The open garage door let the light and breeze of the first hours of afternoon came in. He looked out at the trees adorning the street, their leaves dancing with every gust of wind, anyone would have felt at peace and relaxed at the sight, but not him.

Dougie closed his eyes while breathing in deeply.

"...Have we had disabled workers before?" his memory recalled

His brows knitted together. Oh, he hated that word!

A menacing growl escaped from his mouth as his left fist hit with purpose.

Jab to the right- and he swiftly moved away to avoid the backlash - duck.

"I'm pretty capable, probably more than you!", his mind exclaimed.

Jab to the left - duck

Repeat.

"Oh, I thought you could lip read 100%!"

Another punch, with even more strength.

"You can write! - the dog said- that's good cause I'm not learning that thing with the hands-"

Faster.

Repeat

"That cannot be your resume, it's impossible you are studying a bachelor!"

Anger made his nostrils flare

Faster.

"Pffft! So dumb!"

It was so good to feel the punch of his fist on the punching-ball!

With more strength- Oh! Duck!

Sweat.

Anger

Hit- Releasing nervous energy.

Getting all his anger and directing it to his fits, hitting it away with every punch on the ball.

Meditation didn't work that morning.

Sometimes it didn't, that's why his parents had shown him boxing while in his teens, so he could focus his anger. It had been a good strategy, plus it was hella fun…usually bigger blokes didn't expect a sharp hook on the chin from a Cavapoo.

He stopped, breathing in deeply, while wiping the sweat from his curly brow and looking around at his mother's garage, trying to check if he had truly released his anger, while counting every inhalation.

Suddenly the shadow of a silhouette appeared in the back wall.

His tail began wagging, he could guess the owner of that shadow everytime, everywhere.

She was there, smiling at him without saying anything.

"[I didn't know you liked boxing!]" she greeted him after a second.

He smiled while taking off his boxing gloves. [I love it… What brings you here, Bingo?]

She tried to blink away the image of Dougie's feral smile and his precise, strong movements the moment she went near the garage, but it didn't work the first time.

"He looked like a very dangerous dog, yeah, that's why my heart rate increased, of course", her mind observed.

She blinked for a second time. Done, now she could talk to her friend as she had always had.

[I - I just was on my way to get a gift for my dad, his birthday is approaching and there's a place selling old vinyls near you, so I - just popped by]

He smiled, feeling as the heat of anger had slowly released him and was being replaced by …warmth… by Bingo's presence and her shining reddish fur… and a sudden awareness of his own contrasting matted, sweaty curls…

She advanced as if to touch his arm and he stepped back with an awkward smile.

[ Wait, I'm all sweaty!] he chuckled.

She raised her brows as if surprised by his reaction. "[Yes you are…you were boxing]"

[But…I probably stink…] he added, self consciousness making his fingers tremble just a bit.

Bingo chortled. [ I have no problem with stink!, she said, her eyes shining bright with childlike mischievousness.

He laughed hard but silently, before playfully making a disgusted face. [But I do!] he exclaimed [...Just…wait while I get a shower, my mum is inside, the cavapoo instructed before he left the garage in a hurry.

The sun was shining brightly as they started walking down Dougie's street, surrounded by the gentle shadow of the trees.

They were in silence, just enjoying their mutual company as many times before, until the cavapoo answered the question that was hiding behind Bingo's placid smile.

[I was angry before, he said.

[Oh, I noticed… it's fine… we all get angry from time to time!]

[ I have never seen you angry… I would love to!]

[Oh believe me, you don't want to!] she exclaimed [I got sulky when I'm angry]

[How so?]

[Well, first I pout and refuse to talk, then I cry and then I give you a piece of my mind….and sometimes I take ages to go back to normal]

He looked surprised. one of his ears went up as he smiled. [Any way, you seem not to be too easy to upset]

[Yeah, I think I haven't gotten really angry since ... .high school, she said knitting her brows.

[Was it that bad?]

She chuckled. [Me and the other girl ended up at the principal's office]

[You what???!!!] He chuckled.

Her brows rose up "Hey! [She was bullying Lila!]"

His mouth formed an understanding "oh" and he smiled cheekily. [Well, then that girl deserved it!].

She smiled widely [Well…. Most of the times people just it's annoying without intending to be so, or just because ignorance, prejudices and so on so….yeah I pretty much just ask nicely before getting angry]

[I guess you didn't ask nicely back then, he chuckled.

[No, I didn't].

They both laughed. [I love Bingo lore] he said, signing in a gentle way [I won't mind getting it the whole day].

The heeler smiled while looking at the ground.

He sighed [Well, it's difficult for me to feel that way, I have a tendency to mistrust, or to feel people push my buttons on purpose…] Dougie smiled before looking at her in the eyes [...That's why I feel so good with you, I feel…I know I can trust you, Bingo]

She gulped as a grin adorned her face. [You won't ever need to feel vigilant around me, Doug. I'll be here whenever you need to… just to be me, and for you just to be you…]

He stopped in his tracks, as a huge smile brightened his face. That was Bingo in a nutshell, kind and warm, ready to listen and ready to action…. She was a true jewel.

She smiled back.

He couldn't explain why his friend's smile made him feel goosebumps in his nape… yeah, it was the breeze, a sudden gust of cold wind, that was it, that explained it.

