Those Shoes, Meg Smith

Those Shoes

“Jason!” Elise whispered. He turned his head slowly. Elise gestured for him to hand over the wooden spear, but he shook his head. Elise, Belle and Jason were crouched in the hidden drop off in the front of Elise’s property, where the street pipe let out its water. There was a three-foot stone wall and compacted dirt, concealing the three children. Belle was eight, Elise was nine, and Jason was ten. Belle began to hum, and Elise shooshed her. “Belle! If you keep making noise our parents will find us!” Dusk was approaching and Jason and Belle’s mother was calling for them to come because it was time to go. “If we want to stay hidden all night, you idiots need to shut up,” Jason snapped. And they did, because Jason was the boy and the eldest. Elise’s legs began to cramp, and her feet were so far dug into the loose dirt, that her sneakers began to fill up. Vines surrounded the children, and Belle seemed to be a little tangled up, so she stood up to free herself. Elise grabbed her hand, and yanked her down. “Stop! You’ll give us away!” Elise was not about to show Jason that she wasn’t brave and defiant like him. Belle plopped down, and pulled her knees to her chest. “I don’t know if I want to stay till it gets dark.” “Belle, stop whining. Our moms will probably look for us for another hour, so everyone just be quiet and wait.” He tightened the grip on the stick he had sharpened with a rock. Elise didn’t know exactly why they wanted to hide out so bad, and stay in the gully till morning; maybe for the thrill, or the fact that Jason was always so violent towards Elise and Belle, but now he was actually protecting them. A small, entirely red bug crawled over a dirt mound. “What is that?” Belle whispered. Jason widened his eyes. “I know those bugs… they bite, and their bite will kill you.” Belle gasped, and Elise played along. “Really?” she widened her eyes as well. “Yup. My friend’s mom got bit.” The two girls sighed in pity. “But don’t worry!” Jason continued, “I’ll kill it for you.” Belle and Elise pressed their backs up against the wall, as Jason buried the tiny big under dirt, and then plunged his spear into the ground. “Its dead.” Elise beamed at him. “What would we do without you?” she thought Jason was somewhat like Peter Pan, and Elise was always ready to be Wendy. By the look on Belle’s face, Elise could tell she really believed the bug was deadly, but Elise knew deep down Jason was fibbing to earn himself some glory. “So Jason, when it gets dark and my parents are asleep, and your mom is home, me and Belle are going to get fruit in my corral.” He nodded, “What fruit do you have?” “Um… plums, apricots…”

Belle chimed in, “Yeah, I had some today they’re really good!” “Okay, and I’ll stay here and make more weapons,” Jason replied. “Weapons to use against our parents?” Elise asked timidly. Jason shrugged, “Or the wild animals that will attack us.” Belle shivered. “Let’s only use the weapons against the dangerous animals…” Elise told him. A silence passed, and Elise decided to fill it. “I think we should have three plums each for dinner, and three apricots each, for breakfast,” Elise said, counting slightly on her hand. “Will that be enough?” Jason shrugged. “Just bring back all the ripe ones. And when you get back, we’ll make leaf beds to sleep on.” “There’s no room,” Belle sighed softly. “But there’s no point in switching hideouts now… we’ll get caught. And I’ve already explored the property a while… this is the best spot,” Jason said, digging his spear into the dirt. “Okay…” Elise gripped Belle’s arm to quiet her. “Belle! Jason! It’s time to go home! Come out, I have to make dinner!” Their mother hollered. Elise’s mother joined in as well, “Elise if you all don’t come out there will be no more play-dates!” Elise stiffened, but Jason shook his head to tell her it was just a threat. The parents called for them until their voices were hoarse, and Elise felt sorry for her mother. “If we don’t come out from hiding we’ll get caught,” Elise whispered, suddenly longing for her warm home. The kitchen lights were glowing into the setting night. “If we show ourselves we won’t get to stay out here all night. I’ll have to go home.” “I don’t want to be in trouble,” Belle said, her fruit stained lips frowning slightly. Jason sighed. “But Belle, this would all be for nothing,” Elise whispered. “Elise, please come! Dinner’s getting cold!” her mother called once again. And Belle stood up and climbed over the short wall. “She’s so stupid…” Jason muttered, and they reluctantly joined Belle. “I’m coming, mom!” Elise shouted back. Another night, they’d hide out.

