The clock waved its hands slowly announcing a sleepy morning. Time was getting near. The shoes were all ready to go, excited for a new week after an extremely lazy weekend.
The floors creaked upstairs. He was up and getting ready. Not long now.
The left shoe gently nudged the right shoe.
‘Are you ready?’
‘Yeah … I feel one of the threads in my sole being a bit loose. Will it hold you think?’
The left shoe was the optimist of the two.
‘For sure, nothing to worry about! Relax!’
The right shoe listened, and felt the excitement of another day’s work taking over it too.
Joe, the owner of the feet pairing with the shoes, climbed down the stairs slowly so as not to wake up the house. At least during the holidays they could all sleep in a bit more.
The shoes were all ready and waiting. Something happened though when Joe reached the bottom of the stairs. Instead of putting on his shoes as usual, he by passed them and went into the living room from where he emerged with a big brown box under his arm.
The shoes could not see him but they could hear him huffing and puffing in the kitchen.
‘Is he alright, do you think?’, the right shoe asked the left.
‘For sure, he looked perfectly well when he … ‘
The horror! Joe had come out of the kitchen wearing a new, shiny pair of shoes.
‘Nooooo!’
‘Those look great! You should throw those old, ugly things!’
She was coming down the stairs smiling at him.
‘Don’t you dare! I love those shoes!’, there was laughter in his voice.
‘Fine, fine, their time will come!’, there was kindness in her voice.
Joe left for work and the shoes were left behind in the hallway, on the shoe rack, unsure of their future and feeling too close to an end they never considered.
‘Do you remember when we went to Disneyland?’
‘Those were the days!’
Time crawled by slowly, with each pass of the hand seeming to wave them even more away into oblivion.
The day passed, the night too, and a new morning shone on them all.
Joe’s creaking of the floors filled the shoes with dread.
‘There is no point anymore!’, the right shoe declared.
Joe came down, sauntered to the kitchen and then he came to put them on.
‘I missed you guys!’
The shoes were in disbelief, what was going on.
‘What is going on?’, her voice was stern from the top of the stairs.
‘I can’t honey I am sorry! The new shoes destroyed my feet yesterday, I need my shoes.’
‘Oh come on … those tattered old things?’
‘Yeah … their time will come, but not just yet!’
The shoes happily hugged the feet wearing them and were exhilarated to be out and about again.
Their time will come, but not just yet.
‘Told you so!’, the left shoe said all full of itself. ‘You never know!’
‘Hmmm, I have my doubts about that!’, the right shoe replied, happily avoiding a puddle and enjoying doing what it was meant to do.