Chapter 1: How To Disappear Completely
It was a beautiful night in the City of Brisbane, Australia. There was not a cloud in the sky as the full moon shined its light on the building below. Most dogs were either asleep in their homes, or out enjoying the nightlife. Outside of the city, was a Cul-de-sac, and on the top of the hill at the end of the road was a house where two 16-year-old dogs were out in the backyard, lying together in the grass and looking at the stars above them. One was a red Heeler, with orange fur, dark orange spots around her eyes, a large dark orange spot on her back and tail, and cream-colored fur at the end of her paws, tail, and stomach, which also had a slightly yellow spot inside it. And the other was an all-white Maltese with fluffy fur, and long droopy ears with a bit of gray at the ends.
"The stars look lovely tonight, Bingo." The Maltese said to the dog next to her.
"They do, but not as lovely as you Lila." She replied as the two dogs held hands.
Lila turned her head to Bingo and smiled. She scooted closer to her girlfriend and rested her head on her shoulder to continue to enjoy the night sky in Bingo's embrace. They both watched the stars shine and shimmer until they both saw a shooting star, slowly making its way across the sky.
"Bingo look! A shooting star! Make a wish!" Lila said pointing up at the star.
"What? Lila, we aren't 5 anymore."
"Come on, please?" She begged.
"Fineee." The two dogs shut their eyes briefly and made a wish with the shooting star.
"What did you wish for Bingo?"
"You know I can't tell you, otherwise it won't come true."
"Well, I'll you mine. I wished to spend my whole life with you." Lila smiled wide.
"Oh, you Goob, that's what I wished for you." Bingo replied and booped Lila on her nose and then kissed it."
They both shared a laugh and held each other, until Bingo noticed something.
"Um, hey Lila? Is it just me or is that star getting closer?"
The Maltese looked up at the star and Bingo was right. It definitely was getting bigger.
"Yeah, you're right! I think it might be a meteor!"
They both stood up from the grass and held hands as the meteor passed over them and landed somewhere outside the city, they swore they felt the ground shake when it hit the Earth.
"Wow, I can't believe we got to see that! And did you feel the ground shake?"
"I know and yeah, I did! Let's go inside and see if Bluey or my parents got woken up by it."
Bingo led Lila inside the house to check if her family was awake. She quietly opened the door to her parents' room and peeked inside to see them both sound asleep. She then went to go look into her older sister's room but didn't need to, as she heard her snoring from the other side of the door. Bingo walked into the living room where Lila was on the couch, scrolling through Pawstagram on her phone.
"Hey Bingo, I take it they didn't hear it?" Lila said, changing her focus to her girlfriend.
"Yep, all of them are still asleep like nothing happened. I wish I was a heavy sleeper like they are." Bingo chuckled.
Bingo joined Lila on the couch and they both turned on the TV with the volume low to not wake the other Heelers in the house and put on a movie.
But what they didn't know that what they saw wasn't a shooting star or a meteor, it was my ship.
I tried to regain control of my ship, but it was too badly damaged, I did manage to luckily avoid any building as I came crashing down, tearing up the dirt and grass as I made impact. When I finally stopped moving, I stood up and almost fell over several times as I tried to find my balance. I did manage to eventually and I punched out the front window that was already severely cracked and climbed out, only to trip and tumble down onto the ground with a thud. I coughed hard and checked to make sure what I kept held in my hand was safe. It was a small ball with a screen and three rings.
"Come on Amy, come back to me. You can't be gone." my voice broke as I tried to hold back my tears.
I looked at the city I flew over and tried to find out what kind of life lived here but the scanner inside my helmet got busted when I crashed. In fact, all of my armor was damaged badly. My chest armor that had a design of a wolf head on it was faded, my cape that was already torn for design purposes was half missing and everything had scratches on it. At least I still had my gun and sword, which were both also damaged in the crash.
I sighed and decided to just walk to the city to find out more about where I was, but before I did, I took a panel that somehow didn't get damaged in the crash and revealed some buttons. I started putting in a sequence and prayed that it still worked. When I pushed the last button, my whole ship turned invisible, leaving only unearthed dirt and grass.
