They are comfortable and match nearly everything in my closet. The very bottoms are worn hard and show no mercy to the rough roads and terrain that I travel. The straps that ensconce my feet, my arch and my toes have found their perfect resting spot. Serene, calm and unassuming, but still tough enough to stand up long after I’ve slipped them off my feet at the end of a day.
Even in their comfort, they taste bitter when they slip onto my feet. Even though the hard leather soles have long since adapted and adjusted to my gait, my footprint, my walk - my attitude towards their beginning has not.
We were best friends once. We finished each others’ sentences and knew what thoughts were forming, before they were completed. We met in an odd sort of circumstances and still to this day, I will marvel at the stars aligning at that very moment.
Baby boards. Due in the same month, the same year. I can’t remember now what drew me to her, and I’m sure she has not the slightest idea about why she felt the magnet pull. Our families had nothing in common, we voted for the opposite sides and at times it seemed the only commonality was our obsession with cigarettes.
We started a business together. We bathed our children together. We celebrated birthdays as a group, planned events and get togethers. Blew up balloons and popped bubbles.
We dreamed big. We shared things with each other that no one else knew. We solved the problems of the world and she gave me more advice and assistance with my foray into the blogging and internet world than I could ever thank her for.
She gave me the shoes one day and asked if I wanted them. I slipped them on my feet and said something to the effect of ‘oh, these aren’t that comfortable?’, looking for her to agree and say that she also felt them too uncomfortable - as if to further solidify our bond.
But she simply said “they don’t fit me anymore.”
Awkwardly and silently, I left them on.
We haven’t spoken in years. The shoes still sit in my pile of options for each day. Most often than not, they get selected.
They are selected on a repeated basis because they do fit me.
Our friendship no longer fits either one of us.
Regardless, not a day goes by that I don’t think of her.
THE PROMPT ::
One of my favorite parts of summer is THE SHOES. So for your prompt this week I'd like you to write about your character (or yourself) and a pair of his or her shoes.
Those shoes can be real or symbolic, they can hurt or be super comfy but I want to see what they say about the life of the person wearing them. It's a chance to use all those descriptive words I love reading.
