//------------------------------// // Act 3: Spending Winter Underground // Story: Flutterlina // by Pinkie Pie Sweets //------------------------------// Under the stump of a tree, there lives a mouse with gray fur, black whiskers, brown eyes, and a bright pink nose. She is wearing a white long sleeve shirt, a dark brown dress, and a white apron. Her house, has a table, a fireplace with a cauldron, and a door that leads to a room with two bed inside. The mouse is cooking some vegetable soup and it's finish. She then put the soup in a bowl that is on a tray, with a glass of water, and a bowl of blueberries. In the room, Flutterlina stirs and wakes up from her sleep, but she's feeling tired and cold. Her vision is a little blurry but can tell that someone's in the room. "Hello dearie, I see that you're awake," The gray mouse says. Flutterlina asks feeling tired, "Who…Who are you, and where am I?" I'm Ms. Gray Tail the field mouse, and this is my home. I found you in the snow while gathering wood, so I've decided to take you back to my little home and take care of you." Ms. Gray Tail answers with a smile. She then passes Flutterlina bowl of soup as she says, "Here you go, I made some vegetable soup for you." "Thank you very much ma'am. My name is Flutterlina," Flutterlina says, taking the bowl as she introduces herself. "You're welcome, Fluterlina," Ms. Gray Tail replies. Sometime later, Flutterlina explain to Ms. Gray Tail about her troubles and how she ended up in the snow. "I see, so you've been traveling all by yourself," Ms. Gray Tail says, sounding a little stunned to hear what happened. "Yes," Flutterlina replies. Just then Ms. Gray Tail suggests,"If you don't have anywhere to go then you should stay with me. The winter's going to get colder and it will be nice to have some company." "Thank you very much," Flutterlina happily says. The two both agree that flutterlina will be staying in Ms. Gray Tail's house for the winter. Ms. Gray Tail suddenly remembers, "Yes, I almost forgot." "What is it?" Flutterlina asks. "One of a week my next door neighbor, Mr. Digger the mole comes here for a visit, so we would need to get thing ready for him," Ms Gray Tail explains. "Your next door neighbor?" Flutterlina questionably replies. Ms. Gray Tail says, "Yes. He's the richest man around. He can sometimes be a bit hard to please but he isn't a bad mole." Flutterlina nods her head and says, "Right, I understand." I'm pretty sure he's going to be fond of a pretty little girl like , and if you shall become his bride, you'll be able to live a life filled with luxury. He'll be paying us a visit late in the evening, so we should start cleaning up before it gets dark." Ms Gray Tail says with glee, and has that idea in mind for Flutterlina. Flutterlina blushes and feels unsure about the part about being married after the incident with the frogs. After some cleaning, Ms. Gray Tail treats Flutterlina to some new clothes. Flutterlina is now wearing an ivory shirt with a navy blue vest, and dark blue skirt, her hair and tail are in braids, and her mane is tied with a white ribbon. "My, aren't you a pretty girl you are," Ms. Gray Tail says, liking the new look she gives to Flutterlina. Flutterlina blushes, and says, "Thank you." Ms. Gray Tail looks out the window as she says, "It's getting pretty dark so he should be here very soon." Just then they hear a knock on the door, so Ms. Gray Tail answers the door to see her neighbor. Ms. Gray Tail open the door to see her neighbor and happily says,Hello Mr. Digger. "Hello Ms. Gray Tail, how are you doing?" Mr. Digger asks. "Fine," Ms. Gray Tail answers. Flutterlina feels a bit scared and nervous about meeting him. Mr. Digger is a large star nosed mole. He is wearing a large black coat, with a brown shirt, warm pants, dark brown shoes, and is wearing dark black glasses on his face. He looks at Flutterlina, and Flutterlina simply cursy in his presence. Ms. Gray tail says, This is Flutterlina, she'll be staying with me for a while. "Nice to meet you," Mr Digger says in a deep voice. "Nice to meet you, too," Flutterlina shyly replies. "In your case, you're probably happy that the weather's been bad lately," Ms. Gray Tail says. "Yes," Mr. Digger answers. Throughout