//------------------------------// // You eat this? // Story: The Pink Haired Woman // by Seran //------------------------------// “This is the place,” John said as he opened the door with his right hand, with a bag of clothes in his left. He turned to her as she stood in the rain. Her new rain hat and her yellow sweater were getting soaked. “What are you waiting for?” “Cars are scary.” She replied while she stared at the Civic. Realizing she was getting cold, she rushed to the porch, fumbling her feet on the steps. Before striking the wooden floor, she was stopped in mid air by a tight grasp. Her eyes opened wider as she looked up to see the man holding her arm keeping her suspended off the ground. She didn’t move from the surprise. ‘What would he say?’ She wondered to herself. “Can you stand now? My arm is getting tired.” He said with a blush. The awkward position placed some strain on his shoulder. The woman also blushed as she stood holding herself in embarrassment. “Running up steps can be dangerous when raining.” He assured her. “Sorry, I’m not used to walking on my hind legs.” She replied with a quiver and a look to her left. He smiled at her, believing the facts that Joe told him about her. ‘They must have weird ways of walking.’ He thought to himself. He led her into the house, turning on the light. The sudden amount of filth startled the woman. There were mountains of take-out boxes and noodle cups. The television was surrounded by boxes of DVDs and games. Near the door was a pile of coats that he was too lazy to wash after a day’s work. “Oh yeah,” was all John could say, “I guess even after you leave college, the college life is hard to get rid of.” He awkwardly chuckled at the statement. “I’ve… seen worse?” “I’ll clean it up in the morning. We get the day off. You can’t pick fields the day after it rains.” “How can you live like this?” “You get used to it.” John said, shrugging his shoulders. Having realized he still hasn’t eaten his dinner he grabbed his stomach to calm the pain, “Are you hungry?” Her face sparked with a smile. “Well I didn’t want to impose, but…” “It’s nothing; I need to eat as well. The kitchen is this way.” He led her into the next room. The kitchen was moderately sized and a bit messy. Dirty dishes that needed to be cleaned and the trash had been left unattended for a day or more. “Might as well get started.” He muttered to himself as he rolled up his sleeves. Something caught her attention. A scrap of foil with a label standing over it marked ‘BBQ leftovers’ poked at her curiosity. She reached over to check it. Inside was something she had never seen before. This thing seemed to be grilled mushroom caps covered in sauce, cut without the gills. She poked at it. The squish of the strange object made more juices come out. “What is this?” she asks. “That’s tri-tip,” he responded while still washing the dishes. “What’s that?” Her head turned to him quizzically, her finger still pressed on the meat. “I would say it’s the bottom sirloin of the cow, near the hind legs. Tastes good with the right sauce or spice.” The room suddenly went silent. John continued to wash some dishes, drawing all his attention to the running water and the spotted plate. He did not expect the cold hands of the woman rip him from his concentration and shake him out of his mind. “How could you?!” She shouted at him, “How could you take a cow from her family just to kill her and eat her?!” “But, but, but…” John tried to defend himself. “But nothing! You took a cow from her life! She probably even had a name, something like Mooriella and had hopes and dreams! But you took her, a harmless animal, and ATE her!” Her screams became louder. “How would you like it if some creature took you out of your house and home and cut you apart just to feed you to its friends? Huh?” “We’re human, we are omnivores in nature.” He finally got to speak while she was huffing, “Humans eat meat, just like how cats eat fish or owls eat mice. It’s all in nature. Why do you think our teeth are designed like this?” His hand hidden he gripped the pistol on his belt fearing for his life, hoping he doesn’t have to use it but staying prepared. The woman calmed her breath. “But why does it have to be like this?” She cried. “Why must you humans eat other animals?” “We need the protein to keep our skin and muscles healthy.” John cited what his father told him, “Fish helps keep the mind sharp and beef has protein to help muscles grow and stay strong.” “I wish it didn’t.” She finally let go, leaving him with time to breathe. Her eyes were still tearing up. John noticed she was passionate about animals. “Listen, the animals get to live full lives before they are eaten.” John lied, “Some even become mothers and fathers, some even are heads of the herds before they know it’s their time to go, then at a certain age they are calmly put to sleep and used to feed the towns they live in to, but we take good care of their children after they’re gone, that way the cycle can continue.” She looked at him, cleaning her eyes of any hanging tear. Her eyes pierced through what he said. “It’s still wrong to eat them.” she said with a stern face. “Plants are living things too, you know.” John just didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. The woman was shocked by his statement; she opened her mouth and closed it again in defeat . The only thing she could do now, was cry. He kept a straight face as long as he could. He didn’t last long. ‘Nice job, dick.’ John scolded himself. With all of his energy he stepped forward and held the strange crying woman. “Why…” she sniffed, “why do you have to be so mean?” the woman said, crying into his shoulder. This only made John feel worse. “Sorry, but it is insulting when someone comes to your house and tells you that you’re wrong, and you insulted me in a way.” “I didn’t mean to. I just think eating meat is wrong.” “Listen,” he assured, “Some people like meat and others don’t. It’s just part of nature. Just like how some people like red but others blue or green.” “I… I like green.” “See, and I like maroon. People have different tastes and we have to respect them.” He looked at her and smiled, “I had some vegetarian friends back in California and they accepted with my love for meat, so I can accept your distaste for it.” She looked at him, her mind fixed on the words he said. The words that flew out of his mouth helped her understand. “Do I have to eat meat?” she asked, worry building up in her heart. “Not if you