Wilmont

by gmen15

Kindness in the Park

Chapter 20- Kindness in the Park

Park

The afternoon sun shone brightly from above, cascading and creeping through the thick leaves of the canopy. The sounds of birds chirping and bees buzzing filled the air, with the occasional sound of a bicycle barreling down the dirt, hiking path, or pairs of feet trotting along.

James and Fluttershy walked down this narrow hiking trail, which was located Wilmont Park- a relatively busy place on the weekends that could be described as a ghost-park on the weekdays, with the occasional soccer game breaking the silence. The trail itself, however, were hardly in use- including on weekends. Therefore, James felt that it was relatively safe for Fluttershy to be in her real form. But whenever a stray hiker or jogger was coming up on them, Fluttershy would quickly jump into of behind a tree, while James would simply stand by the trunk, bent over as if he had just run and was taking a break.

Once the hiker or jogger was out of sight, James would coax Fluttershy out of hiding. The timid mare would slowly creep out and they would then continue down the path. James was starting to feel somewhat better about Caroline. Still, he talked little and his mind constantly flashed back to the image of his sick cousin. He kept remembering his phone buzzing, and how he wished he let it continue ringing, just to delay the heartache he would feel. Nothing, not even the relaxing hike with the kindest pony of all time, could make him forget the pain he felt after receiving that terrible phone call..

He was so quiet, in fact, that Fluttershy was the one to initiate conversation.

"So James, are you feeling better?" She asked, looking worriedly up at her elemental partner.

James didn't respond immediately. He seemed to ponder the question before he finally gave the mare a small, unconvincing, nod.

"Yeah, I think so." James nodded weakly. "A little bit, at least."

"Oh," Fluttershy said meekly, not buying James' words. "Do you want to talk about it anymore?"

"No." James said, shaking his head. "Let's just keep walking."

Knowing that James was holding his misery back, Fluttershy flew in front of him. She stopped directly in front of his face, placing her hooves onto his chest to halt his movement.

"Please tell me James, it'll make you feel better." She said, slowly rubbing James' shoulder, as if to massage the truth from him.

James sighed. "Fluttershy. I told you I don't want to talk about it, now can we please just keep going? It's getting late and I'm afraid my bike will be stolen if it's out here when the Sun goes down. It happens so often."

James gently pushed his way past and continued to walk down the path when he was gently, but suddenly, pushed into a tree. Once his back made contact with the bark, he slid to the ground, his emotions zapping the energy from his legs. He looked up to see Fluttershy flapping directly above him. She made a gentle descent, her teal eyes directly in line of James' eyes.

"James, tell me the truth." She said. "Please don't hold back from me."

"Fluttershy I…" James started, only to be interrupted when the persistent pegasus used her famous 'stare'.

James couldn't talk, he was frozen. It was FAR more powerful than it he imagined it would be. Her eyes bore into James' soul, invading his mind and body like some alien body. It made him feel as if Fluttershy was in complete control of his body and mind, like she could convince him the sky was green and he'd believe her.

But her eyes weren't vicious; they still had the very kind and caring look that she always had. But they also had a desperate, pleading look about them as well, as if she really wanted James to open up. Still, they made James not only feel vulnerable, they made his inner sorrow come to the surface. His heart-rate increased and he could feel tears start to accumulate into his eyes.

Fluttershy leaned closer, her flower-scented mane reaching James' nostrils.

"Tell me." She repeated in her kind voice.

"Okay! I'll tell you!" James said, a small quiver in his voice as the tears started to pour out. He wasn't exactly sobbing, but the tears were there. Fluttershy broke her stare, face full of concern as she started to regret using her stare on James.

"Oh my...James...I'm sorry I didn't know…" Fluttershy said, flying away from James. "If you don't want to talk about it that much I won't…"

James held his hand out to silence her. Fluttershy looked up at the saddened teen boy, who now looked more like a twelve-year old in his broken state.

"No, it's fine." He whimpered. "You deserve to know."

James wiped some tears away and sniffled. Fluttershy flew up the tree and grabbed a leaf. She flew down to James and used the leaf to dab the tears away from James' eyes.

