Trackstar Antelope

Trackstar Antelope Volume 27

Chapter 240: The Dingo Digs Deep

I take a step into Riley's room. It looks a lot different to the last time I was here. His room is a bit cluttered and messy now. I sit down at his desk chair (I've always liked how comfy it was), but he takes a step towards me. He bends over and begins to sniff me all over. I tense up, not realising what was happening at first.

Canines always like to sniff their friends, canine or not, to confirm it's them, and remind them of fond memories that they have of the friends. I can hear his little nose going wild after being in a completely different town for a week.

"Sorry Jamel... you know I can't resist the smell of a friend." Riley says. That sounded weird... "Anyway, how have you been, mate?"

"First I want to get something out of the way." I tell him. "I want to clear up everything that's been happening over the past few months. Your change in attitude, your PIS medication, everything." I say sternly. I need to at least be assured that my best friend is okay, especially after the week I've had. Riley is smiling at me, pleased with himself.

"Jamel, it's all fine now." He tells me. "It all started on my birthday, back in June. I woke up as usual, ready for a day of school, but I saw that my parents were sitting in the living room. They told them that I was having the day off, but... not for my birthday."

I remember that day. It was the day of the race at the Aerodrome... where I was attacked by that hyena, and I learnt all about Sam and his brother. I guess that day was big for the both of us

"I had my shower, got dressed and had breakfast, then my parents took me into town, to the carnivore clinic. When I was there, a doctor came over and told me about my... changes as a young adult." Riley explains. For the first time ever, someone has used that term, and I know what they're talking about.

"They said that as canines, especially wild ones like dingoes, we feel these pressing instincts and urges that are linked to our wild ancestors. The kind that tells us to eat... y'know, and harm those who we love and care for. After a few small tests, and some questions, I was placed on some Predatory Instinct Suppressants, or PIS Meds, as we call them. The doctor explained the medication to me, and halfway through, he got a phone call. He spent ages on the phone, until a nurse came along. She finished explaining everything to me." Riley tells me.

"The nurse told me that I was supposed to take three pills a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It turns out that only larger carnivores take them three times a day. Dingoes like me take them once a day, so I was getting an overdose of this medication." Riley says. "I thought that I was supposed to take the medication at breakfast, lunch and dinner, which is why I felt so weird; headaches, mood swings, nausea, insomnia... there was a point a few weeks ago where I went 48 hours without sleep." It all sounds so distressing.

"Once I decided that the medication wasn't doing me any good, I stopped completely. That's when Mum and Dad found me in the streets, fighting against Sam, they took me to the clinic straight away, and everything was sorted out. The doctor said I had incredible resilience to have gone so long on such a large dosage." Riley said. A tear pooled in his eye, and I'm not sure if it's from regret, or from pride. A part of me hopes for both. "If I stopped taking those pills any sooner, I could've hurt you, or someone else, Jamel... and I'm so sorry for all the distress I've caused everyone." He cries out.

"Now, I take one pill every day, in front of my parents. Other than the slight migraine, and a few late nights every week, I feel so much better, and..." Riley says, before pausing.

"I want to be friends again, Jamel. It's you who kept me on the medication, it's you who convinced me to never give up and always keep doing my best to make sure everyone was safe. Even if the medication caused me pain, discomfort, and distress, I went to bed every night knowing that I was keeping everyone in my community safe. Dingoes are responsible for almost a tenth of the devouring attacks in Regional Australia, and most of those are due to us going off medication. I never wanted that to happen, Jamel. To me, or to you."