Back to the beginning
A soft but annoying melody plays from Jean-Luc's phone. Lazily, lying face down on the bed, the Labrador opens his eyes and slowly moves his arms around to find his phone.
Finally, Jean-Luc reaches out to the small table next to his bed and finds his phone, giving it a look with his half-open eyes.
"ALARM"
"9:00 AM"
"Ughh," Jean-Luc said in annoyance as he turns off his alarm and drops his phone.
"(If mom were here, I would be already on my way to school…you sloth)," the French-Canadian says to himself in French while still and face down with the white blanket over him.
"Ok, un, deux, TROIS." On the count of 3, Jean-Luc uses his hands to push himself up as if he were doing a push-up and rolls over, exposing part of his body.
Jean-Luc breathed heavily, but the maneuver worked. He was more awake now than before, but something didn't seem right to him. "(Why is there hardly any light in here?)" Jean-Luc thought.
Jean-Luc pulls off the blanket entirely and uses his legs to push himself out of bed in one jump. Already standing, he goes to the window with the blinds down and pulls down the rope to raise the blinds.
When the blinds are all the way up, Jean-Luc squints at the daylight that aggressively enters the room. When his eyes adjusted, he opened them again wholly to see the landscape in front of him.
He could clearly see the highway that passed in front of him, a sea of trees with some palm trees in between, a golf course, and on the horizon was the naval base converted into a museum.
*Two days before arriving in Brisbane*
*Honolulu, Hawaii*
Airport's Hotel
Jean-Luc stared at the landscape and then sighed and said out loud in French,"(This is beautiful, but damn whoever thought that having a stopover in Hawaii would be a good idea)."
The Labrador turns around and sees his hotel room. Between the brown walls, there was only a small television, a white bed that fit two dogs, and a simple bathroom.
"(I better find something for breakfast)" Jean-Luc thinks and walks out of his room, tired.
A badly cramped Jean-Luc walks through the lonely hallways of the hotel while running his hands through his body in a poor attempt to arrange his fur. The Labrador's body and head were still waking up until the smell of breakfast led Jean-Luc to the cafeteria.
Even if it was late for breakfast, there were still a lot of teenage and adult canines lining up to grab scrambled eggs or toast...or both, but Jean-Luc eventually settled on an apple by the salad bar.
With the apple in hand, Jean-Luc walked between the tables and the noise of conversations, looking for a place to eat, but every table was full of teenagers, some of them wearing a cap, scarf, or other item that proudly showed where they were from, Canada, United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile among others. But in the end, Jean-Luc still couldn't find a place to sit.
Jean-Luc stands in the middle of the tables and thinks,"(I'd better go to the pool; there shouldn't be too many dogs there)."
Jean-Luc steps out of the hotel's controlled environment into the Hawaiian warmth of the pool. Under normal circumstances, it is a good-sized pool with plenty of folding plastic chairs, but it is a small pool for the army of students on their way to Asia and Oceania. Jean-Luc was in luck, as there weren't too many canines in the area at the moment.
Jean-Luc picks a random folding chair and leans back to take a bite of the apple with his eyes closed, but a familiar voice to his left interrupts him.
"And here, we can see Jean-Luc eating an apple, proving how much of an asshole he is."
Jean-Luc makes a face of disgust before opening his eyes and looking at where that voice is coming from. It was the Canadian Eskimo Juneau, his old elementary school teacher, who is now 36 years old and has shorter fur.
Seeing who it was, Jean-Luc relaxed. After finishing chewing, he answered in English, "Just because you're the coordinator doesn't mean you have to cut your fur."
Juneau rolls his eyes and sits in the chair next to Jean-Luc. "That's what you think. I feel ten years younger and have short fur."
Jean-Luc snorts and says jokingly, "It's not noticeable; you're still the old teacher I know."
Now Juneau had his eyes half-closed at Jean-Luc's answer. "You spent a lot of time with my little sister, didn't you?"
"Yep, "Jean-Luc answers and then points at Juneau with his apple. "And I don't regret it."