Sophie walked down the crumbling sidewalk with her mom, thinking about how much she wanted to fit in. At school, Sophie was an outcast. She always wore the wrong clothes, saw the wrong movies, and ate the wrong sandwich at lunch. While Chloe, unlike Sophie, was the most popular girl at Jefferson Middle School. She always wore the best clothes, saw the right movies, and ate the perfect sandwich everyday at noon. When Sophie started to cross the street, an advertisement caught her eye. “Want to be cool? Then you need Cool Shoes from Schechter’s!” Sophie read the advertisement again, then again, then one more time. “Sophie! What are you doing?” Her mom stopped in her tracks and turned to face Sophie. “We have to go this way to get to the market.”

It was like these shoes were made for her. On the ad, a picture of a smiling girl was wearing sparkly gold shoes, with silk laces, and a charm on the heel that said, “Cool Shoes!” “Sophie? Hello?” “Um… yah. Okay mom. One sec.” Sophie started walking across the street, images of the advertisement flashed through her mind. When Sophie went to sleep that night, she dreamed about going to school in those shoes. Everyone would want to be her friend, even Chloe. Everything would get better. Even her green eyed cat, Emerald, would be happy. When she walked around in her cool shoes, people would stop and stare, thinking about how much they wanted to be just like her. That’s why, she had to get them tomorrow. The next day, the sun let off a brilliant light and the birds chirped. It was a Sunday, so Sophie had time to go to the shoe store. She walked out of bed, and put on her slippers. Emerald meowed from below her bed. Sophie walked into her mom’s room, where she found her mom, snoring loudly. She walked over to her mom’s bed, and jumped on. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Sophie giggled. Her mom groaned and sat up, her brown wavy hair falling on her shoulders. “I’m up,” she looked around. “What time is it?” “Time to wake up!” Sophie grabbed her mom’s robe from her closet and scampered back to the bed. Her mom stepped out and into her robe. “What do you want for breakfast, sweetie?” Her mom cooed. “Just some cereal. Were going to leave soon anyway.” Her mom nodded. “Wait. Where do we have to go?” “To get my cool shoes. What else?” Sophie ran into her room. “Eat quickly Mom. I want to get the shoes as soon as possible.” She started to change into jeans and an old shirt. When she walked into the living room, her mom was dressed and her hair was in a ponytail. “Lets go,” Sophie’s mom walked out the front door and unlocked the car. Sophie was following a short distance behind. When they got to the mall, they went straight to Payless. Sophie stopped in her tracks when she got inside the store and took a deep breath. This is it. This is how I’m going to’ get popular, Sophie thought. She walked to the aisle where she found as many shoes as there was sand on the beach. She quickly spotted the shoes, and grabbed them. She placed the shoebox on a bench and unlaced her worn converse. The shoes fit like a glove, and were so comfortable, that she felt like she was walking on air. “Mom? I found the shoes,” Sophie called out. Her mom came from around the corner. “Okay. Let’s get them so that we can go to the garden store.” The next day, Sophie woke up overly tired. But Sophie was still ecstatic to wear her new shoes. She paired them with a white skirt and a lace top her mom bought her for Christmas. So, when she arrived at Jefferson Middle School, she was surprised when no one noticed her new shoes.

At noon, Sophie walked into the cafeteria, feeling low. Why wasn’t anyone noticing her new shoes? They were perfect. Sophie tried to sit next to a few girls from her French class, but they stood up and walked away. So, as usual, Sophie sat alone. “Is this seat taken?” Sophie whipped her head around. It was, Marie, a girl in Sophie’s math class. “Um, no?” Sophie was confused. Why would anyone want to sit with her? “Good.” Marie sat down next to Sophie and started to unwrap her turkey sandwich. “So, your in my math class right?” Marie faced Sophie. “Yeah.” Sophie was puzzled. “Cool. Are you free on Thursday? I need some help redecorating my bedroom. We just moved so…” “Sure!” Sophie was overjoyed. Maybe her shoes really were working. She looked down and was surprised to see her worn converse on her feet. She had been so tired, that she hadn’t worn the right shoes. Sophie then learned that it wasn’t the shoes that gave her a new friendship, but her personality. She shouldn’t have been concerned with loss or gain. But instead, she should just be herself.

Meg Smith