. His mouth fell open from surprise. He looked again. And again. He touched his face and muzzle. There were no bruises. No scars or bald spots. He moved the hair from his chest. Just black fur underneath. No operation scar. He grabbed his ear. There was no chip in it. It looked fine. He was amazed and in disbelief. ''Did i heal that quickly or is something else going on?'' he thought to himself. He needed answers.
He stormed out of the bathroom into the living room. He heard noices in the kitchen and saw someone sitting on the kitchen chair at the dinner table, reading a newspaper.
''Mr. Heeler! Mr. Heeler! Look at me, i look normal again! All those damages on my body have disappeared! And my plaster cast is gone. Did you took it?'' he asked.
''Well. First things first young man'' MacKenzie was told. ''One, i don't know what you're rambling about and two…don't call me mr. Heeler'' a very familiar voice said in amusement.
MacKenzie froze where he stood. The dog folded the newspaper and placed it on the table in front of him.
''I'm not blue. i'm handsome and more important; i can grill. That's the difference between us. And further more..what in dogsname where you talking about?'' MacKenzie's dad said and smiled at him.
In front of him, in the kitchen at their dinner table sat MacKenzie's dad himself. Not dead, but alive and well. MacKenzie remained frozen in place. His body began to shake.
'…d…ddd…dd..dddad? Is that really you?'' he asked with a trembling voice.
''Well…yes? As far as i know, i'm your dad. That makes you my son!'' he laughed.
''Where is Bluey's dad?''
MacKenzie's dad looked confused. ''Bandit? Well i suppose he is home. I think. Why?'' MacKenzie sprinted to his father, jumped on his lap and held him tightly.
''OOF!'' MacKenzie's dad groaned. ''Carefull. My back!''
MacKenzie started crying while holding on to his dad. His dad hugged him back and patted him on the head. ''Mackie, what is going on? What happend?'' he asked him concerned. Before MacKenzie could answer, someone else walked in the kitchen.
''My goodness! What is going on here?'' MacKenzie's mum said.
''MUM!'' MacKenzie yelled, his voice filled with joy and relief. His mum rushed towards him and gave him a kiss and huged him to.
''My boy. What is the matter?''
MacKenzie sobbed. ''I thought… i thought..i lost you both!''.
His parents looked at each other. ''Did you have a nightmare dear?. We are both still here'' his mum said lovingly. ''Yup. You found us'' his dad said.
MacKenzie nodded. ''I think so. I dreamed that we had a car crash after visiting the botanic gardens''.
His dad looked concerned and his mum wiped away the tears from her son's face. ''That's horrible dear'' his mum said.
''You don't need to worry. There was no crash. You fell asleep and didn't wake up. When we arrived back home i picked you up out of the car and i laid you in your bed'' his dad explained.
MacKenzie continued sobbing softly; ''I..i..i woke up in a hospital and..and.. Calypso was there and she…she..took care of me..also Bluey's dad was here in our house…he..he told me you d..dd..dddied. And aunt Mable was called and cr…crriied a lot. I had a brok..e..broken arm…and a ccc..cc..ut in my ear… But the worst part was that…I THOUGHT I LOST YOU AND DAD'' he stumbled over his words.
His mum grabbed him and held him tightly against her. She stroke his back. ''Ssshh honey. You don't need to be frightened anymore. It was all just a bad dream. We are here and nothing happend. We are here and still a happy family''.
''Well i understand the dream'' MacKenzie's dad said with a little smirk on his face to his wife. ''I also would imagine every scenario to dream about his teacher''. He said it as a joke to his wive.
She smirked back at him. ''I know dear. I would do the same to dream about Bandit''. This resulted in his smirk fading away quickly. ''Fair enough'' he said.
MacKenzie's mum gave her son a peck on his cheeck. ''Now, now. Feeling a bit better?'' MacKenzie nodded yes at her. She gave him a smile back.