don’t want to.” He smiled, trying to calm her. A knock came at the door, along with a muffled voice. John slowly released his grip, and headed to the entryway. He turned on the porch light to see who it was. He opened the door to find his neighbor holding a shotgun. “Are you okay?” he asked frantically, “I heard some shouting. Did your crazy ex find you?” “No Earl, I’m fine,” John replied, suddenly annoyed, “What do you mean ‘crazy ex’? You know I only have one ex, and you know how she turned up.” “Right, sorry for your loss.” He looked in to see the pink haired lady. He slapped on a coy smile. John rolled his eyes. “Oh, this is my guest…” John gestured at her, not wanting to say her name, “she got upset when she saw the meat from Sunday’s barbeque.” “Well I know I can’t cook the best meat…” “Not in that kind of way.” Earl was puzzled by his comment. “Are you saying she’s one of them Vega-tarians?” Earl enunciated awkwardly the word. It wasn’t his fault though, he never needed to use the word before. “I would say, yes.” “Well,” he shouldered his gun, “I’m not here to judge what tastes a man has, so goodnight.” “Good night, Earl,” he somehow knew what he was implying. He closed the door, rubbing his eyes afterwards. He turned to the woman, getting ready to talk to her. One thing came to mind as a major issue. “We gotta do something about that name…” “What’s wrong with my name?” she protested. “It’s not something a normal person would have.” “I thought all things have a name?” “No… I mean yes… I mean…” He fumbled. “I mean your name is not something realistic. It’s not something a normal person would have.” She was confused. “Look,” John attempted to explain, “here we don’t normally have animal names, or at least not so explicitly. People have two names, their last name, which they inherit from their family, and their first name, something to give them a unique feeling in the family. And not to offend, but Buttershy doesn’t sound realistic.” John’s head grew tired of explaining things “Well my friend has two names, like you said,” “Really, what’s her name?” “Twilight Sparkle” Suddenly he couldn’t stop thinking about twinkling flamboyant vampires. “She took the name Sparkle from her father, and her mother’s name was Twilight. Is it something like that?” Fluttershy attempted to understand. “Yeah,” he slowly came out of the vampire trance. “But it needs more of a human touch, like Mary, Mary Posa.” He chuckled at the name. “What’s a Mary?” “Mary was an ancient name, given to women. It means love or something.” “Oh, well I seem to like that, and Posa?” “It’s Hungarian,” “Why do hungry ponies make names for others?” John was speechless. His puzzled yet angry face scared the woman. “Listen, this is all nice,” she calmly explained, “But I prefer my real name. I mean it was what I was given by my father, and I liked it ever since.” “What I’m trying to tell you is that your name will raise alarms around town.” John pinched the bridge of his nose. “We need something normal for you.” She looked over to the left, displeased by the fact she had to use a new name. “I’m not telling you to get rid of your name, just go by another name while you stay here. You can keep your name while you are near me, just not in public.” She still didn’t know what to say. She was not used to this. “Look, if you want I could call you by your given name.” he tried to please her . “I… I would like that.” she smiled at him. “Okay, Buttershy…” “It’s Fluttershy.” She corrected him with a smile. “Right, Fluttershy.” He felt a little warm inside after saying it. “Well anyway, I believe I have a salad.” He remembered. “maybe you can have it.” He headed into the kitchen and searched through the counters for that takeout box he bought earlier today. He found it, but noticed something missing. He looked in the trash can and found the tri-tip. He walked out with the box and a cowl of annoyance. “You’re not going to make this easy are you?” She looked away in embarrassment. Her cheeks were blushing and her blue eyes panning to the side. Her innocent look didn’t fool John. He handed her the salad and watched her sit by the table. She struggled in her chair, not knowing where to lie. She suddenly gave up, and lay on the couch holding the tray near her chest. The next issue was holding her fork. She tried to hold her fork in a fist to keep and turning her wrist towards her. She had the fork aimed out the bottom of her fist. The stabs of the fork were soft at first but she only pushed the salad around. The strong jabs made holes in the bottom of the Styrofoam. It took her five minutes before she finally gave up and stuffed her face in the salad like a horse on oats. Looking the other way, John continued eating his hopefully clean food. Picking off the bits of leftover scraps off the freshly rescued tri-tip, he grumbled to himself. ‘’what am I going to do if i can’t eat meat around her?’ the thought of someone telling him what he can’t eat upset him more. ‘Then again, I have to eat less,’ he remembered the doctors orders. He hadn’t been able to ‘go’ in a few days and it was worrying him. Watching her go at it on her salad he remembered he needed to eat more vegetables. He headed into the kitchen hoping to find some tasty plant to eat. He took a carrot from the fridge and began taking bites out of it. He like the flavor a bit, but not the crunchiness. Looking back at Fluttershy, he could see how someone could like this. He waited until she finished her salad and then called to her. “Ready for bed?” he asked. She blushed at the question. John took notice and reacted the same way. It’s not everyday you ask a strange woman to go to bed. He led her to the first door to in the hall. The room was nearly empty, except for a dresser with a small television on top. He then explained, “This room doesn’t have much. It’s usually a guest room for my visitors. But only my brother ever comes.” She looked at him in confusion. “Don’t worry, you won’t be bothering me. I hardly ever use this room. You can stay as long as you want.” He watched her as she headed in. He smiled as she turned to see him off. She then proceeded to disrobe without telling him to leave. Johns face turned red as he darted out shut the door behind him. He rushed to his bed with his now even more uncomfortable pants on and dropped in. “This is going to be the hardest time thing I will have to do.” He said realizing he will have to teach a girl acceptable etiquette on when it is necessary to keep your clothes on.