the visit, Ms. Gray Tail and Mr. Digger talk to each other, but he hasn't said a word to Flutterlina. When it's really dark outside, Mr. Digger is finished with his visit and leaves home for the night. Ms. Gray Tail is in front of the doorway saying her goodbye. "See you again next week," Ms. Gray Tail calls out as Mr. Digger leaves. Mr. Digger waves his paw in reply and continue to head back home. With that, Ms. Gray Tail closes the door. Ms. Gray Tail turns to Flutterlina with a smile on her face, and says, "I think Mr. Digger has taken a liking to you." "What, but he never even spoke to me the time he was here?" Flutterlina replies looking confused. "Yes, but he was paying a lot of attention to you. I can tell." Ms. Gray Tail answers. "Was he really?" Flutterlina asks. "He was. I'll bet the next time he visits, he'll bring you a present." Ms. Gray Tail suspects. Next week, Mr. Digger pays them another visit, and has bring a beautiful dress. The dress is a light blue color, with some white trims on the bottom, and a white ribbon in front of it. "My, what a pretty dress you've got there," Ms. Gray Tail says amazed to see the dress. Mr. Digger passes the drs to Ms. Gray Tail, and says, "Yes, it's a present for Flutterlina. Ms. Gray Tail turns and winks her right eye at Flutterlina, and says, "Told you." Flutterlina is rather confused and unsure about this. Then Mr. Digger says, "Oh yes, because the weather's getting colder, I dug a tunnel that links our home together so I can come visit you." "My, that must have taken you awhile to finish it," Ms Gray Tail says in amazement. "Not much for a mole like myself to do," Mr. Digger replies. "I see," Ms. Gray Tail replies. "Would you like to see it?" Mr. Digger asks. Ms. Gray Tail nods her head and answer, Yes. Flutterlina and I would love to." The three travel through the tunnel. Mr. Digger leads the way while holding a lantern in front, so Ms. Gray Tail and Flutterlina can see. Flutterlina feels weary and says, "It's pretty dark in here." "That just the way I like it, but don't worry, as long as no dangerous animals or snow and sunlight comes in, we'll be safe." Mr. Digger calmly replies. Just then Ms Gray Tail notices something and shockley says, "Oh my, what is that? The three look to see that there is a large hole on top of the cage, and now is coming in. what really stunned them is that a large dark blue swallow with a red chest, and bottom of the face, and white feathers at the end of his tail. Flutterlina says in a quiet tone, "It's a swallow." "It is a swallow. I'm guessing that bird must have fallen at some point and crashed in here." Mr. Digger adds. Flutterlina walks over to the swallow and sadly says, "Oh, the poor little thing." Ms. Gray Tail asks as she looks at the hole, "I agree, but what are we going to do about the hole?" Not to worry, some more dirt, wood, and snow should do the trick," Mr. Digerr says. He looks a the swallow with a sigh, and says, "But I don't think there's anything we can do for the swallow." Flutterlina walks up to the swallow and feels sad for it. She then leads on top of it's chest, and hear something amazing. She can hear it's heart beating. Flutterlian smiles and says, "I… I can hear it's heart beating." Ms. Gray Tail and Mr. Digger hear it and take a look for themselves. They can hear it's heart beating too, meaning that the swallow is alive. Ms. Gray Tail says, "You're right, the poor thing must be frozen from being out in the cold." Mr. Digger nods his head and says, Yes. If we can get it somewhere warm, then maybe there's a way we can save it. All through the winter, Flutterlina along with Mr. Digger and Ms. Gray tail took care of the swallow. The swallow is in the room with Flutterlina and Ms. Gray Tail. Ms. Gray tail covers the bird with blankets while Flutterlina feeds it food. A few months, Flutterlina and the swallow are outside. The swallow spread his wings, and fly away with a smile. Flutterlina waves her hoof with a smile, and says, "Goodbye swallow, I hope I get to see you again someday. "Bye, and thank you all for the help," The swallow happily says. The swallow flies away into the sky and the sun. Flutterlina simply smiles seeing the bird is happy, and that spring is almost here.