It had been a long week at the Duke farm ever since Luke’s brother, Judd, had came for a visit. Judd had returned to the farm three months after his first visit, saying that he wanted the chance to get to know his brother better. Luke had been spending most every waking hour with Judd, and at first Bo had felt a tad jealous, feeling as though Judd was taking his place in Luke’s life. However he realized it was to think a thing like that knowing there was knowing Judd could take his place in Luke’s life, there was a strong bond between him and Luke forged by years of growing up together and having became blood brothers as children. Bo just backed off and allowed Luke to spend time with Judd and to get to know him better. However, Judd was not completely honest with any of the Dukes and Bo’s original feeling was correct, Judd did intend to replace Bo, not knowing how impossible that was. Over the past week he began to see that the only way to come close to achieving his goal would be through drastic measures.
     Luke and Judd were in the woods on the Duke property hunting with bows and arrows, which Luke was teaching Judd to use.
     “There’s a deer.” Judd said, pointing off into the woods.
     “You sure it’s a deer?” Luke asked, he could only catch of a faint glimpse of what Judd was pointing out.
     “Yeah, I’m sure.” Judd replied.
Luke aimed his arrow and let it fly, striking his mark. All of the colour quickly faded from Luke’s face when he heard someone scream in agony, and it was a voice he knew all to well, the voice of his younger cousin Bo. Luke cursed himself for not having got a better look at his target before letting the arrow fly, knowing that he had just injured his best friend. Luke ran through the woods as fast as his legs would carry him, his heart racing in fear, Bo hadn’t made any more noise since his first cry of pain and Luke feared that he may have killed Bo, thought of which he couldn’t even handle.
     Luke saw Bo lying on the ground, an arrow embedded deeply into his chest, and he saw the blood that was soaking Bo’s shirt. Luke dropped down beside his younger cousin.
     “BO!” Luke cried out, his voice choked as panic clutched him tightly.
Bo blinked at his cousin, his lips trembled as he tried to speak but no sound came out.
     “I’m sorry Bo . . . I didn’t mean . . . I . . .” Luke said, his voice trailing off.
Judd stood to Bo’s other side, hiding a smile from his lips, he had known full well that it had been Bo and not a deer. Luke looked the injury over and knew that he couldn’t remove the arrow and Bo needed immediate medical attention, as he feared the arrow had punctured one of Bo’s lungs.
     “Luke . . .” Bo said softly, his voice a mere whisper.
     “Just hang on Bo, you’re gonna be okay.” Luke said, concerned about the small trickle of blood that was flowing from the corner of Bo’s mouth.
     “I . . .” Bo started to say and stopped as pain tore through his body and he couldn’t find the strength to speak another word, he instead on started to cough, tasting the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
Luke took Bo’s right hand between his own and squeezed it firmly, the same way they had when becoming blood brothers.
     “Just hand on kiddo.” Luke said, and let go of Bo’s hand as he gently lifted Bo into his arms.
Bo gave a small whimper of pain, the slightest movement causing him great pain.
     “Sorry.” Luke said, and carefully carried Bo up to the house.
 Jesse was just coming outside as they neared the house.
     “What . . . what happened?” Jesse asked, his voice fraught with worry at the sight of the blood.
     “I’ll tell you on the way to the hospital, we have to get Bo there, QUICKLY.” Luke said, noticing that Bo was slipping towards unconsciousness, fearing if that happened Bo would surly die.
     “Should I get a towel to apply pressure to the wound?” Jesse asked.
     “No, applying pressure would only push the arrow in deeper . . . so there is no way to staunch the bleeding.” Luke said.
Luke climbed into the truck, still holding Bo, he knew the General was faster but there was no way to easily get Bo in and out through the windows of the car. Jesse climbed in behind the wheel of the truck, they knew they had little time to waste, the nearest hospital was thirty minutes away.
     “I’ll follow ya in my car.” Judd shouted, and waved as the truck sped away.
     Luke explained what had happened, and expected that Jesse was going to be upset.
     “You should’ve been more careful.” Jesse said, he wasn’t angry with Luke, he was upset but didn’t allow it show knowing Luke already felt bad enough.
     “I know . . . I am sorry.”  Luke said, glancing down at Bo. “C’mon just stay with us Bo. You can’t leave us that is an order, I am older you have to listen to me.”
Luke bit back the tears that burned in his eyes. “Please don’t die Bo . . . please I couldn’t stand to be the cause of your death.”
     They arrived at the hospital just over thirty minutes later, and could no nothing but stand and watch as the doctors wheeled him away.  Jesse had filled out the papers, and Luke called Daisy at Boar’s Nest to tell her to come. Judd arrived a short time after Jesse and Luke, and he sat with the family as they waited for word on Bo. Luke appeared to be the most nervous of everyone, and he was because he knew he had nobody to blame but himself for what happened to Bo, that if anything happened that he would be the cause of Bo’s death and it broke his heart.
