Work Text:
The grounds around Glasshouse Primary School buzzed with activity, as it was playtime for the students. Three students, in particular, stood in the field at the back of the school. A fiery Red Kelpie stood a bit further back, holding a rectangular piece of wood and a ball.
“My mum let me bring my cricket stuff for playtime today!” Rusty cheered, tossing the red tennis ball in his left hand and holding the cricket bat over his shoulder with his right.
“How do you even play cricket?” asked Mackenzie, the black-and-white border collie.
“I’ll show ya!” Rusty smiles. He hands the red tennis ball to Mackenzie. “Here, you can be the bowler! Your job is to throw the ball to me, simple!”
Rusty takes position with the bat on the ground. Mackenzie, unsure, hesitantly tosses the ball to his Kelpie friend. Much to his surprise, Rusty swings the bat, and it flies over his head.
“Woah…!” Mackenzie watches the ball as it soars above him.
“Now Jack!” Rusty calls to his best friend; a Jack Russel Terrier. “Your job is to get the ball back to Mackenzie! Meanwhile, I’ll be running back and forth, and however many times I do it, that’s how many points I get!”
The terrier smiles. “Okay!” he says, running over to retrieve the ball. Rusty begins to run back and forth between a space a little past Mackenzie and where he batted. Once Jack had the ball in his hand, he threw it over to Mackenzie (who dropped it initially but picked it up quickly).
“Nice job, you guys!” Rusty smiles at his friends. “Alright, who’s up at bat next?”
Before he could finish his question, Jack eagerly piped up. “Ooh! Me! I do!!”
Rusty hands the bat to Jack and approaches Mackenzie. “Do you wanna be the retriever this time?”
“No thanks! I kinda like throwing it! I also wanna get better at catching it when the retriever throws it to me!”
“Wackadoo! You got it!” Rusty cheers, and playfully punches Mackenzie’s shoulder… which hurts his fist a little. “Wow! You got some strong shoulders!”
“Thanks! I’ve got that Polynesian build!” Mackenzie laughs as he playfully flexes the muscles he doesn’t have.
Soon, the boys take their new positions. Mackenzie aims… and throws the ball with a little more confidence than last time. Jack struck the ball with the bat. It didn’t go as far as Rusty hit it, but it still certainly flew. As Rusty ran to retrieve it, he stopped…
Rusty was enthralled by the sight he saw before him. The shorter terrier bragged about how fast his breed ran when he first met him. But man… Jack could run fast. The terrier quickly ran between the spot between the bowler and the retriever and where he batted.
Shaking his head like an Etch-a-Sketch to snap him out of his distraction, Rusty picks up the ball and tosses it to Mackenzie (who caught it this time!). By the time the ball reached Mackenzie’s hand, Jack had already racked up more points than Rusty.
“Woah! You should play professionally with those legs!” Rusty jokes. “Alright ‘Kenzie! Your turn to bat!”
“Actually, I kinda wanna keep throwing! I really like it!” Mackenzie smiles.
“Alright! I guess I’ll bat again!” Rusty gives the ball to Mackenzie, while he takes the bat from Jack, who takes his place behind Mackenzie.
“Alright, Rusty! I’ll warn you, I’ve gotten really good at bowling it!” Mackenzie playfully taunts.
“Yeah, in your dreams!” Rusty retorts while laughing.
Mackenzie wound up his arms far… and threw it the hardest he’d ever thrown anything before.
…Unfortunately, Rusty hit the ball as hard as it had been thrown. Unfortunately again, Rusty had missed the mark as to how he usually hit. Instead of flying in an arc, the ball went straight.
Straight towards Mackenzie’s nose…
The following seemingly happened in slow motion for Rusty. The ball careened toward his friend’s face, but the Kelpie boy could do nothing to stop it…
And so, the ball hit Mackenzie square on his nose. His eyes shut tightly as he fell to his knees with his hands on his snout. He not only felt it in his nose, but he also felt it in the back of his mouth and… he swore he could feel it in his brain. Mackenzie was in so much pain. A bit of blood was seen spilling from his nose.
“M-Mackenzie…? You alright?” Jack asks, concerned.
The border collie boy said nothing. As he winced in pain, he felt something bubble within him. Something was rising inside him. In his voice box. So many thoughts were running through his head… but these ones managed to slip out.
“Tō tero!!” he yelled, being so loud it shocked both Jack and Rusty. Regardless, he continued.
“Tō raho!!” he growled, earning a gasp from his two friends.
“Tō tara!!” he shrieked, letting out all his pain and frustration in word form.
After this final utterance, he dropped his head in silence. Jack and Rusty simply stood there, unsure of what to do.
After what felt like an eternity, Mackenzie stood up and dusted himself off. He noticed his two friends staring at him like he had two heads.
“What? I got hit, what of it?” he asked.
“Um… It’s not that… It’s about what you said…” Jack shyly commented.
The border collie thought deeply, trying to remember what he said.
Then, the realization hit him like a truck.
Tears began to form in Mackenzie’s eyes, as he dropped to his knees again, this time crying. The two other boys rushed over to his side to comfort him.
“Guys…!” Mackenzie sobbed. “P-please don’t tell my mum ‘n dad I said that stuff!”
“What? What did you say?” Rusty asked, genuinely confused.
Mackenzie blubbered before answering this question. “I… I… I said some bad words in Māori… I didn’t mean them, they just came out!” the bicolored collie continued to sob.
“There there…” Jack rubs his friend’s back trying to console him. But, his crying was loud enough to alert Calypso, who was soon standing over the three boys.
“Boys, what happened here?” Calypso gently asked.
“Well, I accidentally hit Mackenzie in his face…” Rusty shyly explained.
“Oh dear…” Calypso sympathizes. “Is he still in pain?”
“Well, not anymore. He’s crying ‘cause he said some words in some other language…” the kelpie continued.
“I see.” the Australian Shepherd taps the border collie’s shoulder, causing him to look up. “Come on, Mackenzie, let’s bring you inside and calm you down.”
Hesitantly, the young border collie takes Calypso’s hand, and the two walk back to the school building. Calypso calls out using her teacher voice “Playtime’s over, guys! Let’s head back inside!” and ushers all of her students back in as well.
As the students get settled into the classroom waiting for the lesson to start, Calypso sits Mackenzie down on a chair. She hands him a tissue to clog his bleeding nose.
“So, Rusty told me you said some stuff after being hit?” Calypso asked calmly.
Mackenzie didn’t answer verbally, only giving a nod between tear-induced sniffles.
“I see. And were these bad words?” she continues.
Again, he does not answer with words. But the border collie lightly sobbing gave her the answer she needed.
“I’m not mad! But, do you know why certain words are bad?” she asks.
“Uh… uh-huh…” the young border collie sniffled.
“Okay… Are you still in pain?”
“N… no… I’m okay now…” Mackenzie wipes his eyes and nose.
“Okay… Why don’t you sit down for the lesson, okay?” Calypso smiles.
Getting up, the border collie ran to the rug and sat down next to his friends, as Calypso began her lesson… on words and their meanings.