How a Fluffy Changed My Life - The Complete Story
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First, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Nicolas Arsen or Nick, and I’m 46 years old. I have a great job, and I earn a lot of money; and even with some great friends … Nothing could help me out of the prison I had created for myself.
.
The reason for this was that, three years ago, I had taken my whole family on vacation to an artificial archipelago called “El Dorado”, where we stayed on the central island. The place was wonderful, with a wide range of fauna and flora, in addition to a beautiful lake with crystal clear waters to which we could swim with fish and some porpoises.
Everything was wonderful, especially when I chose to stay in the most expensive chalet in the summer camp, the one that was on top of a small mountain, a place with a wonderful view.
And that was my big mistake.
On the second day of the vacation I did not imagine how much I could enjoy, especially when Jasmine, my daughter, seemed to be an inexhaustible battery of energy and tried to drag me to all the attractions of the place, and not even my wife could control it, she just laughed at our daughter’s adventures and my inability to say no to her.
That night, as expected, we got very tired after so much fun and slept soundly.
Before going to bed, I remember that I kissed my daughter good night and then hugged my wife with all the affection.
Our sleep was very deep, to the point that we did not hear the sound of rain falling harder and harder.
I woke up several days later, in the hospital bed.
My body was broken in such a way that it was a miracle that I survived. I was confused and afraid, my body did not move due to how they plastered me to prevent further injury, and all I felt was panic and pain.
A doctor came to me and explained what happened. Apparently, there was a big landslide and the cottage I was in was hit, I was the only survivor.
I was the one who managed to rescue.
I didn’t speak or move, but I remember as if it were today the cry of pain and sadness that I emitted. I imagine that anyone who heard it would think it was some beast screaming in pure fury.
And they would not be wrong. If I could, I would get up and grab the doctor, so he could tell me what I wanted to hear. But it was impossible. And in the midst of incalculable pain from trying to move a broken body, I cried.
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Jasmine, my little flower and Milena, my beautiful wife. I could never see your smiles again.
I don’t know how much time passed after that, but the cycle has always been the same. It was a simple routine; waking up crying and sobbing until I fall asleep or until a doctor or a nurse comes and applies some tranquilizers to my serum, making me fall asleep on the spot.
I stayed in the hospital for months and missed the funeral of the two most important people in my life.
And even visiting the graves later, I never felt that I had actually said goodbye. In addition, I had to undergo physical therapy for months to be able to walk normally, but I still need to use a cane.
When I returned home, I felt terrible. The house is empty, without my daughter running, without my wife’s heating.
I couldn’t stay there anymore as every moment reminded me of the guilt I felt for taking them to that damn island. I asked for a transfer at work, and soon after I arrived in the city of Pedra Branca.
Shortly after arriving in the city, I realized that even if I moved to another city, my emotions were still confused and broken.
Whenever I was alone and my mind wandered a little, the memory of the loss would come and shake my mood. So I was always sad and negative, that is, I was a person that nobody would like to have as a friend.
A lonely and depressed widower. This was me. And to try to occupy my mind, I discovered a beautiful solution: work.
I worked so hard that this was the only thing that I was thinking about in my mind. I woke up and fell asleep thinking about work. That was my life. I know it wasn’t healthy, but it was a thousand times better than the alternative.
Sure, my mood and my negativity didn’t change, but at least I was helping, and it made me feel a little better.
This routine of mine was quickly noticed by the representatives of the company, and through my great effort they promoted me.
A higher salary, a big room on the board floor and more free time. And that was the problem.
I didn’t want the promotion, I was afraid of free time. But nothing worked, everything had already been decided, and I was just being told.
So I broke it. I didn’t know what to do in my spare time, and my memories, and emotions blamed me for things that I felt were my fault. I needed to escape, to escape!
And I found my escape was in alcoholic beverages. So, no matter what day my day fell, I drank until I lost track of who I was and walked the streets of the city aimlessly.
Over time, it became a routine and everyone knew I was doing it, but never, not once, did anyone else stop to help me and find out if I was okay.
I stopped dressing and looking after myself, I looked like a beggar, and at work nobody cared because, due to my position, I could do everything from the comfort of my home.
And those were my comfort and my damnation, work and drink.