     An hour later, a young doctor walked across the waiting room and over to the Dukes.
     “Are you the Duke family?”
Jesse nodded, quickly getting to his feet. “How’s my boy?”
The doctor sighed, he hated being the bearer of bad news. “I am arrived that there was a lot of nerve and tissue damage and he lost a lot of blood.”
     “He will be okay though, right?” Daisy asked worriedly.
     “I’m afraid not, there was massive internal damage that we can’t repair. I am afraid that he will be doing good to make it through the next hour.”
     “NO! You have to be wrong. Bo can’t die.” Luke said angrily, and Jesse put a hand on his arm to calm him.
     “I am terribly sorry. I can allow you to be with him until he passes, is you want.”
Jesse nodded, his tear, ignoring the tears that streaked his cheeks he couldn’t believe that his youngest nephew was going to die.
     “I’ll wait here . . . I think it is best if y’all are the only ones there, since he was closet to y’all.” Judd said.
Nobody argued with Judd, there were all more concerned about Bo, and the three Dukes followed the doctor down to Bo’s room.
     It pained all of them to see Bo’s condition, his skin was pale white, and he was hooked up to several machines. His dark blue eyes reflected his pain, though he forced a weak smile for the sake of his family. Daisy sat on the edge on Bo’s bed, and gave her younger cousin a kiss on the forehead.
     “Oh Bo  . . .” Daisy said and broke down crying she stood up and stepped to one side, as Jesse sat down by Bo.
Jesse put a hand on Bo’s shoulder, and found that no words would come, he had no idea of what to say to his dying nephew.
     “I love you Bo . . . we will all miss you . . .”Jesse said his voice trailing off as tears closed his throat, he stepped to one side, allowing Luke to say his last words.
Bo wanted to talk to his family, but the damage done felt him unable speak. Luke looked eyes with Bo, and it cut through his heart to see all the pain in Bo’s dark blue eyes, he thought he would see blame, but noticed there was none only the same friendship and brotherly love that had always been there.
     “I am so sorry Bo. I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you . . . I hope you know that.” Luke said, and took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. “I love you like a brother, I always have, you have always been my best friend, the one I could always turned to, the one I could share everything with. I can’t believe anything like this could happen . . . that I am to blame for your death . . . I am sorry.”
There was a few minutes of silence, and Bo closed his eyes as his last bit of strength, his last bit of life began to slip from his body. A moment later the heart machine buzzed as Bo went flat line. The doctor stepped back into the room, and unplugged the machine, and pulled the blanket over Bo’s face, while his family stood there in disbelief.
     The day of Bo’s funeral came and went and Luke was having an obvious hard time dealing with the death of his younger cousin, a death he had caused. Judd seemed to be the only one who was not upset by Bo’s death.
     “How can you be so cheerful?” Luke asked.
Judd shrugged. “You can’t let Bo’s death get you down, stuff like that happens get over it.”
     “I KILLED my little cousin.” Luke said, not believing how Judd acted as though it were nothing.
     “Yeah so? You ain’t dead, live a little, after all you still got me.” Judd said.
     “It’s not the same.” Luke said.
     “Why? Because you loved Bo more then you love me your own brother.”
     “It was different with me and Bo . . . I can’t put it into words.” Luke said.
     “I knew you cared more about him, I thought with him gone that we would get close.” Judd said.
     “What do you mean?”
     “I knew with him around that you and I would never be that close, we might be brothers by blood but to you Bo would always be your only brother.” Judd said. “Even getting rid of him didn’t do no good.”
     “What are you saying Judd?” Luke asked. “You aren’t the one that shot that arrow I was.”
     “I know and I told you to. I KNEW it wasn’t a deer.” Judd said.
Luke shook his head not able to believe what he was hearing.
     “It’s true. I wanted him gone.” Judd said.
     “You . . . it is your fault that I . . . killed Bo.” Luke said, his voice trembling with anger and pain.
    “Well you didn’t look before shooting so can you really blame anyone but yourself?”
     “It’s your fault . . .” Luke said, his voice trailing off.
Judd shrugged. “Courts would see it differently if you tried to press any kind of charges after all you shot the arrow, and I didn’t force you do it.”
     “GET OUT!” Luke yelled.
     “Fine brother. I’m outta your life for good. Just don’t go blaming me for your own actions you are the one that killed Bo.” Judd said.
Luke shoved past Judd and ran blindly, fighting back the tears that burned in his eyes, he ended up at the graveyard standing before Bo’s grave.
