The interesting life of "Fluttershy"

"Um... hi everyone" said Fluttershy shyly as she stepped into the lobby where her four friends stood eagerly waiting for her.

Yet even as she stepped towards her friends, she did so cautiously, her fingers trembling as she went.

Her eyes darted around the room, carefully scanning for any sign of movement and despite her eagerness at being able to spend time with the four friends she owed her life to, her glance was both calculating and timid and her trembling hand held her jacket pocket, ready to draw out her trusty pistol at a second's notice if needed.

They were her friends, no more than that, they were her best friends but years of feeling cheap, cheated and abused had taught Fluttershy never to trust in anyone but herself.

She was as cautious around her most trusted companions as she was around any shady stranger and treated them with no more trust than she did her most feared enemies (or adversaries as she preferred to call them since hating was bad and to call them enemies would be to say she hated them)

As Fluttershy cautiously waved at the four girls who were about her age sitting in front of her, tears welled in her eyes as she recalled a much more blissful time in her tragic life, a time where her trust could be  given to those she cared about without restraint, a time where she could say she still had what people called "a family".

Several years ago

Her dad would gently caress her in his loving arms, and gently stroke her cheeks when she ran to him crying after a hard day and nothing was more soothing than hearing his tranquil, melodious voice as he sympathetically comforted his daughter who he loved with all his heart.

He never punished her, and she never disappointing him.  He held her in high esteem and made her happy without spoiling her and taught her the same lessons the great and honorable Gandhi and John Kennedy once taught their loyal subjects. He taught her to be a peaceful figure who detested violence of any sort.

He taught her the meaning of selflessness, and the virtue of kindness and mercy to even the enemy.

While he lived, Fluttershy felt as if she was already in heaven. She saw no need to make any other friends for she already had the only two friends she would ever need in her life, mama and papa.

Her father's name, she would tell no one as it was her secret to keep and to bring it up in even casual conversation would only sink her into a deeper depression than she was already stuck in. As for her mother, try as she might Fluttershy could not let go of the hatred she felt against that woman. She wanted to forgive or at least forget, but all the lessons Fluttershy had learned about acceptance and forgiveness could not persuade her to let go of the everlasting grudge she felt for the friend she regarded as long dead.

She was but seven years of age, when it happened. She would never know why, but that dark and stormy night when that family reunion day came and when she would finally see her beloved mother again after she had been away for so long was the very night she came to abhor.

Fluttershy's mother was often away working, and the brief times when she did come home were so brief, Fluttershy never had a chance to exchange many words with her mother before her mother was forced to leave once more.  Fluttershy realized that her mother was a busy woman and that she was already lucky to have her beloved father by her side, but could not help but yearn for her mother not to be away for so long.

Yet the day the very thing Fluttershy dreamed of despite its innocence, was the day the smile on Fluttershy's once optimistic cheeks forever faded.

It began one late night when unable to sleep, Fluttershy lay awake in bed, trembling for a reason she could not explain.

Her father had fallen asleep on the sofa downstairs and was snoring heartily in deep slumber. as

Thats when she heard the ominous sound of a key turn in the lock of the front door, and a set of barely audible footsteps were heard as a cloaked figure crept into the house.

They were as silent as footsteps came, and the entry was as discrete as any entry could be but Fluttershy heard it all, being wide awake as she was.

But before she could take even one step further, her ears were assaulted by the horrific cry of anguish and horror which emitted from the room downstairs. She heard it for but a fraction of a second, for the sound was instantly muffled as if someone had covered the mouth of the yelling man to prevent him yelling any further.

But that cry was enough and Fluttershy knew she could waste no time, as much sorrow as she felt for the victim of that cry as she did. Careful to make as little noise as possible, she crept towards her window which was fortunately open to let the cooling breeze in on that hot summer's night.

It was a long way down, but Fluttershy knew it was her only chance, and knew that she might have only seconds before the assailant downstairs noticed her presence and decided to come for her too. She had barely taken a few steps before a set of stealthy feet began thudding up the stairs.

There was no time to think, no time to consider, for the shy and timid pink haired girl thinking to dive out the window despite the absurdly steep drop the choice was simple.

Take a chance and risk everything or play it safe, and lose it all there and then.

Not wasting an instant, she dove from the window without hesitation, silently praying to lady luck as she did so.  Even as she fell to the earth making no sound as she fell, a gunshot echoed in the room she had just jumped from.

She hit the earth, dazed and shaken with a somewhat sprained leg, but other wisely physically unhurt and uninjured. The same could not be said for her mental well being for as she glanced back towards the window to behold her assailant, she saw in that brief glance the face of the assassin. The face of her mother, of mama....

It was but a glance but that awful image was forever seared into her memory.

It was therefore no surprise that when poor Flutters had spent an hour fleeing her home in desperation (not even able to say goodbye to her beloved father) and had come to her senses, that she talked to no one.

She begged no one for money, she asked no one for help, she asked for nothing from anyone. Her sense of trust had forever been broken and she would never trust again. When you could place no trust in the very woman who created you, who was supposed to love you unconditionally in both sickness and health regardless of situation, how could she place trust  in any stranger. They would likely be just as bad, if not worse and Fluttershy realized that she could talk to no one.

Instead, she left the city behind and headed for the woods, taking care not to talk or make eye contact with any passer by who happened to be out despite the late hour.

Once a boy, no more than perhaps 3 years her senior spoke to her, perhaps asking if she was alright and needed help.

With tears in her eyes , Fluttershy smote him in the face and he fled.

She stumbled through the thick undergrowth, struggled across dense vegetation and the many branches that blocked her way and waded across a large river when there was no bridge across it. She wandered on and on, aimlessly through the wilderness, until fatigue overcame her and she could limp no longer when she collapsed into a pile of fallen leaves and dropped off to slumber, tears streaming down her face as she slept.

She woke at dawn, and continued to struggle on. She had nothing to eat, for she could not trust even the berries and fruit she came across. She could trust no more.

Once again, she collapsed with fatigue when the night came and fell asleep knowing full well she might not ever wake from her slumber in the very likely event a predator savaged her in her sleep.

But non did, and Fluttershy continued on forward, wondering if she would ever leave that seemingly endless forest. It wasn't until several days later that Fluttershy finally came across a city. Several times now, her thirst had driven her to drink river water and to eat the berries she would otherwise not touch with a barge pole.

She shuddered and stepped towards the city, still in her