''Just sit at the table dear. I will continue making breakfast. It's Monday so you have to go to school''.
MacKenzie let her go and took place on a chair next to his dad. ''That's right. It's daddy dropoff today. After breakfast, it's climbing in the Jimny and to school. For me work. Looking forward?''.
''Yes. I am dad!'' MacKenzie said happily, wagging his tail and t thinking back to the fun weekend he had. He forgot the bad dream instantly. ''I m going to tell everyone about our day at the beach and what we saw in the botanic gardens. And..and how much fun it was!''
His father laughed. ''Hahaha i'm glad to see that you're still enthusiastic about our trip yesterday.'' he petted him on the head. ''Sorry about your nightmare mate.''
''That's alright dad. I'm just glad it's all over'' MacKenzie said.
His dad smiled and then took his newspaper. He opened it and began to read it again. ''Would you like sausages or bacon for breakfast MacKenzie?'' his mum asked him. She was standing behind the stove.
''Bacon please mum'' he said.
MacKenzie sat on his chair. He watched his mum cooking. His tail was wagging fiercely and he was smiling from ear to ear. He was swinging his legs and tumbling his thumbs. He felt terrific, happy, relieved, everything you could describe a happy person with. It was all a very, very bad dream. And he hated it. He tried not to think about it anymore. But how horrific it all was. How bad and detailed the dream felt sometimes. It sent a shiver down his spine when he thought of it.
He remembered the crash. His mum jumping on to him to protect him. His dad getting impaled. Him waking up in a hospital by a strange nurse named Mandy. Then for some reason his teacher and the father of his best friend taking care of him. Him crying like a baby in the lap of his best friend's mum. He felt ashamed. It was all a bit weird and akward when he thought about it.
Could he face Bluey today at school? he thought. What if she found out that he dreamed about her parents like that. She would think he was weird. Maybe she would never wanted to see him again. And how would she react if he told her he was dreaming about her aswell? He and her going to the creek. That she took him in his old pull-cart to the creek? She would laugh at him, wouldn't she? Best thing was not to tell anyone about his dream he decieded.
His thoughts were interrupted when his mum put a full plate of bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, a tomato, carrots and some yoghurt in front of him. She also gave him a glass of milk.
''Here hun. Eat something. It will distract your mind''.
''Thanks mum'' he said as he started eating. MacKenzie was happily eating and looking forward to this new day. He almost had finished his plate when he suddenly heard his dad starting to growl a little. ''Ugghh'' he complained.
''Your back hurting again dear?'' MacKenzie's mum asked.
''Yup. Spine is hurting like a bi..like a lot'' he quickly said.
''Why is that dad?'' MacKenzie asked his dad who was still reading his newspaper. It was a big newspaper. It covered his dad totally. Therefore MacKenzie could only see his paws holding the newspaper on either side.
''I don't know son. I think i just slept wrong last night. My spine hurst just really badly for some reason''. He answered.
''That's no good'' MacKenzie said with pitty.
''Yup. Feels like my spine is broken in two. Like a metal pipe flew through it or something like that.'' he heard his dad saying.
MacKenzie froze and stared at his dad. ''Wha…what did you say dad?" he asked carefully.
''I said…. that it feels like a steel pipe flew through me chest. It hurts'' his dad said in a creepy, soft spoken monotone voice.
MacKenzie felt a bit unease and started to shuffle on his chair. ''Why..why would you say it like that dad?''
''Well. That's how i died in your dream right?''.
MacKenzie looked around. The room had became a bit darker. The sun outside was gone. He was wondering what his dad meant with saying that. He told his parents just a moment ago about his dream, but he did not told the details. His father died in his dream when a steel pipe flew through him. But he did not told him that. So how did his dad knew about this.
''Dad. I dreamt that. How did you know?''
