——
She wasn't the most sociable individual, but she has been able to make small connections. Her name was Flaky and she was a porcupine.

Those around her often think of her as a gloomy person with not much to say. She actually simply struggles to speak.

An example would be now on this street corner where she is ordering a pretzel and it's taking her five minutes to say anything instead of just staring at the vender.

She wore dark clothes and had an unnerving blank expression with deep circles under her eyes. Lifting one hand up to her chest, she opened her mouth to mumble her order.

The vender to his credit waited patiently for her. He wasn't one for speaking either and if he was honest, she was kind of pretty.

"One... spicy... pretzel.... Please...", she managed.

She was the only one that ever ordered the spicy pretzel and not be affected by it; though it wasn't even spicy to most. He didn't hand it to her right way, but did have it prepared. He knew it took a lot for her to speak up, so he always waited.

Once she paid for her pretzel she let a small smile slip, "Thank you... Cro....Marmot...."

Just like that, she left and walked down the street.
——

——-
Flaky was incredibly paranoid and scared, so she glanced around the street as she carefully ate her pretzel. She watched cars pass her and the people in shops.

She always stopped at one shop in particular. It was a boutique. She stares through the window to look at the display that changes two times a season; at the beginning of a season and half way through a season.

She didn't think anyone noticed her staring, the employees were usually busy after all. When she was half way done with her pretzel, she walked a way from the window display.

She rounds a corner and takes a path she remembers by heart from the many years she's gone down it. It led to the library. She loved the library, she loved to read, she loved the silence, and most of all she loved the relief it gave her.

There were barely any safe havens in her town to call hers, since the probability of dying have been rather high over the years.

The rate of deaths would plague her mind and she'd imagine many gruesome and gory scenes that would happen to her and the people around her. She also liked imagining them being her friends or being nice to her.

This was usually in a nightmare or when she spiraled.

These horrible illusions did a lot to her psyche and felt too real like a memory. No matter how many times she woke up and checked for marks of any kind she never found any, but curiously barely noticeable phantom pains occurred at odd time at odd places.

Her mind finally caught up when she was in front of the library. She passed the automatic double doors and headed to the bathrooms near the front entrance.

The library was a two story building with four bathrooms and a single, wide stair case. The upstairs is off limits to visitors so Flaky isn't sure what's up there. She can only guess why the stairs are as wide as they are.

Enough about that though, she makes her way out of the bathroom when she finished washing her hands. The first person anyone sees when the enter the actual library is the librarian typically at his desk.

He was a green bear with a plaided, sleeveless sweater vest and tags around his neck. She didn't have the courage to as him about the tags or the scars she could see.

She nodded to him like she usually did and he'd wave back without really looking at her. He was so busy for a librarian, she didn't know how hard it was but she figured it was as hard as visitors would make it with the things they did inside the library and with the books they'd look at.

She wanted to ask if he was taking care of the library by himself, but that seemed like a silly question and she doubt she'd even have the courage to even greet him verbally.

Deeper into the library she goes.
———
Bye!