"I hope whatever lives here doesn't find my ship until I get out of here… Somehow."
I saw a road nearby that looked like it went into the city, so I walked along and hoped that I didn't find any trouble here, I am certainly not equipped for it. After a long and tiring walk, I made my way into the city and looked up at the tall skyscraper I almost flew right into. I walked along the sidewalk, thinking about what species lived here until I got my answer. A bit off into the distance, I saw two figures that seemed to be talking to each other. I got closer but not too close to disturb them to get a better look at them.
They were covered in fur and had tails. They kinda looked like dogs but had weird rectangular bodies and walked upright. I debated if I should go up to them and ask about this world and city, but I didn't know if they were friendly. however, it looked like they were unarmed so I approached them.
"Excuse me, I'm a little lost. Can you tell me where I am?"
The two dogs looked around to see who was speaking to them, but quickly got scared when they saw me and ran away.
"Well, that was something."
I shook off that weird encounter and continued walking around, until I found an alleyway with a trash can near the back of it, I rummaged through it for anything that could tell me about where I was.
"Geez, I'm kinda glad you can't see what I'm doing right now Amy, 387 years old and I'm digging through trash."
After moving a couple of empty wrappers and bottles, I found a newspaper and looked around on it for anything useful.
"What." I said to myself in shock as I read the title of a news article. It said the year was September 4th, 2026.
"I traveled to a different dimension with dogs replacing humans and I also traveled backwards in time? I can't wait to tell…" I spoke but I stopped when I had trouble remembering my best friend. Who was he? I can't remember. I was too tired and exhausted to think of it anymore and I just ended up falling asleep in the alley, not ideal but I had no other choice.
(The next day)
I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and more of the dog creatures talking. I peered out the side of the trashcan to take in my surroundings better under the light of day. There were a lot more of them now and they also were driving cars? A red car pulled up near me and I tucked myself farther to not get spotted.
"Dad come on! I want to get the new Linkin Bark album!"
"Calm down Bingo, it's not going anywhere."
I swear I knew that name and voice but couldn't put my tongue on it. Unfortunately, the pain from not knowing just grew again shortly after.
"Hey Bandit!"
"Hey there Pat, how's it going mate?"
Now I know I heard that name and voice before, I had to get to the bottom of this. I waited until the dogs left to put my plan into action. I flipped up a piece of my armor on my forearm and pushed a button. In an instant, my body was invisible, and I could enter the sidewalk without being spotted, just as long as I don't bump into anything or anyone. I carefully approached the back of the car and unlocked the trunk using an attachment in my armor, got inside and shut myself in. If these dogs are able to build a city and drive cars, then they should live somewhere, maybe I'll find out more about this world and regain my memory. After what felt like hours, the two dogs returned to the car and started driving. I must've fell asleep because I woke up to the sound of doors being shut and saw we were in a different place with less tall buildings and houses. I waited until there were no other dogs around and got out of the trunk and walked around the house and into the backyard. The grass was freshly cut and there was a shed near a small fishpond. I decided to hide out by the shed until night. As I waited, I held Amy in my hands.
"Come on Amy, please wake up. I know you aren't dead; I can still feel you connected to me. Maybe this has to do with us being cut off from the Traveler."
I pondered it for some time until it was time. Under the moonlight, I left the shed and jumped onto the second floor. I sneaked around the house and looked inside some rooms on the floor. I saw two empty bedrooms and another I was about to enter until I heard snoring, so I decided against going in that one. I made it to the last room and opened the door, stepping inside I saw a green yoga ball sitting next to a desk with a laptop on top, along with dinosaur fossils, and a display shelf filled with more fossils. I went to the desk and picked up a plaque and read it.
"Of course, now I remember…"
"Bandit Heeler"
"Master's Degree in Archaeology"
"19XX"
"Maybe this Bandit can help me get home."
I looked at some of the other things kept on the desk. The was a picture of a blue dog surrounded by other dogs posing near the dug-up remains of a dinosaur and another of the same dog but with three others which I assumed were his family.