Jean-Luc bites into another slice of his apple as Juneau shakes her head in disappointment and leans back in the folding chair. Already comfortable, she asks, "So, Jean-Luc…what are you planning to do when you get to Brisbane?"
Jean-Luc answers almost immediately, "Sleep? My flight to Brisbane arrives almost at midnight."
"I mean… You know what I mean?" Juneau rephrases the question again.
Jean-Luc takes a second to answer,"... I plan to go to the same place where I met the blue Heeler," And takes another bite of the apple.
Jean-Luc's answer leaves Juneau with a confused face, who looks at every corner of the place in search of meaning to what Jean-Luc says:" Ehhhhh What?"
Jean-Luc finishes chewing, sits on the folding chair, and looks at her. "The blue girl… Camp… When I was a 6-year-old boy."
Juneau looks at him strangely until she puts her fingers in his eyes." Yes, I know what you're talking about… but really?"
"Quoi? (What?)" Jean-Luc reacts confused
"Honey…" Juneau begins to speak, removing his fingers from his eyes and changing his tone of voice to make it seem as if Jean-Luc was his student again." That was 11 years ago… you're clinging to a fairy tale."
"I know," Jean-Luc says, lowering his head a little but raising it and saying," but I have a plan."
Juneau sighs and says," Come on, talk; I'm listening."
"When I met this girl at camp, I planted a tree… j'espère (I hope)," Jean-Luc whispers the last word," so even if she's not there. I can use the tree to contact her."
"Ohh… Why don't you use social media to find her?" Juneau asks bewildered
"Because she's not the only one called "Bluey" on this planet. It's hard to find someone on social media anyway," Jean-Luc answers, narrowing his eyes.
"Ok," Juneau says as she moves her lips and looks awkwardly around until she stands up from her folding chair. "You know what… You do your thing; in my years as an elementary school teacher, I learned that sometimes you need to hit a wall to learn a thing or two."
"Oh… Thanks for the encouraging tip," Jean-Luc says optimistically as he raises his apple like a wine glass.
"It's not to encourage you bête (Fool); you're going to get out of this badly." Juneau starts to walk back inside the hotel but stops and looks at Jean-Luc." I'm going to go to the Pearl Harbor museum later with some guys; I'll save you a spot for anything."
Jean-Luc just thinks for a few seconds before answering "d'accord (Okay)" and then leans back in the chair and continues eating his apple.
*Present*
*Border-collie house*
Jean-Luc opens his eyes without problems and looks for a few seconds at the white ceiling illuminated by the light that manages to filter through the blinds before removing the white blanket from his torso and getting out of bed.
Once up, the Labrador forms a clumsy smile and murmurs, "Hellooooo Brisbane," and then stretches out his arms, takes off the blanket completely, and gets out of bed.
Jean-Luc continues to stretch his arms, legs, and head, then looks for his suitcase and takes out a toothbrush and comb for his fur. Already awake to start the day, Jean-Luc comes out of his room to see in front of him the room of Mackenzie "Mack" Border-collie with the sign "Available" on the door handle. This causes the Labrador to think in French with curiosity:" (If he is available… Can I enter even if he is asleep?)"
That silly question could be answered another day since Jean-Luc just went to the bathroom. He washes his face with cold water, brushes his teeth, and arranges his fur. After a few minutes, Jean-Luc comes out of the bathroom as well as new, but the aroma of breakfast reaches Jean-Luc's nose, so he decides to go down to the kitchen.
As Jean-Luc was going down the stairs, he could hear two adults talking. Fozzie and Mel had already gotten up, and the Labrador managed to hear Fozzie say," Come on, honey, it'll be fun."
Jean-Luc finishes going down the stairs just in time for Mel to say, " I told you, Fozzie, I'll only go if Chilli and Janelle go too."
Jean-Juc approaches the Border Collie couple. Fozzie is sitting at the table with a newspaper in his hands, and Mel is preparing breakfast with a yellow apron on." Bonjour Mel, Bonjour Fozzie."