     “NO! I’M SORRY BO!” Luke yelled and dropped to his knees. “I’m SORRY!” Luke yelled over and over before his emotions took their toll on his body and he slumped to the ground.

     Luke sat straight up on his bed, his eyes closed still screaming I am sorry. His screams woke Bo, who went over and gave Luke a firm shake.
     “Luke wake up, you’re having a bad dream.”
Luke opened his eyes but he hadn’t really woke up, the dream still playing in his mind, and he shoved Bo to the floor just as Jesse and Daisy came into the room.
     “What’s goin’ on in here?” Jesse asked.
     “Luke’s having a bad dream and I can’t snap him out of it.” Bo said.
Jesse walked over and gave Luke a shake.
     “Snap out of it.” Jesse said, and Luke stared at Jesse, his blue eyes appearing lost.
Daisy sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Luke’s shoulder.
     “C’mon wake up cousin.” Daisy said.
Luke shook his head, waking himself up, but the images of the dream still clung to him and seemed so real. Luke cast a quick glance at Bo and quickly turned away.
     “You gonna tell us what this dream was about?” Bo asked.
     “No.” Luke said. “You died you can’t be here.”
     “Luke you was dreaming.” Jesse said. “Nobody died.”
Luke took a deep trembling breath, but remained silent. Jesse motioned for Daisy to follow him from the room, figuring if Luke was gonna talk it would be to Bo. Bo sat down beside Luke, placing a hand on his cousin’s shoulder.
     “Want to tell me about the dream?” Bo asked.
Luke sighed, and figured it might be for the best, even though it still felt too real to be a dream, and he told Bo everything that had happened.
     “It was just a dream Luke, don’t worry it’s all over now. I ain’t dead and everything is just fine.” Bo said.
Luke smiled at his younger cousin. “I’m glad . . . it still feels so real though. But I am glad to know that you are alive . . . I couldn’t stand the thought that I had killed you . . . even if it was accidental.”
     “Just don’t worry about. It’s almost morning and I doubt that we are gonna get any more sleep so let’s just get a move on the day shall we?”
Luke nodded his head in agreement.
     The day past like any other Hazzard day, Luke still had trouble forgetting his dream, but tried not to think about it, he only cared about one thing Bo was alive. Night rolled around once again, and Luke fell into a peaceful sleep.

     Luke woke up to the feeling of someone shaking him, and opened his eyes to see his uncle, and cousin Daisy.
     “What?” Luke asked wearily.
     “You were having a dream, you’ve been sleeping for hours.” Daisy said.
Luke glanced around the room seeing all of Bo’s things were gone.
     “Where’s Bo?” Luke asked.
     “Bo’s gone.” Jesse said sadly.
     “No . . . that was just a dream.” Luke said.
     “No it wasn’t Luke.” Daisy said.
     “You have been asleep since we found you at the graveyard.” Jesse said.
     “No . . . none of that happened.” Luke said.
     “Yes it did. You must have been dreaming and in your mind you made yourself believe what happened was a dream.
     “Bo is dead.” Luke said sadly, tears burning in his eyes.
     “Oh Luke honey.” Daisy said, hugging her cousin. “I know it hurts, we all miss him.”
     “Do you want to tell us why you ran off earlier?” Jesse asked.
Luke told them what Judd had said, and it was all he could do to keep himself for crying, it broke his heart to know that Bo was really dead. The day past slowly and that night Luke fell into a restless sleep.
 
     Luke woke up when he heard a rustling noise in the room, he opened his eyes and saw Bo.
     “About time you woke up.” Bo said.
     “I . . .” Luke said his voice trailed off as he couldn’t find the words to say.
     “Did you have another dream?” Bo asked concernedly.
     “Yeah . . . but it basically picked up from the same spot as before.” Luke said.
     “Strange. Maybe you just thought too much about the dream.” Bo said.
     “But . . . they said that this was the dream.” Luke said.
     “Well it ain’t no dream cuz, this is real life.” Bo said.

     The next week passed same and Luke felt like he was living two lives, each time he was told the other was only a dream, and the stress of it began to wear on his nerves. Luke slammed the hood of the General.
     “Would you just forget about that dream.” Bo said.
     “How do I know this ain’t the dream, each time I am told the other is a dream and now I don’t even know what is real and what is a dream.” Luke said.
     “This is real.” Bo said.
     “Both seem real to me.” Luke said.
     “Forget your dream Luke, you don’t want it to be real, do you?” Bo said.
     “That is not what I mean, of course I don’t want it to be real, but hat don’t make it feel any less real. THIS is the exact reason they tell me this is a dream because THIS is what I want, I want you to be alive.” Luke said.
     “So just leave it at that.” Bo said.
     “I can’t . . . not until I know what is real.” Luke said.