I was no longer a young man, and it was consuming me. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I was about to do something to end this suffering.
That was when it happened.
At the end of the week it was my day off, so I got ready, put some bottles of vodka in my backpack and walked around town. Aimlessly and aiming to stop feeling everything, to drink until I lost track of who I was.
I walked for hours and stopped in an alley where I sat against the wall. My conscience was waning due to alcohol, and I was unaware of what was going on, but I remember hearing cries of pain and calls for help, until a guy came out of the alley carrying a big bag, and it was almost as if the contents were trying to escape. After that, I let unconsciousness take over.
I woke up hours later with a monstrous headache. It was probably late at night, as I didn’t see anyone passing by on the street. I opened my backpack to see if I had anything to eat, and realized that someone stole from me while I was unconscious. My wallet, cell phone and the rest of the bottles were gone.
Sit on the curb, I put my head in my hands. I couldn’t take it.
Life was very cruel, and I couldn’t take it anymore, and at that moment, the despair was so great that I could jump off the first bridge I saw.
As my dark thoughts filled my mind with pure despair, my eyes filled with water and, like a bursting dam, my tears fell through sobs. I was lost in myself.
“why am 'ou nice mistah cwying?”
I didn’t look up to see who was talking to me, but it looked like a child.
"I know what to do, fluffy hugs, sir, and make the heart hurts gets better! " — said the voice cheerfully.
It was then that I felt a hairy body hugging my torso, I looked and saw one of those little creatures called fluffies clinging to me with its front arms while trying to balance itself on its hind legs.
I was in shock, no one ever tried to help me or talk to me, and now, something like that was on my side, hugging me and trying to comfort me while I was dirty, messy and smelling of alcohol and vomit.
I will not lie, I felt a little better when I received the hug, to the point of stopping crying;
It was then that I noticed the animal, yellow and brown on the back, but I assumed that the last part was poop in the fur, and the mane was bluish; one eye was clearly swollen, the horn, or it should have been the horn, looked like it had been pulled out and there was something like dried blood coming out of its mouth and staining its snout. In fact, he was just as bad as I was.
“Why does dah gud guy cwy?” — said the little creature, still hugging me and looking into my eyes with a good eye.
- It’s life … Sometimes it can be terrible … — Yes, I started talking and opening up with Fluffy.
" Fwuffie know" — he said loosening himself and sitting next to me, still looking at me — fluffy received the biggest injuries and received the ones that hurt the most in the heart…
- Can you say more, little friend? — I asked in curiosity and empathy for the one who helped me to compose myself.
“Fwuffy’s speshuw fwend wouwd be dah bestes’ mummah, su fwuffy went out to wook fo’ nummies…” — he looked down, in a clear expression of sadness. — When fwuffy came back wiff nummies fo’ dah speshuw fwend… — he stopped, and I saw tears falling from his eyes.
It was instinctive, when he started to cry, my hand went straight to his head, making the best care I could in my deplorable state. Everything that came out of me was something like:
“Okay, I’m with you … you don’t have to tell if you don’t want to …” — it’s funny that a man who was broken was trying to help a broken animal.
He took a deep breath and cried through continuous sobs.
“Wed an’ mean fwuffie was hittin’ fwuffy’s speshuw fwend, fwuffy twied to stahp him, buh fwuffy was too stwong an’ gabe fwuffy dah wowstes’ hab owies.” — he pointed to the eye and the horn — “An’ when fwuffy saw it, fwuffy’s speshuw fwend was sweepin’ fowebew, an’ dah babbehs wewe fowebah sweepies on dah fwoow wiff dah poopies… dah bad fwuffie was nu wongah dewe.”
He looked me in the eye, and now our position had changed. I was comforting a small creature that was crying.
“Am dah wowstes’ daddeh ebah… fwuffy’s speshuw fwend an’ babbehs am sweepin’ fowebew, an’ it’s fwuffy’s fauwt!” — and, shouting at the last part, he continued to cry, covering his snout with his paws.
I am the worst father, and my family died because of me.
What he said echoed in my mind with the force of thunder. It was my story lived by another.
He was not to blame for losing his family and getting hurt, it was just bad luck and nothing more. It wasn’t his fault.
I did my best for my family, and the landslide happened by accident and bad luck, nothing more. It wasn’t my fault.