The two canines look at Jean-Luc, but Mel is the first to respond," Oh, G'day Jan-Luke."
Jean-Luc just thought,"(Someone saves me)" One of these days, he will have to sit with her.
Mel goes back to what she was cooking while Jean-Luc walks up to Fozzie and greets him with his fists before sitting down on one of the wooden chairs. When Jean-Luc sits down, Fozzie asks," Well, we have the whole day free, so what do you want to do today?"
"Like I said yesterday, "Jean-Luc starts talking, "I want to explore Brisbane, but first…I want to visit this place I went to when I was a kid."
"So…where is it?" Mel asked with a frying pan in her hand.
"Uhh, I don't know, but it's on my phone," Jean-Luc says with a finger up, indicating to give him some time.
Jean-Luc quickly gets up from his chair and goes to his room to pick up the phone that he had left on the floor the night before. After a minute, he comes back into the kitchen while he is using his phone.
"It's…" Jean-Luc walks over to Mel to show what was on the phone. "This place"
Mel takes Jean-Luc's phone, but she shakes her head back with a confused grimace. "But…That's 2 hours from here,"
Jean-Luc just stands there and says, "Yes?"
Out of nowhere, Fozzie says, "Well…for some reason, we asked for the day off, right?"
"Yeah…You're right," Mel finally gives in. "Well, an adventure out of town would do us good.
"Hooray!" Jean-Luc celebrates with his arms open, but the sound of footsteps makes Jean-Luc retract them
Suddenly, the sounds came from the stairs until a familiar figure finished going down them.
"Who was the one running through the house?" Says a confused Mackenzie
"Oh…I'm sorry, Mack," says Jean-Luc sadly.
"Its okay, Luke," says Mackenzie, approaching Jean-Luc. "I had to get out of that bed anyway."
"G'day, son. Thank goodness you got up," says Mel, taking off her apron. "Breakfast is ready."
"Hooray," says Mackenzie, smiling and rubbing her hands together excitedly before taking his place at the table with Jean-Luc.
Mel brings the four plates and a jug full of orange juice to the table. Fozzie was sitting with his back to the patio, Jean-Luc was on his right, his son Mackenzie on his left, and Mel was going to sit with his back to the living room. When Mel places Jean-Luc's plate in front of him, the Labrador smiles.
"Really?" says Jean-Luc, seeing his plate. "Pancakes with eggs and bacon?"
"And…"Mel says, taking out a bottle with a maple leaf logo from behind his back. "Maple syrup"
"Ohhhhh, "Jean-Luc leans back in his chair and starts wagging his tail while Mel places the bottle in front of him. "Alice wasn't joking, you guys were prepared."
"I know…" Mel says as she sits down in her chair, "I promised Alice that we're going to take care of you."
"And that's what we'll do, "Fozzie says before putting a piece of pancake in his mouth with his fork.
Mel looks at his son, and Jean-Luc notices it and looks at him too, Mackenzie notices the look between the two and even notices how her mother rolls her eyes at Jean-Luc and then continues looking at him.
Finally, Mackenzie gets the message, "I'll take care of you at school, Luke; you can trust me," and put a piece of scrambled egg into his mouth.
After dealing with Mackenzie, Mel looks at Jean-Luc, places her hand on his shoulder, and says, "Enjoy it, sweetie," before starting to eat.
Jean-Luc excitedly starts eating his breakfast with the Border-Collie family. In the next few minutes, only the sounds of utensils could be heard, but it didn't take long for the family to start talking.
"Hey Mack…"Fozzie begins,"...How did it go with your friends playing video games?
"Oh… it went… Well…" Mackenzie barely managed to say; even Jean-Luc could notice how the question caught him by surprise. "We had our moments."
"Hey, what about you, Jak-Luc… Do you like to play video games?" Says Fozzie, looking at Jean-Luc.
"Ehh… It depends; I'm not very good, honestly," Says Jean-Luc while putting more maple syrup on his pancakes
"Me neither, but I try," Says Mackenzie, and then laughs in a friendly way.
