The Shy Driver

Dog Dealings

Soon, Jack left to work as an engineer. Mom worked part-time from home on the computer, so Fluttershy was pretty much alone. To take some time off, she stayed in the backyard, observing and talking with the birds and the squirrels, and tending to the flowers on the porch.

A little while later, Lorraine came back out onto the porch with some lemonade, as the weather had warmed up quite a bit – it was late June, after all. She noticed the plant bed and gasped.

"Did you tidy up these plants and tend to them?" she asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy, who was chatting with a blackbird at the moment, turned to see Lorraine on the porch. She came softly flying down. "Yes, I did tidy up those plants. You know, I couldn't just leave them like that. Plants need care, love, and food, just like animals and humans."

"I do agree," Lorraine replied, handing a mug of lemonade to Fluttershy and pulling up a deck chair. "I actually like gardening, I just got caught up in sewing too much. I used to be a seamstress, until I retired to spend more time with my children."

Her face lowered. "I apologize for not taking care of the plants, I forgot all about them."

"It's okay, Lorraine," Fluttershy replied with a reassuring smile.

"I forget tasks, too. So, how did your family come to be, and what are your goals?"

Lorraine's mouth formed a tiny O of surprise that Fluttershy, being her shy self, would ask such a question. But she went with it.

"Um...well. I once was a fairly popular seamstress, making fabulous dresses and jewelry. I briefly considered interior design as a second career path, but didn't have enough motivation. Anyways this rich ditzy girl asked me rudely for the most luxurious dress I could make for her wedding. She married Jack, but he divorced her less than a year later when he found out that she was embezzling in her part of his business funds. He found me, and apologized for what happened. It was love at first sight. We then married and I later gave up my business to focus on raising my children."

A tear rolled down Fluttershy's cheek as she smiled. Interesting. Lorraine caught sight of the tear and opened her mouth, but Fluttershy responded before she could say anything.

"I was just recalling one my friends, Rarity. She's just like you were. She loves fashion and high-ranking profiles. And she's a seamstress – in fact, the top one in my hometown. I...I just wish you could meet her."

After drinking up their lemonade, Lorraine and Fluttershy watched two back-to-back episodes of The Suite Life On Deck and ate a good lunch. As the noon hit, Fluttershy made one choice that would change her life on Earth completely.

"Lorraine – I mean, Mom?" she called out. "I'm going for a walk. Is that okay?"

"All right, Fluttershy, just don't wander too far. You don't know this area too well," Lorraine replied from upstairs, then blushed. Did she just call me her 'mom'?

________________

"Um, thanks," Fluttershy replied in her usual quiet, slightly timid voice. She opened the front door and stepped out onto the front porch, and for the first time got a good look at the world she lived in. Walking down the steps and onto the driveway, she couldn't help but observe the intricately well-designed metal carriage parked on it. It was amazing, with shiny wheels and a large rear space. Except, there was no apparent way to drive it forward or backward. There were no rungs to attach to a saddle or any of that sort.

Leaving the "metal carriage" behind, Fluttershy stepped out into the street and looked up and down the block, trying to form a map in her mind. She turned left and walked down the sidewalk, trying not to step on any garbage she came across. As many people were away at school or work there wasn't much to see, so she continued walking, until she came upon a much larger street.