I Among Dogs

Chapter 22: A Day with Chloe

 Bandit and I both stared at the memorial stone of my biological mother and father which guarded the very graves they, or rather anything that was left of them, had been buried in at Canistralia's cemetery, the adult Heeler in question holding the very shirt I had found of him and dad as kids back in the Heeler home's attic as he stared at my dad's grave a little nervously before glancing down at me.

"You can do this. Cross my heart that he'll forgive you." I said in the most reassuring tone I could pull off, resting a hand on his arm as he took a deep breath in response and approached my dad's stone.

"Hey James, been a while hasn't it, mate?" Bandit began, pausing briefly before continuing. "I'm sorry I forgot about you, I know I'm not the best mate but just know that I'm glad I met you when we were kids, you really helped me out back there with Stripe and if it weren't for you, we'd probably still wouldn't be on good terms. Your son is a good kid, and it's thanks to him that I was able to remember you once again... I just wish I could've said "Hi" to you one last time."

And with that, Bandit got on one knee and carefully draped the shirt on the ground in front of the stone as I walked up to him and patted his back.

"That was beautiful, Bandit. I just know he would've heard all that from up there." Bandit glanced over at me with a sad smile.

"Thanks, Nate... You really helped me out here." Bandit gratefully said before pulling me into a one-arm hug.

***

It was near an hour or so afterwards when I arrived at the front door of Chloe's house. I was a little bit stunned to have noticed that it was more modern compared to the many other houses in Canistralia I had spotted including the Heeler household. The door number which just happened to conveniently be '101' earned a chuckle out of me considering the breed of dogs who lived here.

Chloe had asked Bluey if I could come over to her house so she could show me the books about humans that she had mentioned when she first met me at Bluey's school a month or so ago and that day had finally arrived. It was time where I'd learn some more about Canistralia's history with humans with the government doing everything they can to erase all evidence of said history.

I turned to Bandit whom was standing by the Heeler car and waved goodbye to him as he returned the gesture and got back into his car whilst I brought my focus back to the front door and rang the doorbell.

What met me as the door opened was a tall Dalmatian with both ears completely black aside from a few splotches of white as they greeted me in a feminine voice.

"Oh, you must be Nathan! Bluey's dad told me you'd be visiting today!"

"That's me, and I assume you're Chloe's mom, Miss Dalmatian?" I replied as we both shook hands.

"That's right! And please, just call me Misty, honey. Speaking of Chloe, she's waiting for you in the living room!" Chloe's mom retorted as I nodded and headed inside to the living room.

The living room was just as modern looking as the house exterior with simple couches in the middle and a black rectangular support beam that also served as a fireplace and chimney. I would only have a few minutes to take in the sight as I felt a pair of small thin arms wrap around me with an excited outcry of "Nathan!" as I looked down to find Chloe hugging my leg and beaming up at me.