"You should play with them, Jan-Luke" Says Mel after drinking some juice." Mackenzie has very good friends."
"Yeah…" Says Fozzie, turning to Mel. "Also, did you hear that Chilli and her daughters gave a console to Bandit?
"Oh, I remember," says Mackenzie, pointing at his father with his fork." It was not just a console; it was a console with virtual reality. Bingo told me that was the first time Bandit tried with a horror game and that it was the funniest thing she had ever seen in her life."
While Jean-Luc was drinking juice, he raised an eyebrow, confused, he put down his cup, and said, "Her?"
"Bingo?" Mackenzie says suddenly looking at Jean-Luc, but then he understood the Labrador's confusion. "Yes, I know. Many at school thought she was a Boy, but she is a good friend… You really should meet her."
"And what about your crush, eh Romeo?" Fozzie says jokingly, "You can't mention one without mentioning the other."
"Ehhhhhhhhh." Mackenzie looks around, blushing, not knowing what to say until he hits the table and says quickly," YouknowwhatWherearewegoingtogotodayTodayisaperfectdaytogoout."
The three canines looked at each other confused, but Jean-Luc understood enough to take his phone out of his hip, show him the same thing he showed Mel, and say, "We'll go to this place first."
Mackenzie shakes his head, and his face goes back to being black and white before grabbing the phone and looking at the location." Hey... huh... isn't this... isn't this the place where Rusty camps with his family?"
"I think so," Mel says, standing up from the table with the empty plate in her hand. "We should leave as soon as possible because it's far away, and I don't see you guys finishing."
Mel was right; Jean-Luc, Mackenzie, and Fozzie still had pancake and egg leftovers on their plates. The three canines look at each other quickly and begin to devour the rest of the food.
Meanwhile, Mel leaves her plate in the sink, and taking advantage of the situation, she says," Since we are all gathered here… Let's go over the house rules."
Jean-Luc's body tenses, and he looks at Mel just as she continues to speak
Over the next 10 minutes, Mel goes over the house rules with Jean-Luc and Mackenzie; some rules include
"Curfew at 9 pm"
"Take turns using the washing machine."
"Helping out with household chores."
"No French in the house."
"Family activities on the weekends
"No alcohol in the house" (Even if Jean-Luc mentioned that he doesn't drink beer)
"And lastly…"Mel continues speaking," A reminder from Alice to Jan-Luke, No romantic relationships while in Brisbane"
This makes Jean-Luc frown, even he doesn't fully understand why he reacts like that to the rule, as if a part of him doesn't agree. But luckily for him, Mel notices his reaction and continues
"Well…" Mel forms a pout with her mouth and looks down before continuing."...It depends if it's "casual" or something super serious. But this rule, it's from Alice's personal experience, She wants you focused on school, not getting a wife Jan-Luke."
Followed by a small laugh from Fozzie, Jean-Luc just answers, "Ok," but a part of him doesn't consider the rule as a "rule" but as a "warning" from Alice
After the family meeting and putting everything away after breakfast, the Border-collies began to prepare to leave. Mel was getting ready in the bathroom mirror, Fozzie was outside getting the truck ready, Mackenzie was on his phone in his room, and Jean-Luc was searching for something in his backpack.
After a few seconds of searching, Jean-Luc pulls out a journal, a pen, and a small roll of tape from his backpack. The Labrador tears a sheet of paper from his journal and kneels on the floor with the pen in his hand, ready to write.
"(Ok, boy)" thinks in French Jean-Luc" (you have waited for this moment for a long time…May the writing classes pay off)
With precision and care, Jean-Luc begins to write slowly on the sheet of paper to ensure it looks good. When he is finished, he reads to himself: "Hi Bluey, I am Jean-Luc, your childhood friend. I will be in Brisbane for a year, and I would like to see you again. Call me or text me at this number…" That would work.
After writing the note, Jean-Luc folds the paper several times until it is small enough to go unnoticed. But suddenly, Jean-Luc hears someone knocking on the door. The Labrador puts the letter and the tape where his phone is on his hip and says," You can come in!