"Thanks." He said. Fluttershy nodded and took the leaf away from James' face so that he could speak.

"My parents always degrade me, I've told you that already. And you know how Caroline is..." James swallowed, having trouble making the correction he wished never had to be, "was...the light of my life."

He wiped another tear away. "But what you don't know is how hard it is for me to accept this reality. To know that such a sweet girl, a girl that is caring and kind and loving, had to go through such pain.

"And what's karma's response to such a great kid? Did she get good luck? No, of course she didn't." James said, his voice and eyes reflecting his rising anger. "She got cancer...fucking cancer. And now she's dead." James laughed darkly, shaking his head. "A girl that never did anything bad in her life gets punished. And all the while, evil fucks the world over continue to live healthy,prosperous, joyous lives!"

James snatched up a rock and hurled it to the other side of the trail. Fluttershy moved out of the way, startled by the sudden action. She looked down at James' red face.

Once again in control of his emotions, James leaned his back against the tree and stared up at the tall trees that surrounded him.

He let out a sigh. "I just don't get it."

He looked over at Fluttershy, "That's why I'm so cynical and why I doubt the presence of some higher being watching out for us. If God existed, why would he sit there and let Caroline die? Out of all of the vile people on this planet, why her? To give her such false hope before we left yesterday, and then pull the rug out from under her feet."

James closed his eyes, biting his lip. Fluttershy landed beside him, leaning her head against his shoulder. He did not shake her off. He welcomed her presence, her warmth.

"In this world, kindness is a crime of nature. It isn't punished by some law created by man or a commandment by God. It's supposed to be met with reward. But in reality, kindness is punished. You get taken advantage of, you have bad things happen to you, and you suffer through life."

James opened his eyes, now red and misty. He looked down at Fluttershy, who was having a hard time herself keeping her emotions at bay. A tear rolled down her cheek. James reached out and wiped is away. The pegasus moved her head off of James' shoulder and looked up into his eyes, full of regret.

He shook his head. "And to make matters worse, I wasn't there for her, Fluttershy. In her most crucial moment, I wasn't there at her bedside. I wasn't kind, I wasn't. And how can I be the element of kindness like you if I can't even be there when she needed me the most. Why did I leave for dinner? Why couldn't I have stayed?"

James buried his head in his hands, knees bent and pulled towards his chest. He pressed down on the top of his head in a futile attempt to forget the pain. Fluttershy

"Oh but James, you are kind." Fluttershy whispered into James' ear, making him blush. "You're one of the kindest pon...people...I've ever met. You left because you had to, and the fact that you visited means more than you think. Besides, neither of us could imagine that this horrible tragedy would happen. You cannot put yourself at fault."

"Thank you Fluttershy." James said with a sniffle.

"You're welcome," Fluttershy said with a smile, pulling away from James. "I hope that made you feel better...but if it didn't, I understand."

"Fluttershy, you're treating me better than I deserve." James said, the tiniest of smiles appearing on his lips. "You…you're more than a friend to me, you…you were there for me last night when I needed you and now you're here doing the same."

James then gave Fluttershy a hug, eliciting a small 'eep' from the mare.

"You're the best friend that I've ever had." He whispered into her ear.

Once she got over the initial shock of the hug, Fluttershy relaxed and hugged James back.

"And you're one of the best friends I've ever had."

After a few moments in each others' embrace, they duo broke the hug. James sat back against the tree. He looked at Fluttershy. Suddenly, his reality came back as he remembered Caroline. Once again, he broke into sobs and, once again, Fluttershy was there to console him- giving him a soft, warm shoulder to shed his tears on as she tried desperately to hide her own. No matter how effective she was in making James feel better, she couldn't mend his shattered heart. But she was still there for him, and that was what he needed. Someone to comfort him, someone to care about him.

Someone to love him.

Comments

[batran]

Yay this came out!

[Sweetapplejacker]

1747008 freakgarage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/LukeSkywalkerNooooo.jpg

Loving this as always.

[Sgt GobSmacker]

Oh shit! She used the stare?! Leave him be girl! No need to push him 100 miles out of bounds!

[Quill Note]

I'm tired of you kicking my heart in the dick!

(Bonus points if you get the reference.)