He sighed and went to a bus stop, Bingo followed.

[Have you ever been to a place where no one speaks English?, he queried after sitting down.

[I don't think so]

[Well, everyday I'm in a place where no one speaks my language…a place where most of the time, people refuse to learn it or even reach out to me, he sighed silently, as his brows knitted with frustration.

[It's impossible to get it all with lip reading, so I always miss huge chunks of speech, plus, how can I communicate my thoughts? It's a good thing that I can write them down or use a reading aloud app ... .but that's not my language…] He added.

[AUSLAN is part of what I am…. Only through it I can communicate in a true deep way…even if I'm a fluent writer].

Bingo looked at him intently, a focused expression on her sweet face. Dougie noticed that there was no pity in her eyes, but a sense of true connection, of companionship and… yeah, a bit of anger as well, hidden back in her stare as a menacing fire directed to the injustice of it all…

She rested her paw in his for a second, so gently…

[...And people are afraid and cruel towards what they don't understand] she said, her fingers weaving the words with care. [...also, we don't connect with those who are foreign or strange to us… they are "the others", the weird, the not understandable… we isolate, we exclude…] she sighed and covered his paw with hers again, giving it a gentle squeeze.

The cavapoo felt her words in his heart and gulped a lump that had formed in his throat. She understood.

"It's hard to love yourself when no one besides your family seems to love you", he reflected... .It had been a long and difficult road for Dougie to accept himself and his own feelings and to get to the place of openness and kindness where he was now…

"Yes, she gets it all…", he thought.

Bingos paw felt very little and warm in his.

Dougie smiled at his new friend, as his tail wagged. He looked around at his kindy pals as they were taking turns in the slide, some of them waved at him as they went by.

Bingo didn't need to learn AUSLAN to understand him, he didn't need to hear to understand her.

Both pups ran paw in paw to the trampoline as if it was the last day of their lives.

Bingo's paw still felt little and warm into his, after more then 15 years…and still they didn't need to speak to understand each other….

He sighed as the fussy feeling of his childhood memory nested in his heart.

A wistful smile lit up his face. [Little children don't know about language barrier, they communicate through play and adventure, they are open and do not discriminate until adults taught them to do so... ] He chuckled silently. [So when they begun to do it, my parents took me to the Deaf and hard of hearing school]

Bingo transferred her paw to his knee, refusing to lose physical contact with him, her eyes fixed into his eyes and his paws, attentive to every turn of his fingers, so she didn't miss out on anything he wanted to say.

[The Deaf community in Sydney has been one of the best things ever to happen to me, I'm still in contact with them and the friends I made there, yet, I went into a "normal" highschool, cause I wanted to toughen up before University, and gosh I did!]

He remembered it all, the indifference of most of his classmates, the bullies, and even some friendly peers he had met, one or two crushes…. and the teachers, the amazing ones and the awful ones.

He had to gain a place in the classroom, no kid had to, but he was regarded as a piece of furniture so it seems, that until he started to let his frustration show off, and even to silently bullying the bullies and… getting into fights.

In time he found more constructive ways to reclaim the acknowledgement of those who gave him a cold shoulder, and to make a name for himself… and even make some of them learn AUSLAN.

He smiled half heartedly.

[I swear, the world would be a better place if more hearing people knew sign language].

Bingo's eyes shone with recognition. [That's one of the reasons you want to be a teacher doesn't it? and to teach hearing kids]

Dougie chuckled. [You got me! That, and to make a positive difference for the kiddos, I know the importance of teachers first handedly!]

He rested his paws over his knees, and caressed Bingo's paw in the process… her knuckles were so soft! but he took it off so he could continue, a chagrined expression in his features as he remembered the beginning of their conversation.

[I went to a job interview yesterday... the guy thought I had faked my resume…because I'm disabled you know? Of course I can't be a student from QL Uni!] he said, sarcasm oozing from his features.

Bingo, looked aghast

"WHAT!?!" she exclaimed.

Dougie laughed hard, feeling as the weight of yesterday's experience was lifted from his shoulders. He could bet he had read her lips swearing in indignation.

"[Well, I think you are very capable, Douglas Cavapoo!]", she signed with conviction.

He smiled. [You bet! You'd be surprised at the amount of things I'm very capable! , he said with a cocky smile and a light nudge to her arm as he raised one brow.

"Where did that come from!!?? Are you teasing her?", his brain queried back at him, making him grin apologetically.

She smiled back, ignoring the sudden blush that warmed her cheeks.

"Is he teasing you? Cause, to be honest, you are VERY eager to find out all the things he might be very able at…." - "What??!!", her inner self exclaimed, surprised at her own thoughts… and why does this cheeky part of her brain speak with Lila's voice??!

Bingo chuckled at the absurdity of it all and shook her head to sober up.

She sighed, looking at her friend's eyes. [...You are a hero Dougie…] she said.

The cavapoo laughed in silence. [I'm not!]

Bingo rolled her eyes. [Yes you are! But no worries, I like you despite it!]

"Where did that come from!!!???", her inner speech panicked, with her own voice this time.

He smiled and looked at his feet.

She chuckled while getting up and swatted his shoulder in a friendly way. [C'mon the store may get closed if we stay here too much longer]

Dougie Followed her.

[By the way, you are invited to my dad's birthday, Bingo said, and the cavapoo's tail began to wag.