Field of Dreams
Foreword by P. Jane Mazer -
... this was my entry to a BDL competition I think that Carol Ann Rayson was running.
The basic concept was to rewrite a movie script using your Beardies [Bearded Collies] as actors while trying to keep the premise of the movie. We only had Paddington and Busby then so that is why he [Ace] wasn't mentioned.
I based my rewrite on the movie Field of Dreams, if you haven't seen it it won't make too much sense to you but it is one of my favorites.
Here it is.
Jane and the Barkark Crew
Paddington, Busby and Ace
Field of Dreams
The movie opens with Paddington staring at the trees and shrubbery at the end of his garden. His parents, human, are worried about the strange behavior he has been displaying for several weeks. No amount of cuddling and love can get him away from the edge of the garden; the suggestions of his favorite foods, long walks and car rides all seemingly fall on deaf ears and Paddington remains ever vigilant. At night, while his family is sleeping, he continues to stare out of the windows towards the whispering trees.
His family feels that he must be feeling their tension. They are about to lose their home if payments on their house are not brought up to date. Nobody can fathom what it is that Paddington can see, but it is definitely something. Often in the mornings his Family come downstairs and finds piles of wood and plastic, pieces of board, nails and hammers and saws. They know he is trying to tell them something, but what?
One afternoon just as the sun is setting, Paddington's human mother walks to where he is sitting. She slides down beside him and with Busby on her lap she reaches over and hugs Padster. As she touches him she feels a sudden shock of electrical energy course through her body and for one brief second or two she hears what Paddington has been listening to.
"If you build it, they will come". She gazes into Paddington's eyes.
"If you build it, they will come," again she hears the voice.
"Build what Paddington and who will come?" "They will Mom, the other Beardies, they will come, they need sheep and pens, agility courses, obedience and conformation rings and a place for the puppies," woofs Paddington turning and smiling at her.
Over the next month the Family build the pens and the courses. They drain the last of their savings and borrow money from their friends. When everything is finished they join Paddington in the evenings and wait at the edge of the garden. They are exhausted, drained emotionally, physically and financially; the neighbors are complaining about the sheep, the bank is complaining and foreclosing on their home and still the Family waits.
Another evening in the garden, waiting as usual, for something, nobody seems to know what to expect, if anything; the breeze starts to stir, the doves flutter to their homes and their little ones, and with the last vestige of light the family treads dejectedly along the path back to the lights of their home. Suddenly Paddington turns, the Family stops.
"What is it Paddington, what do you see?"
They follow the direction of his eyes to where he is looking. A Beardie silently appears out of the trees and stands quietly in wonder observing the garden. The Beardie tentatively walks over to the birdbath and takes a cool sip of water; she runs to the gazebo, to the pens holding the sheep, bouncing up and down in pure delight, and then gallops around the garden at Beardie speed.
"Who is it Paddington, do you know who it is, what's her name," the humans asks.
"It's Bonnie, my mother," he replies, "she's come, at last."
They watch from a distance, as Bonnie expertly maneuvers the sheep. It is quite dark, the first stars of the evening appear and the lights in the garden illuminate Bonnie, doing what she does best. She approaches Paddington and whispers in his ear and slowly he follows her and she introduces him to the sheep.
The Family watch in amazement as Bonnie instructs the son she barely knows, (death claimed her before she had ever seen him placed in a home) yet they move as one, delighting in each others company. Finally they rest, nestled together, never taking their eyes off each other.
Bonnie gets up and stretches, "I'll be back tomorrow, she tells Paddington, "I'll bring the others." She walks to the edge of the garden and as quickly as she had appeared, she vanishes into the trees and the night.
Paddington was finally able to rest and sleep the soundest he had ever slept in months. The next day the Family awoke late and to their amazement found more Beardies in their garden.
"Look at them," they exclaimed, "Is that Rascal, oh my gosh there's Robbie, do you remember Stormy and J.J., Graham and Heather?" More Beardies appear as they watch silently, "little Keith," I can't believe it, "Jigs, Sarah, Molly and Trooper, they've all come back." As the Family busily fill water bowls, they notice even more Beardies joining in the fun, Jeffrey, Abigail, Streaker and Jazz, the list seems endless!
Bonnie was true to her word; she brought the Rainbow Bridge Beardies with her.
More sheep were brought in, plus additional agility equipment, conformation rings burst at the seams as Beardies gaited each other around, and puppy playgrounds teemed with the smallest of the breed. They played all day, tugging on their toys, rolling head over heels after balls and Frisbees, sleeping in the shade until they were escorted to the edge of the garden at the end of the day. No judges, no handlers, the Beardies teaching one another, from the youngest to the oldest, from the rescued to the pedigreed, playing and learning, reliving their lives together in their field of dreams.
One evening Paddington tried to follow Bonnie into the trees as she was leaving, but she quickly turned around and told him, "It is not your time son, you have your family here, but we'll be waiting for you when the day comes, don't be sad, we'll be at the Bridge."
Some of the younger Beardies would ask Paddington, "Is this Heaven?"
"No," Paddington would respond with a grin, "it's Laguna," and then he and Busby would chase them all around their puppy playground and their Beardie pool and roll them over and over, tickling them.
While retrieving the mail one-day, Paddington noticed a letter addressed to his Family, from THE Bank. He knew what this meant and he desperately wanted to spare his Family the bad news. He showed the letter to Bonnie later that evening and she gently told him not to worry, 'they' are coming, don't lose heart, it will just take them a little while to find us, but 'they' will be here."
Paddington tried to relay this message to his family and assure them that everything would work out. However with no hope in sight, the packing began. Moving day was imminent. The Beardies in the garden were seemingly oblivious to the plight of the Family.
A knock on the front door - the Packers! No, it was not the Packers but two Beardie owners asking if they could come in. They proceeded to walk through the house and into the garden and once there collapsed in tears of joy.
"It's him, it's our boy, he's fine, he's well, he's walking, thank you, thank you, may we stay and watch him for awhile?" They watched all day, playing with their boy and the other Beardies and they understood the rule of not following them into the trees, it was not their time.
They joined the Family for supper that night and told them, "There are more of us, they are coming, they've all heard, you wait, they'll be here."
"Oh yes, we forgot, we have something for you," it was the Deed to their home, all paid off, you will never have to move from here," they added.
That evening as the Family and their new found friends watched the Beardies in the garden, they smiled, Bonnie, Rascal, Teddy, Ryan, Katie, Mimi, Slippers and Bo. They had all brought their friends, Sky, Hoover, Doone, Pepi, Hannah and Blackwell, Nugget, Fiona, Bentley, Ladykins and Kenner, so many of them now, doing what Beardies do best. And of course the little ones, unnamed, taken so quickly at birth before they could be named, and the homeless, living without a name - together again, playing, together and loved.
Suddenly the Beardies stopped and looked towards the setting sun, the Family turned too, looking out over the hills they spied a long train of lights winding through the canyons, along the country roads and speeding down the freeways. The Family knew then that everything was fine, they would keep the dream alive, 'THEY' were coming, all of them, all who had lost their Beardies, they were coming at last from every corner of the country to see their Beloved Beardies; for some it was an opportunity to say a final Good-bye, for others it was a time to see what might have been and yet again for others it was just simply to watch the Beardies they had loved for a lifetime, play in the Field of Dreams.
- Copyright by author 1998-"P. Jane Mazer"