I Among Dogs

Chapter 21: Ice Cream Cacophony

 I could see it in Bandit's eyes.

Even after the words I had said to reassure him once he learned that he had forgotten my father after so long, there was still a tinge of guilt on his blank face. And I think even Stripe could notice it as well.

Telling Bandit's brother that the human kid he and his brothers had met once so many years ago just happened to be my dad definitely blew his mind and even he agreed that me meeting his family years later just had to be a coincidence.

We both had also told Chilli about the whole thing and she was just as stunned as Stripe was and I still remember spotting her gently comforting Bandit before I headed off to bed for the night.

And yet, two days later when Bandit and Stripe had decided to take me and the kids, sans Socks to another part of Canistralia for the day, Bandit still felt sad inside for having forgotten, even if he didn't show it. I was about to rest a hand on his arm to try and ease him until Bluey spoke up.

"Dad, can I have one of these?" The young heeler asked as she was holding up one of those toys with plastic pins that form in the shape of whatever you pushed against said pins such as your hand as Bluey demonstrated by pressing her muzzle against it, leaving an impression of her mouth and nose.

"Only if you pay for it yourself." Bandit bluntly replied, barely even glancing at her.

"But I haven't got any money." Bluey retorted, shaking her head.

"Well, then you can't have it." Bandit said, still with the dull tone, leading to a back and forth between the big and small blue heelers.

"Buuuuut I want it."

"Well, that's commonly called "Bad Luck"."

"Aw, that's not fair."

"It's pretty fair."

He wasn't wrong, even I knew we couldn't have everything in the world and that life isn't always going to be fair, which I definitely learned the hard way from the plane crash. I was about to gently give Bluey a small lecture on that until I was stopped by what sounded like a plastic snap followed by a scream, making us all look over to find Muffin flailing around with a toy dinosaur's jaw clamped shut on one of her ears as me and Stripe suddenly sprang in to help.

We were now walking along a riverside of the city, Bluey and Bingo beside Bandit and Stripe behind him with me tailing behind, holding Muffin in my arms, the little grey heeler having a band-aid applied to her injured ear. I took the opportunity to take in the sights of the city itself and to say that it was breathtaking would be an understatement. A large modern bridge sat in the far distance, connecting the city we were on to another across the river as the citizens who crossed it would be greeted by the neighbouring skyline. The last time I remember seeing such a bridge related view was when I was once taken to London for vacation when I was much younger and saw the tower bridge.

But then I remembered how Bandit had been acting back at the gift shop as I looked forward to the adult heeler in question, it wasn't always rare for Bandit to give out bored responses to her kids but I still knew he was still down about the whole thing with my dad and I figured that it was time to confront him about it now otherwise god knows how long Bandit was going to mentally beat himself up for it.

"Muffin, can I put you down for a moment? I need to talk with your uncle Bandit." I asked Stripe's daughter in my arms whom nodded before I gently put her down and rushed up to Bandit.

"Bandit... You know you can talk to me, right?" I reached out and held onto his wrist a little as he looked back at me.

"Nah... I'm alright, kid." Bandit merely just shrugged me off, before pulling his arm away. He was honestly just being stubborn at this point so I sternly quickened my walking pace until I was standing right in front of him, arms crossed.