"What the hell…"
I heard a male voice next to me by the door. They must've seen the light was on and I was too preoccupied to hear them enter the room. I looked over and saw the blue dog from the pictures, he had blue fur with yellow on his stomach and muzzle, and black fur on his head that resembled a mask. I saw a mix of anger, fear, and confusion on his face.
"Who, or what are you? And what are you doing in our house?" He said with a serious tone.
"Um, don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm sorry for breaking in but I came here looking for answers."
"What do you mean?" His face and tone remained unchanged.
"I'm not from your world, my ship crash landed here last night just outside of your city."
still his expressions remained stoic, but he let out a sigh. "You stay put. Don't touch anything." He said coldly. I simply nodded in agreement, and he walked out.
Bandit walked into his bedroom where his wife was still sleeping in bed.
"Chilli, wake up." he said while gently nudging her shoulder.
The female dog groggily rubbed her eyes and looked at her husband. "Bandit? What time is it?"
"It's 1 in the morning. But someone is in our house."
"What?! Have you called the police?" Chilli screamed, being more awake now.
"Well, um, no."
Chilli reached for her phone to dial 000 but Bandit stopped her.
"Don't call them yet. Just come with me."
Chilli looked at him confused and skeptical, thinking this was a really bad joke, but still got out of bed. She and Bandit walked to the office. When they entered me and Chilli locked eyes, and her mouth hung open as she grabbed onto Bandit's arm.
"Who- What are you?" She said with slight fear in her voice.
"I'm a human, where I come from, we are basically like apes but without the fur and tails."
"So, you're an alien?"
"I guess, if that's what you want to call me. But I have a name, It's Shaun. Shaun Havoc."
"Well Shaun, it was supposed it was nice to meet you. But I think it's time for you to leave." Bandit said walking up to me.
"No wait! I have nowhere to go. My ship got completely trashed. And if your world is anything like mine used to be, I'll probably be taken away and dissected. I won't be able to come back this time."
Chilli and Bandit looked at each other confused by my wording and stepped outside the room.
"Maybe we could let him stay." Bandit suggested.
"What? You can't be serious. We don't know anything about him, he might try to hurt us or our girls. I know you saw that gun he had."
"I understand Chilli but he didn't sound too dangerous, I think he's just lost. And besides, how do you think we would feel if the roles were reversed?"
Chilli thought for a moment. "I suppose you're right, but we can't just keep an alien in our house."
"I know, but it isn't going to be forever. He said he came here from his ship. It'll just be until he gets that fixed."
Chilli let out a sigh, knowing she won't be able to change her husband's mind. "What are the girls going to think?" She said rubbing her in between her eyes.
"I bet Bingo is going to think he's cool. She always liked that spacey stuff." Bandit chuckled.
Chilli rolled her eyes before she walked back into the room with Bandit where I was rocking back and forth on my feet. Bandit approached me.
"Okay mate, listen up. We decided you can stay here with us until you get your ship problems taken care of."
"Thank you so much you two."
"But we'll be keeping a close eye on you. Any funny business and you be in a heap of trouble, then kicked out, got it?"
"Yes Bandit, I understand."
"Hey, how do you know my name?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Oh, yesterday I slept in an alley, and I heard someone say your name, I think you said it was Pat?"
"So that's what that smell is, you should probably take a shower." Chilli said trying to be nice.
"You can take one tomorrow, it's pretty late." said Bandit. "We don't have a spare room, but you can sleep on the couch, it's pretty comfy, just go left and down the stairs.
I nodded. "Thank you, Bandit, and…"
"It's Chilli Heeler."
"Thank you, Chilli."
I walked out of the room and closed the door. I headed downstairs and placed Amy on a small table nearby before laying down on my back, resting my head on the armrest of the couch.
Back inside the study, Bandit and Chilli looked at each other.
"Well, this isn't how I was expecting my night to go." Bandit said stretching his back.
"Me either, do you think we are doing the right thing?" asked Chilli.
"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out. I just hope him being here doesn't cause any trouble."
"Well, that's bound to happen now." Chill said with a yawn.
"We should get to bed; we have a lot to explain and find out tomorrow."
Chilli walked out first and then Bandit, who turned off the light and shut the door, before they both went back to their bedroom.