The door opens, and Mackenzie peeks his head into the room. "Come on Luke, time to go."
Jean-Luc just responds with an "Ok" before standing up and leaving his room.
1 hour later leaving Brisbane
Using the location Jean-Luc gave Fozzie, the family truck cruised down the highway quietly. Fozzie and Mel were chatting in the front seats, Jean-Luc was looking out at the scenery taking pictures for his family and friends back home, but the Tranquility stopped when Mackenzie sighed and put his phone back on his hip
Mel is the first to respond. She turns her head to look at Mackenzie and asks, "Everything okay son?"
"Everything is okay…" Mackenzie says and then lets his head fall back"...Damn, I didn't know all my friends were this excited about Luke."
"Really?" Jean-Luc says, turning his head towards Mackenzie and then waving his hand like a fan hand. "Wow, I didn't know i was so famous here, hahaha."
The teenagers laugh lightly but are interrupted by Mel, who says, embarrassed, "Well… I think we had something to do with this."
"Yeah…" Fozzie starts talking and jokes,"...I think we told half of Brisbane that you were coming."
"I can tell Dad," Mackenzie says. "At least I told them we'd be busy in the city today, but I don't know when they're going to bother me again."
"I think… I understand why you want to take your time, Mack," Jean-Luc says looking at Mackenzie.
"You see Luke?" Mackenzie says looking back at Jean-Luc, "All my friends are crazy, but…"
Mackenzie's voice slows down and lowers his tone and his head."...they're my friends; I grew up with them…And I know they have my back at school and I have them too…even if we're not on the same page, we still end the day laughing or sharing ice cream."
"Sounds like a good group of friends," Jean-Luc says with empathy.
"Yes, they are," Mackenzie says looking briefly at Jean-Luc before looking out the window.
Jean-Luc goes back to what he was doing with his phone in his hand. For a few moments, the only thing that could be heard in the vehicle was the sound of the engine and the radio playing the song of the moment, but Mel lowered the volume and then said, "Jan-Luke, can you explain to me... us why we are going to the forest first?"
Jean-Luc stops looking at the window to look at Mel and says," Oh, yeah, right… That was where I went camping with my family when I was a kid."
" But… why is it so special to you?"
Jean-Luc stays still in his seat, as if his soul disconnected from his body. Jean-Luc couldn't deny the way the Border-collies had treated him but he didn't feel confident enough to talk about Bluey and his plan... Considering the mockery he suffered for believing in a fairy tale
Jean-Luc stood there thinking until he took out the little letter he was going to leave in the tree for Bluey, the Labrador's mind was working overtime to create something to talk about but there was nothing, it was then that Jean-Luc was preparing to tell the truth until
The Tree!
"I planted a tree before I left," Jean-Luc lies one minute after Mel asks the question. "I want to visit him and see how much he's grown."
Mel barely mumbles, "Huh," but goes back to his usual polite self and says, "Oh, that sounds interesting."
Not knowing any better, Jean-Luc continues the lie by saying, "Yeah, I've always wondered what happened to him."
Mel doesn't answer, so Jean-Luc relaxes, tucks the paper back into his hip and looks out the window.
In the front seats, Mel faked a frown and looked at her husband, who looked at her with one eye half-closed…the two Border-Collies were on the same page…something wasn't adding up with Jean-Luc.
In the back seats, Mackenzie listened to the exchange. Even he could sense that Jean-Luc was acting weird but decided to ignore it
And barely listening to the song of the moment… The pickup continued its way.
*Campground outside Brisbane*
After A 1 1/2 hour drive, the Border-Collie collies and Jean-Luc arrive at the outskirts of the woods where the campground is. Jean-Luc's tail was wagging slowly as he looked out the window until Fozzie finally turned into the campground parking and drove to where there were three more cars.
After stopping, Jean-Luc is the first to get out of the truck, but when his feet touch the ground, he takes a moment to look down, move his feet, and feel the ground beneath him. When he finished, the Labrador looks back at the horizon of trees that make up the forest and takes a big breath of air.