My eyes shone with that realization. And there was only one action I could take. With the hand I was stroking the fluffy, I wrapped it in a hug. It doesn’t matter if it was dirty, bruised or stinky.
“Hey, that wasn’t your fault.”
“nu was?”
“No. Sometimes bad things happen, and they are beyond our control.”
“buh fwuffy wanted fwuffy’s speshuw fwend an’ babbehs.”
“We don’t always have what we want. This is sad, but it is the reality …”
He looked at me sadly, but he seemed to understand the message.
" Let’s do this way. Show me where your special friend is. We’ll give her one last goodbye, and then we’ll clean up. What do you think?"
“wiww dah gud guy cwean up fwuffy?”
" Only if you want to come with me."
“fwuffy wan’!”
“So come on … we don’t have all night.”
I got up and let the fluffy show me the way, and, entering the alley, I soon saw the body of a mare inside a cardboard box.
She was all bloody and looked as if she had been trampled to death. I saw a few colts’ bodies mixed with their mother’s manure in the rear.
" Hey, yellow, get the foals. I’ll get the mare, okay."
He nodded and started pulling his foal’s bodies out of the shit while I took the bloody body of the mare, and when I took it out of the box, I and the yellow heard a very particular sound.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
I had a good idea of what it was, and curled up on the dead mare’s tail was a foal with a grayish-white hair and without a mane. In fact, the little creature hadn’t even opened its eyes.
The yellow Fluffy’s eyes widened.
“One of your babies is alive!”
And he smiled and wept with joy. I carefully removed the foal from the tangle of hair and shit and handed it to the proud father, who took it with his hooves and started cleaning his baby right there.
“Yellow, do it later. We have work to do.”
It didn’t think much, and nodded, holding the foal alive with the greatest care in his mouth. Of course, he wasn’t going to do anything right with the foal in his mouth, and he might even hurt him. I looked at my shirt and had an idea.
“Yellow, let me put the foal in a safe place until all the work is done. What do you think?”
He seemed to think a little and agreed, and I put the little foal in my shirt pocket. After that, everything was very fast. I put the mare’s body in the box it lived in, with the dead foals and I, with the yellow one, went to a park near the place where we were.
There, with my hands, I dug a hole in the ground near a Ipê three. Yellow, in silence, joined me to make the hole using both the hoof and what was left of the horn.
After a few hours we dug a hole in the floor that fit the box; that we put in very carefully and covered it immediately.
It was interesting to note that, throughout the process, the foal in my pocket was silent, as if he knew what was going on.
Yes, that was illegal. You can’t dig in a public park, but I don’t care. It was the least I could do.
Still, my head still hurt from drinking, and I could actually use a bath.
“Fank 'ou, mistah.”
-“Why are you thanking? — I looked at him who seemed calmer after everything that happened— won’t you come with me?”
“Gud mistah, wiww 'ou be ouw daddeh?”
" Yes. In fact, you didn’t notice that I even gave you a name."
" yewwow?" — he stopped almost as if he had a revelation—“fwuffy’s name am yewwow? fwuffy wub new name! fank 'ou!”
Yes, he started to cry with joy and relief. He was going to have a home and an owner now, someone to love and protect him as well as the babe.
-“But we won’t be standing here. My house is far away, and we need to feed this little thing here” — I said pointing to my shirt pocket, and, almost as if it was agreed, I heard a “chirp!”
After that, my life changed in all aspects.
On that same day that I adopted Yellow and the baby, and, after taking a cold shower, I took them both to the vet.
We treated the yellow eye as well as the broken horn, and arranged the milk recipe for the Snowflake, the name I gave the baby, which was actually a female Pegasus. Moreover, I prepared a safe place for them, full of toys and pillows.
It wasn’t overnight, but I started to feel better about myself, and I became a better person at work and in life.
I no longer feel the overwhelming guilt of yesteryear despite being sad from time to time. At those times I go out with Yellow, we go to the park and near the ipe tree for a walk. It makes us both feel better.
And about the fluffy behavior, yellow is super calm and polite and always obeys me on the spot. Maybe what he went through made him want to always be safe and happy, and he always wants to please me.
And I know that he will teach snowflake very well.
And that was how a fluffy changed my life.
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