''Oh we know all about your dream.'' he heard his mother saying. She was still cooking so her back was turned to the table. ''For example, I know that you apparently like to cry in other mothers' laps''. She said it in the same creepy, soft spoken monotone voice that his dad used.
Suddenly the room became even more darker, like it was already nighttime. The nice and cheerful atmosphere in the room suddenly disappeared completely and was replaced by an icy silence and chilly environment.
MacKenzie grabbed his glass of milk and twirl it around in his hand.
''Alright. It's time to go. You have to go to school'' his dad said all of the sudden. MacKenzie sipped down his glass of milk and watched his father standing up, still holding the newspaper in front of him.
''If we go now then….'' Said MacKenzie's dad while slowly lowering the newspaper and laying it on the table. MacKenzie looked at the table and then back up to his father. When he saw his father as the newspaper was folded he stopped drinking from his glass.
MacKenzie's eyes widened and he spat out his milk. He turned pale instantly as his mouth sprung open and his eyes widened with schok.
From behind the newspaper did not appear his dad. In front of him, standing at the dinner table, staring right at him was the skeleton of a dog. It's ribcage had a big hole in it as it was missing some ribs.
''then maybe'' it continued speaking in his dad's voice, ''we won't die on the road!'' It then burst out in a eerie sounding, loud laughter.
MacKenzie screamed from fear as loud as his lungs allowed him to do so.
''Come on. You're a dog. I thought you loved bones!'' the skeleton laughed at him.
''AAAAAAAHHHHHH!'' MacKenzie kept screaming as he stood up and tried running away. He turned to see where his mum was. But she was nowhere to be seen.
''MUM! MUM! Where are you?'' he desperately yelled.
Suddenly from right above him from the ceiling, a icy very dark voice said: ''I'm here sweetheart''.
MacKenzie slowly looked up. Hanging on the ceiling was the decaying and leaking corpse of his mum. The decayed face with no eyes grinned from ear to ear at him, and then fell down on him. MacKenzie screamed in horror as the corpse felt on top of him. He crawled from underneath it but a hand grabbed his ankle.
MacKenzie struggled to get free. But the rotting corpse was holding him firm and laughed hysterically. When he managed to get free he run to the front door, outside the house. There he saw his dad's car. He was schoked about the state of it.
It had broken windows, leak tires, covered in dents and worse of all; it had dark red spots all over it. MacKenzie smelled it was blood. Blood was dripping from the car and it trickled towards him. He run past the car to avoid it but stopped when he looked closer. The biggest dent in the car was surrounded by the biggest spatter of blood. It was shaped in the form of a dog. Not a big dog, but a dog similar to his height. It almost looked like the shape of a heeler dog. When he looked closer he saw indeed what he feared; Light and dark blue hairs sticking to the blood. ''nooo… not her'' MacKenzie sobbed.
''You didn't want to die with us, so we had to find someone else to take on our trip to the afterlife'' the skeleton suddenly said, still laughing.
MacKenzie turned around and saw the skeleton standing behind him. ''GO AWAY! You are not my dad! Where is he! He was just here'' he demanded.
The corpse of his mum crawled out the car through one of the broken windows and placed her rotting hand on his mouth preventing him from saying more. MacKenzie could feel and taste rotting flesh and wanted to barf.
The skeleton grabbed a steel pipe from the ground and pressed it against MacKenzie's chest. ''But she is boring'' the skeleton continued saying in a creepy, dark sounding voice. His dad's voice was now completly gone. ''We want you back kiddo. Are you ready to die aswell? Don't you want to come with us?''.
''Yeah. Otherwise you might think we abandoned you! Like you always think you big wimp,'' the corpse said in a sinister way. She also didn't sound like his mum at all anymore.
MacKenzie wanted to scream no and desperatly struggled to get free, but the rotting corpse was holding him firm. He couldn't move. He saw how the skeleton lifted the steel pipe up in the air. It then stabbed the pipe at MacKenzie. The last thing he saw was the pipe going through the extra fluff of hair on his chest, through his chest and his black fur turning dark red. Everything then became fuzzy and dark.