As Jean-Luc lets the air out through his nose, he says in French,"(I'm here)."
But Jean-Luc's moment is interrupted by an annoyed voice saying, "DAMMIT." Quickly, Jean-Luc moves to the other side of the truck to see Fozzie and Mel inspecting the right front tire
It was hard to notice, but the tire was losing air at a slow pace. The feeling of guilt begins to invade Jean-Luc, who barely reacts: "I...I didn't know...that this"
Mackenzie who has already gotten out of the car notices Jean-Luc. The Border-Collie walks towards him, grabs him by the shoulders, and says, "Don't worry about us; this happens a lot. Go to the camp; we will catch up with you."
Jean-Luc, still sad, nods his head with determination and then turns towards the forest and begins to walk.
As he continued walking through the dirt and grass, Jean-Luc's memories began to come to him.
"ça ressemble à un bon endroit pour camper"
"je suis d'accord avec toi"
"Tu es devenu fou"
Jean-Luc lets out a small laugh. That was his best friend Louis's reaction when he first told him his plan to be an exchange student, but without realizing it, he had arrived at the place.
There was Jean-Luc, standing and incredulous about where he was, he had arrived at the place where he and his family had camped 11 years ago. Jean-Luc slowly walks around the area and begins to point.
"(There was the tent)," Jean-Luc says before pointing to another area"(there was a table)" and points to another area" (there was the grill)."
He stops pointing and looks towards where the stream is "(And there it is…)." Jean-Luc thinks before starting to walk
"Maman, je peux aller jouer?"
"oui bien sûr fils"
"attention aux serpents Jean-Luc"
Jean-Luc still remembered when he asked his mother for permission to play and his father's warning about snakes; he might have been careless walking like that in the forest. He was in Australia, home of the most dangerous animals on the planet. But without realizing it, he came across something that transported them 11 years back.
"(It can't be...)" thinks Jean-Luc as he reacts to what is in front of him
In front of Jean-Luc was the little house of Palos that he built with Bluey,
Jean-Luc approaches the almost intact little house and thinks, "(Huh, it should be a builder...but it seems that someone...was maintaining it)
Jean-Luc looks ahead and sees a large pink tree, with curiosity the Labrador walks slowly towards the tree until his heart stops when he reaches the edge of the tree line and the stream
Jean-Luc looked carefully, curiously, and lovingly at the stream, the same stream where he met Bluey, but there was a big exception.
A large pink tree on the other side of the small stream
"(That must be... The tree I left behind)," thinks Jean-Luc, amazed. But without wanting to, he leaves the tree line and approaches the pink tree. But as he walks slowly, memories of the past keep invading his head.
"You're living in a fairy tale"
"Let it go, Jean-Luc"
"You'll never find her"
"Stop being a child. Grow up already."
"Really, Jean-Luc?"
"Sometimes you need to hit a wall to learn a thing or two"
Jean-Luc stops and pulls out the paper with the note for Bluey, he takes a good look at it and squeezes it with determination, but when he looks back at the tree, Jean-Luc's body goes cold when he sees a blue heeler coming down towards the tree
"Bluey, that book is mine!" Jean-Luc could hear a voice on the other side of the treeline
"I know it's yours Muffin; I just borrowed it," Bluey says, answering the voice and sitting next to the pink tree.
Jean-Luc froze. For some reason, Bluey didn't notice he was there
"I will always be proud of you Jean-Luc."
"You will come out of this with a smile, you always do that."
"No one gave you this, you earned it."
"I hope you find what you are looking for in Brisbane."
"Who knows, the world is a different place "Magical."
"(Mom was right, the world is a magical place)"
Thought Jean-Luc, and after swallowing and putting the note on his hip, the Labrador raised his hand to say hello, smiled and says
"Hello Bluey"
the References
When Juneau calls Jean-Luc a moron for eating an apple: Apples (or some other food) are used in the film world to show disinterest or superiority, to show the audience that they are assholes… You can tell I watched videos of "Everything wrong with…" when I wrote that scene