diff --git a/rust/flexbuffers/src/buffer.rs b/rust/flexbuffers/src/buffer.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4643cb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust/flexbuffers/src/buffer.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+use std::ops::{Deref, Range};
+
+/// The underlying buffer that is used by a flexbuffer Reader.
+///
+/// This allows for custom buffer implementations as long as they can be viewed as a &[u8].
+pub trait Buffer: Deref<Target = [u8]> + Sized {
+    // The `BufferString` allows for a buffer to return a custom string which will have the
+    // lifetime of the underlying buffer. A simple `std::str::from_utf8` wouldn't work since that
+    // returns a &str, which is then owned by the callee (cannot be returned from a function).
+    //
+    // Example: During deserialization a `BufferString` is returned, allowing the deserializer
+    // to "borrow" the given str - b/c there is a "lifetime" guarantee, so to speak, from the
+    // underlying buffer.
+    /// A BufferString which will live at least as long as the Buffer itself.
+    ///
+    /// Deref's to UTF-8 `str`, and only generated from the `buffer_str` function Result.
+    type BufferString: Deref<Target = str> + Sized + serde::ser::Serialize;
+
+    /// This method returns an instance of type Self. This allows for lifetimes to be tracked
+    /// in cases of deserialization.
+    ///
+    /// It also lets custom buffers manage reference counts.
+    ///
+    /// Returns None if:
+    /// - range start is greater than end
+    /// - range end is out of bounds
+    ///
+    /// This operation should be fast -> O(1), ideally with no heap allocations.
+    fn slice(&self, range: Range<usize>) -> Option<Self>;
+
+    /// Creates a shallow copy of the given buffer, similar to `slice`.
+    ///
+    /// This operation should be fast -> O(1), ideally with no heap allocations.
+    #[inline]
+    fn shallow_copy(&self) -> Self {
+        self.slice(0..self.len()).unwrap()
+    }
+
+    /// Creates an empty instance of a `Buffer`. This is different than `Default` b/c it
+    /// guarantees that the buffer instance will have length zero.
+    ///
+    /// Most impls shold be able to implement this via `Default`.
+    fn empty() -> Self;
+
+    /// Based off of the `empty` function, allows override for optimization purposes.
+    #[inline]
+    fn empty_str() -> Self::BufferString {
+        Self::empty().buffer_str().unwrap()
+    }
+
+    /// Attempts to convert the given buffer to a custom string type.
+    ///
+    /// This should fail if the type does not have valid UTF-8 bytes, and must be zero copy.
+    fn buffer_str(&self) -> Result<Self::BufferString, std::str::Utf8Error>;
+}
+
+impl<'de> Buffer for &'de [u8] {
+    type BufferString = &'de str;
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn slice(&self, range: Range<usize>) -> Option<Self> {
+        self.get(range)
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn empty() -> Self {
+        &[]
+    }
+
+    /// Based off of the `empty` function, allows override for optimization purposes.
+    #[inline]
+    fn empty_str() -> Self::BufferString {
+        &""
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn buffer_str(&self) -> Result<Self::BufferString, std::str::Utf8Error> {
+        std::str::from_utf8(self)
+    }
+}