Mackenzie's Story

G’day, the name is Mackenzie. Do you remember, the last time you met me, how I dealt with the subject of separation anxiety through the Space game I played with Rusty and Jack? Well, this isn’t true. The reason why I was so upset and kept disappearing is not because I wanted my parents so bad, not because I got left behind, but because my grandfather died of cancer. My mum didn’t want me to hear the news about my grandfather and his condition, so she kept her lips sealed on that day until she came to pick me up. In recent days I heard my mother crying and having phone calls with my grandma, and this scared me a little. “What might be wrong?” I thought to myself, “Has Grandpa died in a car accident?” But I was quite wrong. He had cancer, and his will was not to pass his condition onto me. I had eavesdropped before, and from what I heard, I believed my mum couldn’t bare to speak properly because she kept crying a lot. Dad took me to my room and told me that I didn’t want to disturb my mum, as she needs time alone. I didn’t understand it, until Mum came to pick me up from school.

“Mackenzie, I’m very sorry to tell you this, but…your grandfather.” she sighed. “My grandfather?” I said. My voice cracked. “What…what’s happened to him?” “He…he died of cancer. It’s about time you should know.” “No…” I whimpered, tears filling my eyes. “Not grandpa…” I hid my face in my paws. Memories flooded my mind of when my grandpa used to take me fishing in the bush. He always told me that ‘Patience takes a little discovery and a little love’, and that’s how I managed to catch such huge fish to take home for supper. My success seemed to be melting away now, as my tears splashed onto the car seat. My memories with my grandpa were fading away. “Ah, don’t worry, son, we’ll take you to the park this afternoon. How do you like that?” I looked at my parents. I loved playing in the park - I wiped away my tears and murmured, “Yeah…yeah.”

Later, at the park, I sat on the grass and watched the other kids playing in the playground. Rusty and Jack were at a different park, now I have to cope without them. The sky was crystal clear and blue, and over on the bench, my parents were chattering. I ran up onto the basketball court and observed the chalk drawings that were drawn crudely on the ground. I saw a pink chalk left behind on the ground. I picked it up and sat down. I closed my eyes and tried to picture my fishing trips with Grandpa. I could hear happy voices inside my head. Voices of a past I tried to leave behind courtesy of my friends at school.

“Grandpa! I caught one!”

“There, son, you can be patient. Just wait and see!”

My eyes shot open, and I had an idea for a work of art inspired by true events. I drew on the ground me and my grandpa going fishing in the river together. The noise of shrieking children and squeaking swings turned to laughter, reeling fishing rods and splashing of fish in the river as my memories reformed like butter melting in a microwave in reverse. I felt happy as my drawing became bigger and bigger, until the basketball court became the Australian bush, my Grandpa’s cottage visible in the distance. The familiar smell of shaving foam and freshly cooked treacle tart filled my nose once again, and I could hear my Grandpa encouraging me as I drew. Suddenly, Missy ran onto the basketball court and tried to shoot a yellow ball through the hoop. I turned away and walked away, my memories of Grandpa turning into an imaginary basketball match with Missy as star team player.

Now out alone in the playground, I peered through the metal gate to the basketball court and saw the big kids engaging in another round of basketball. Some were a bit older and started vaping, and some had their fur dyed in different colours - pink and green and black, and sometimes they wore trendy clothing like woolly hats and bomber jackets. I knew I was a bit too old to vape, but I realised that smoking causes cancer, as most people get lung cancer from smoking cigarettes too much. Just then, I heard a trio of voices in my head: “What’s the time, Mr Wolf?!” I spun around but saw no one there. Then, I saw them: in my head, I pictured my friends Bluey, Coco and Snickers playing ‘What’s The Time Mr Wolf’, Coco finally obeying the rules at last until she screamed, “DINNER TIME!” I smiled, my mouth trembling as I remembered playing this game with Chloe and Honey, before this whole ‘Spy Game’ incident. I tried not to cry as I yelled to the Heavens, “WHAT’S THE TIME, MR WOLF?!” There was a long silence. No response. I sighed and walked off around the park, my hind paws touching the soft grass.

I walked underneath a huge tree in the field, looking around and feeling upset that my Grandpa will not be there to teach me life’s little lessons again. Maybe with his death, my friends won’t like me anymore, not even Rusty and Jack. I sat in the shade and looked up at the sky. I could see lots of shapes - a dragon, a fish, a marshmallow mountain - but there was still no sign of Grandpa. Suddenly, as if my imagination was conjuring it, everything started to glitch around me, and I found myself in a pure white background (it’s just in my fantasies, so don’t worry). I looked around nervously, wondering where I was. I took a few steps back feeling scared and anxious, but then I fell back and landed on the huge, pink, blue and yellow slide that I emerged from when I was going through the ‘black hole’. I looked up at the slide and shuddered. I was back in that place again, and I curled up in a ball on the bottom of the slide. “Grandpa! GRANDPA! Please, help me!” I wept. I looked up, and saw endless amounts of toddlers waiting at the top of the slide, murmuring and complaining.

