Ripple- a Bluey Story

House

7:30AM

Bandit turned into my drive way and pulled the key out of the ignition. 

"Alright, if its too hard to go inside, I can start just bringing things out from your room and we'll sort them later" Bandit started explaining "Or if you think you can manage we can both go in and get through it all now" 

It was a hard choice, it wasn't very significant; Nonetheless, it still felt weighty. "I'll go in, hopefully this wont take too long" I knew that it would be brutal seeing so many reminders, but I didn't want to make Bandit do everything. He nods and we opened our car doors. I took a  look at the front of the house, I felt a potent ache, then turned and walk to the front door.

I walked inside, the smell of my parents more noticeable since I left. It took everything I had to not start full crying, and even then I still had droplets streaming down. Bandit just rubbed my back as I stood there for a moment, seeing memories of my parents flash by. I looked forward and trekked  to my room. Bandit placed a stack of cardboard boxes on the floor after we arrived  "Right now we're just taking smaller things, I'll ring up some of my friends to pick up whatever furniture you want to transfer later. Actually, just place these sticky notes on any large items  you want moved" He held out a stack of  notes to me. 

"Alright, let's get to work" I replied. I started moving everything I wanted for my new room into the boxes and putting sticky notes on my desired furniture, namely just my desk and dresser.

8:00AM

We finished packing up my room and I started to roam around the house for any other items. I headed to the kitchen first. I looked at the fridge, it used to have all my drawings and school projects on it, but now it's just my report cards and a couple poems I wrote for my parents. I took two poems off the fridge, each specifically made for one parent, and pack them. I moved on  to the living room. I looked at a family photo from  around 7 years ago, just us in pure bliss, I ran my hand across it. I turned back around and looked at the table, a few empty beer cans and a half full bottle of whiskey on the table. I just stared at them for a while, remembering a darker side of my dad.

5 Years Ago, 8PM

"Seeya later Bluey!" I exclaimed as I hopped out of the car and shut the door. She waved goodbye through the window as the Heeler's family car pulled out of my driveway.

I walked up to the front door and stepped into my house. I was immediately hit with the sharp scent of alcohol. I looked around a corner and saw my dad with his head in his hands sitting on the couch. Present On the table were scattered beer bottles, an empty rum bottle, and a few cocktail glasses on the floor. I was completely shocked, I had never seen him drink this much, mum usually cut him off. I walked up to him with a cautionary distance between us.

"D-dad, whats wrong?" I asked sheepishly. As soon as he heard my voice his head violently snapped toward me, his face contorted with rage.

"YOU!" He yelled "WHY DID YOU EVER HAVE TO BE BORN YOU STUPID FUCK OF A SON" He got off the couch, walked up to me, and grabbed me by the scruff, lifting me up "You have caused every single problem I've ever had, you fucking meaningless piece of shit mistake" I was struggling to breath he was gripping me so hard, I was completely paralyzed with fear. "I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance, then I could have finally been happy" With each word his words were getting quieter but his grip was tightening.

"Da-dad, please st-stop" I could barely whisper at this point and everything was getting blurrier. Suddenly he dropped me on the floor, I was left panting. He took a step back, he was hyperventilating and his pupils were dilated, staring at me. Suddenly I felt someone pick me up and pull me into their chest, tight. 

"Joshua, leave. NOW" I was curled into my mum's chest crying, why did my dad do that? I  heard the door open and close with no response from my dad. My mum sat down on the couch and just held me tight. "Mackenzie, I promise everything will be alright. We're gonna get your dad help"

"H-he called me a M-mistake" I shove my face even harder into my mother's comforting fur.

"He didn't mean it honey, we still love you no matter what, we will always be in your heart"

Present

I was curled up into a ball on the floor, just holding myself and shaking. That was definitely the worst memory of my life for a while, but an obvious new replacement stood. I started to slow my breathing and my muscles relaxed. I uncurled and dusted myself off, looking back at the whiskey bottle. An instant escape sounded so promising and enticing. Not a great idea, but damn if it wasn't tempting. I went back to my bedroom and saw Bandit on his phone.

"Did you grab everything you wanted mate?" He asked

"Almost, just gonna put a few things in my backpack" I snatched my school backpack. He nodded and I walked back to living room. I stood there, just looking at the bottle. It was basically poison for me, but if I only did it in moderation it shouldn't end in hospitalization. I stuffed the bottle in and covered it with the poems from earlier. I moved on to the bathroom for anything else I wanted. I nabbed all my toiletries and I saw my dad's razor. I reminisced about him teaching me to shave, but then I looked at the razor blade stash next to it. I stuffed them into the backpack along with my razor next to his. using them for shaving is a good excuse but I knew they would just be a replacement for the knife Chili confiscated.

9:00AM

After heading back and setting out all the boxes, everything was finally unpacked. My room looked and smelled a lot more like home. 

"Alright mate, my friends should move your furniture in a couple days and then your new room will be complete" Bandit said with a smile.

"Sweet. Do you know how long I have until the girls wake up?" I inquired

"Well, I think they stayed up pretty late last night, so they should be up around 11" He said while scratching the back of his head.

"Alright, I'm gonna go in my room and unwind for a bit" I said as I started to turn around, suddenly craving solitude

"Alright, just remember we're here for you, please don't suffer in silence" He said with a nod. I was slightly taken aback but managed to mask it pretty well.

"Thank you, I will" I lied through my teeth, I didn't want to be a burden more than I already was. I walked into my room and popped my headphones in. I was just pondering how bad of an idea it was to bring that whiskey. 

And when I would get to see Bluey again.

Note: Very sorry about the wait, I'm struggling to squeeze into a schedule. Chapters should be coming more consistently and expect a major ramp up once summer rolls around. Always remember, someone loves you!