MacKenzie screamed in horror as he sat right up in his bed.
It was dark in his room. It was the middle of the night. The fur around his eyes were moist of the tears just like his pillow. He was screaming on top of his lungs. His voice was on the verge of giving up.
''AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! MUM! DAD! WHERE ARE YOU?! WHAT HAPPEND! I'M BEING ATTACKED. AAAAAAHHHHHH I NEED YOU!''. His screams sounded desperate and were filled with anger and confusion.
Then the door of his bedroom flew open with a loud bang against the wall. In the door opening stood Bandit panting and looking worried and shocked. Bandit was awoken by the screams and had rushed towards MacKenzie's bedroom.
He rushed towards MacKenzie and grabbed him by the shoulders. ''MacKenzie! Calm down, calm down. Everything is alright. Did you have a nightmare? I'm here, no worries'' he said desperately.
MacKenzie stopped screaming and looked at him with a face filled of fear.
''NOO! It can't be true!'' he yelled. He pointed at Bandit. ''Ýou…you can't be here. That was a dream. My dad is in this house somewhere!''.
He tried to stand up, causing him to fall out of bed on the ground, right on his broken arm. He yelled in pain. Bandit wanted to pick him up and help him, but MacKenzie already stood up and stormed out of the bedroom. He then kicked the door open from his parents bedroom finding it empty. ''WHERE ARE THEY?!'' he yelled. He then run to the living room, bumping into Bandit in the hallway causing Bandit to fall on the ground. But MacKenzie didn't noticed that. He checked every corner of the living room.
''THEY WERE HERE! IT WAS ALL A DREAM ABOUT THAT ACCIDENT. THEY ARE ALIVE. I SAW THEM!''
He sprinted to the kitchen. There he stood still and starred at his fathers chair. The same chair his father always sat at when eating at the dinner table. The same chair where he sat in that dream. It was empty.
Then he froze. Something in him clicked and the realisation of him waking up in the night, seeing Bandit and his parents nowhere to be found in the house and that empty chair. It hit him like a brick. The dream he just had wasn't just a nightmare. Because it didn't start as a nightmare. It was a realisation he had. The realisation that he would never see his parents again. That having breakfast and sitting at the dinner table would never happen again. His own mind inside his own head had tricked him by showing him something that should have been. It betrayed him. He betrayed himself.
He clenched his fists as the tears started running from his eyes again. No, that was not it, he thought. He didn't betray himself. His parents did! How many times had they promised to be there for him and not to leave him alone. And now they had done that.
Bandit meanwhile walked in the kitchen. Before he could react, MacKenzie snapped. He looked at the chair again. It was still empty and he knew it would be empty forever. It was like the chair was mocking him. He let out a scream of despair and frustration and grabbed that chair were his father and the skeleton had seated on. He lifted it up and smashed it on the ground twice. The chair broke and splinters flew around. Bandit had to cover his face for protection.
Then MacKenzie walked towards the kitchen cabinet, took the pile of breakfast plates and threw them on the ground aswell. They were his mother's and she was very fond of them. Now they laid shattered on the ground. While he was at it, some mugs and glasses kissed the tile floor as well. A digital clock was thrown against the wall and the stove received a kick in the guts. Then MacKenzie grabbed a pan and aimed it at the kitchen window, but now Bandit, who was frozen from shock but now regained his conscious, quickly grabbed his arm preventing him from doing that.
MacKenzie struggled to get free but Bandit was stronger. They fell on the ground struggling and rolling on the floor. Bandit hold on tight to MacKenzie and tried to keep MacKenzie calm and stopping him from breaking more things and hurting himself. But he was fighting with a border-collie and that meant that even a big guy like Bandit struggled hard to keep him down. Even though MacKenzie was just a child.