Suddenly, I heard a wise voice saying: “Mackenzie…” I looked up and wiped away my tears. “Grandpa?” I asked. I looked over the red gate with lots of fun pictures of children holding hands and rainbows and streets and cars and planet earth, and saw my Grandpa, watching me with his wise eyes, his greying black and white fur and his fisherman’s cap, glad to see me again. “I’m still here,” he continued. I leapt to my feet and ran up to Grandpa. “Grandpa! You’re alive!” I cried. “No, I’m a figment of your imagination. You have visions as powerful as an angel’s halo.” “But…if you’re dead, how are we still talking?” I asked, confused. Grandpa sighed. “I may be gone in body, but I’m still here in spirit and mind. Mackenzie, you have made me very proud in the last couple of years. Really, really proud. My treatments did not stop me from thinking of you. If you stay positive and put the past behind you, you don’t have to go back to the place where you were abandoned.” I could remember what Calypso said to me. She had said the same words for when I was facing my troubled past playing with Rusty and Jack. I smiled and said, “Thank you, Grandpa. Whatever you say, I’ll remember you!”

I raced out of the playground into the whiteness. I looked back and saw Grandpa waving wildly, and I waved back as everything glitched and I was back in reality - in the park once again. I laughed loudly as I raced across the field, under shades and shades of lots of trees. I passed a wall where a group of bigger kids were playing cricket in the distance. I peered over the wall at the kids. One of the kids was Lucky, one of my neighbours, and I enjoyed seeing him playing with the bigger kids, his dad being the one who throws the ball for him to hit. I imagined playing cricket with my friends Chloe and Bluey, her dad and her Uncle Stripe. I’ve known him from when I went to Bingo’s birthday party, but to me, while she was doing handstands and while I was racing with Bluey, everything was turning into a time lapse and fast forwarding as if we were all living on a ‘90s VHS tape. I could remember the taste of the vanilla frosting and crunchy popcorn as I had a slice of that duck cake Bluey’s dad made. He can be a little crazy, but he’s still nice - he took me to the creek once, and I could never ever EVER forget that moment. Skimming stones, sailing boats, building dams…I giggled and said to myself, “Your only chance is to cross the bridge!”

I balanced along the wall, feeling as brave as I was when I imagined saving Bluey and Bingo from a flood. This didn’t happen when it was shown all over the world, but still, I felt like it was a big achievement to me, and I wanted to be a hero all the same. A hero? That sounds like a real achievement. Once I reached the end of the wall, I leapt down and raced across the park. I ran past the hill where there were lots of cars and vans parked near the gate at the top. I screeched to a halt and looked up. I have had a brilliant idea - seeing Snickers roll down hills millions of times before had made me think about doing it myself. I pretended I was a brave mountain climber, climbing up the base of Mt Hill until I was truly at the top. I peered through the gate and saw cars and vans parking and driving away, tired children asleep in the back of some of the cars and ‘Baby On Board’ signs barely visible. I ran across the top of the hill and fell over, rolling downhill and imagining myself living my life from Snickers’ perspective, being round enough to roll down hills easily.

I ran past the giant palm tree and balanced across its shadow, pretending I was a monkey climbing the trees until I reached the top to collect coconuts. My fur blew in the wind and I watched a flock of birds flying south. I closed my eyes and remembered my Grandpa’s words, then I fell over and breathed a sigh of relief, snuggling into the grass and resting for a few minutes, happy I was one with myself now. Later, I returned to the basketball court, where Missy was still trying to throw her yellow ball through the hoop. “Need a paw?” I asked. Missy nodded. “Yeah.” “I’ll hold you, and you throw the ball into the net.” I ordered. I picked up Missy, who was two years younger than me, and I counted down. “3…2…1…THROW!” Missy shot the ball through the hoop, and she cheered! “Hooray! I did it!” “Yeah! Woo!” I cried, and we jumped up and down and high-fived each other. Suddenly, I heard my mum call, “Mackenzie!” I hugged Missy goodbye, then ran to join my mum and dad in returning home.

Before we went home, we went to the church graveyard, where my Grandpa’s grave was. My parents and I walked up to the grave, and I smiled. Memories of feasting on treacle tart after dinner, learning to shave and going fishing filled my head as happy tears filled my eyes. “See, Mackenzie? You’re coping well,” said my mum, finally smiling. “You know what?” said Dad, “I miss Grandpa too. I miss his little cottage in the bush…” “...and his garden, where you played football…” “...the lake, where you learnt to fish.” I heard his voice in my head, once again saying: “I won’t be there in body, but I will be in spirit and mind.” I ran up to my parents and hugged them, snuffling with pure happiness. “Thanks, Grandpa,” I wept happily, delighted to know that soon, when it was my time, I would be with my entire family in that little country cottage in the clouds, fishing and feasting on treacle tart after our holy dinner, a family reunited by one word: bravery.