     “Reality is all what you make it to be.” Bo said.
     “What do you mean?” Luke asked.
     “Which do you want to be true?”
     “I want this to be true.” Luke said.
     “Then it is true.” Bo said.
     “This is a dream ain’t it . . . I am just dreaming you are dead.” Luke said.
     “I thought you said you wanted this to be real. I know I want this to be real.” Bo said.
     “I don’t understand. I want all of this to stop I can’t stand not knowing what is my life and what is dream, every time I . . . I go to the other I have to go through the pain of losing you all over again.” Luke said. “If this is a dream I want I to stop.”
Everything faded from around Luke, except Bo, who remained standing before him, until there was them and a pure whit e light surrounding them.
     “This wasn’t meant to hurt you. It’s not what I wanted to do.” Bo said, and Luke could hear the sadness in Bo’s voice.
     “This is a dream isn’t it?” Luke asked.
     “It can be either.” Bo said. “I wanted it to be true.”
     “I don’t understand.” Luke said. “Are you even really here?”
     “What do you think?” Bo asked.
Luke thought about it and nodded. “Yes, but I still don’t understand.”
     “What life do you want?” Bo asked.
     “There is only one reality, all that other was dream.” Luke said.
     “It was just as real as anything else Luke.” Bo said. “I didn’t think you would have trouble adjusting, I thought you would believe the other was a dream.”
     “You did this?” Luke asked.
     “Yes.” Bo said. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
     “Why did you do this?” Luke asked.
     “I couldn’t let go of my life, and as long as one living soul would enter the world it would all be reality. I couldn’t just make it my own life.” Bo said. “I thought it would better for you too. I know what happened hurt you, it wasn’t your fault that I died but I know you blamed yourself and would carry that grief with you forever, here that pain would be gone.”
     “But this is a dream it can’t be real. Nothing else would be real and nobody else would be real just figments of  . . . our imagination.” Luke said.
     “No everything and everyone would take on it’s own reality and be just as real as anything.” Bo said.
     “But this is a dream.” Luke said.
     “STOP SAYING THAT!” Bo yelled, and Luke noticed for the first time that Bo was fading.
     “What’s happening?” Luke asked.
     “The more you keep saying this is a dream the more it become a dream to your mind and less real I become. If you keep telling yourself that this is a dream it’ll be the end of me.” Bo said.
Luke shook his head. “That’s not what I want. If this . . . becomes a dream where will you go?”
     “I don’t know and I don’t want to know. I want to be here with you. I am not ready to die yet. If I go we will never see each other again.” Bo said.
     “That can’t be true.” Luke said. “How do I know any of this is true, if you admit all that was a dream then you can be a dream to.”
     “Luke please, I don’t want to die.” Bo said.
     “You already did die though, and it was my fault. This has to be a dream my mind is just trying to deal with the grief and all of the guilt.” Luke said.
     “Luke . . . please . . . if you keep thinking this is a dream you will kill me again, is that what you want?”
     “No, I would never want that I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you.” Luke said.
     “Then accept this as reality.” Bo said.
     “I don’t get how this can actually happen.” Luke said.
     “Do you know how people will go into comas that they never awake from?”
     “Yeah, what’s that got to do with this.”
     “That is what this is. Those people go into a different reality, they accept it to be true and leave the other behind.” Bo said.
     “So if I stayed here I would be in a coma forever?” Luke asked.
     “Not forever. Even if you left the other world completely, your soul would live on here in a normal life.” Bo said.
     “And if something happens to one of us?” Luke said.
     “Nothing will happen. Just accept this to be reality.” Bo said.
     “What about Uncle Jesse and Daisy? Couldn’t we bring them here too?”
Bo shook his head. “It will be like they already are here with us, if you accept this reality you will see that.”
     “But . . .”
     “They will be fine Luke. They are better here, this is the reality that we need.”
    Luke suddenly heard Jesse and Daisy calling his name, telling him to wake up, and he glanced over his shoulder towards the sounds of their voices, and saw a orb of glowing light.
     “If you follow their voices into that light this reality will be forever gone.”
     “I can’t keep coming back and forth?” Luke questioned.
     “Not now that you know the truth.” Bo said.
Luke felt an urge to go to the orb of light and be with Jesse and Daisy, but hated the thought of leaving Bo.
     “I don’t know what to do.” Luke said.
     “You have to decide now.” Bo said.
     “I can’t.” Luke said.
     “Look into your heart and find the answer there.” Bo said.
Luke closed his eyes and searched his heart.
 
    He opened his eyes, finding himself in a bright orange car, racing along a dirt road.
     “Hang on cuz, this is were we lose Rosco.” Bo said, as the General became airborne and sailed gracefully across the creek.