After a while Bandit got tired. The Border-Collie ofcourse did not. MacKenzie therefore managed to free his arm from Bandit's grip and managed to throw the pan that he was still holding anyway. But instead of the window, it flew acros the room and hit a framed picture on the wall in the living room. The glass shattered and fell to the ground in pieces. The frame was broken and still hanging pathetically from the nail on the wall. The photo slowly fluttered down and then fell silently to the ground. MacKenzie and Bandit turned around to see the damage. MacKenzie's anger disappeared instantly when he saw which frame he managed to hit and destroy. He looked at the photo on the ground between thousands of splinters of glass. It was his parents wedding picture.
He managed to get himself free from Bandit and sprinted towards the picture. He was walking over the glass splinters but he didn't care. He grabbed the picture and stared at it. He huged the picture, felt on his knees and started to cry loud and uncontrollable.
Bandit carefully grabbed him up and placed him on the cough. There he tried to comfort the pup. MacKenzie hugged Bandit and cried. Bandit tried to calm him down as they both sat togehter on the couch. Bandit was still recovering from what had just happened and was trying to keep his own emotions and thoughts in check.
''They where here…i swear it. I saw them'' MacKenzie cried. ''Dad was on his chair…mmm..mmm..uuumm was making brea…k..fast''.
He grabbed Bandit's fur and pulled at it a bit causing Bandit to yelp in pain. ''There was no car accident! I was asleep. Please tell me this is the dream and that they are back here when i wake up!'' he desperately cried.
Bandit looked with pitty. ''I..i am sorry kid'' he said. ''But then i would be lying. It was a dream and i'm afraid that you are awake right now''. He said it gentle and comforting but decided not to beat around the bush and tell the truth straight away. MacKenzie screamed in pain. ''Whyyy?''.
Bandit comforted him and after a while MacKenzie dried his tears and looked down. ''I understand, i think. It was a dream. My brain tricked itself. Why would i do that to me?''.
''Our brains are funny things. They let you dream about things you want, miss, are scared of or random messes. Nothing we can do about it. Not even your brain. So don't blame yourself for it.'' Bandit explained.
MacKenzie looked around. ''Sorry about the mess''.
'That's ok. We will clean it up tomorrow. Sooner or later it had to happen'' Bandit said. ''I was impresed about the fact you held in your frustrations and anger for that long untill tonight.''
''Huh… what do you mean?'' asked MacKenzie.
''Everbody goes through some stages of grief when they loose loved ones. There are five. You already went throught three. Two to go.''
''What are those then?'' wondered MacKenzie.
''You just went through anger. You were, still are a bit depresed. And deniel. That was your first stage.''
''What are the other two?''
''I'm not going to tell you. You have to go through them emotionally and by yourself. Just let it happen''. Bandit said.
MacKenzie was calmed down and thought about it. He looked back at Bandit. ''I'm really sorry again if i hurt you and about the mess.''
Bandit shrugged his shoulders ''Eh. That was nothing. I grew up with two brothers so i'm used to a bit of sturggling and fighting. At least you didn't hit me with your fists like Stripe always did. And don't worry about the mess. We can clean it up. Besides. It's your house anyway.''.
''What do you mean?''
''Well, according to your parents' will, you inherited it. ''
MacKenzie looked around. ''But i can't pay it. I..i don't think i even want it,'' he said.
''We'll figure that problem out to. No problem'' said Bandit.
''And there is another thing'' continued MacKenzie.
''What is that?'' asked Bandit.
''Tomorrow i want to stay at your place. I…i don't feel like being here for a while'' MacKenzie explained.
Bandit understood and promised him that tomorrow they would sleep in his house. After that MacKenzie told his dream to Bandit and Bandit explained again that it was just a nigthmare. MacKenzie soon after fell asleep on the couch. Bandit grabbed a pillow and blanket and threw it over him and then went back to sleep himself on his mattress. MacKenzie had no dreams the rest of that night.