Blue Shoes

Soon to be available through Kerlak Publishing

The cold, blustery wind whipped at Joy’s legs and neck as she hugged the scarf tighter and tried to walk faster.  Her fine blonde hair offered little protection from the weather.  Only two more blocks and she’d be back at work and warm.  The gray clouds overhead vainly threatened snow.  Three weeks had passed without a flake, despite almost daily warnings from the local weather forecast.  She rarely skipped Tuesday lunch with her husband, Evan, but on days like this she questioned her resolve.  He’s such a romantic sap, she thought as she passed Lasalle’s huge display window, and he’d be so disappointed …..

She never finished the thought.  Her gaze drifted through the glass to the most beautiful pair of shoes she had ever seen.  For a brief moment the chill eased and she stood still, captivated by a simple pair of blue suede shoes with a tight bow on the very top.  Pairs of alluring red, elegant black, bubbly yellow, pure white, and effervescent bright green shoes, all placed on interesting and angled pedestals, competed for her attention.  But the blue shoes, even though unadorned and sitting flat on the floor, almost as if tossed in by accident, mesmerized her.  Memories of her father singing his best Elvis imitation raced through her mind and she knew, late for work or not, she had to try them on.

The makeshift bells attached to the door pealed her entrance.  “Mercury!” she said loudly.  She heard a snicker from behind a shelf and then the owner appeared.

“Happiness,” said Mercurial LaSalle with his characteristic ear-to-ear grin.  He was an old man who had been old as long as Joy could remember.  Her parents had brought her shopping to the same store when she was just a girl and he had seemed old even then.  But he always smiled, even when things seemed at their worst.

“Mercury, you know my name is Joy, not Happiness,” she chided.  She tried to give a stern look, but his attitude rendered her mock indignation impotent.  She sighed and grinned.

He patted her hand and said, “Joy, Happiness, all the same to an old man seeing such a beautiful woman.”

Joy blushed, averting her eyes.  He always complemented her and it always made her blush.  He reminds me of Evan, she thought briefly.  They’re both kind, and they both make me smile and feel beautiful.  Perhaps, she thought, not for the first time, I married Evan Senesce because he reminds me of Mercury.

“First,” he said, drawing her further into the store, “I hope your lunch with hubby was good today.”

He knows my schedule all too well, she thought.   “Yes, Evan even surprised me with this.”  She held up a crimson rose.

Mercury gently reached for the flower, and Joy handed it to him.  He inhaled deeply, and a look of incredible contentment eased his wrinkled features.  “So beautiful, Happiness, so beautiful.  Too bad it will age like your senescent husband.”  He grinned with delight, as he always did when he teased her about her last name.

Joy playfully grabbed the flower back.   “Unlike you, my timeless Mercury.  You look the same as you did when I was a little girl.”

“That’s because I’ve been waiting my whole life for you to catch up with me.”

Joy blushed again.

Mercury smiled and continued, “Enough of old men and beautiful women, what brings you in this cold, cold afternoon?”

Joy’s eyes shot toward the back of the display window.

“Ah, the beautiful lady wants a pair of beautiful shoes to match.”

She sighed and stood up, “Actually Mercury, we can’t afford shoes right now, and I shouldn’t have stopped in, but the blue pair just seemed to be calling me.  I loved the little bow on top.  Could I try them on even if I know I can’t get them right now.”

For the first time in her life, Joy saw the grin fade from Mercurial LaSalle’s face.  “What blue pair?” he asked softly.

The effect unsettled her, to say the least, and it took a moment for Joy to recover.  “Mercury,” she said finally, “is everything okay?  I didn’t mean to upset you, but I saw a pair of blue suede shoes lying on the floor of your display window.”

The old man didn’t reply, instead he spun about and moved quickly, almost running, to the front of the store.  He slid the curtain backdrop to the side and scanned the area.  Joy could see his back tense as his rapid breathing forced his slumping shoulders up and down.  Then, breathing a sigh that sounded like relief, Mercury turned and smiled, “You were pulling my leg, Happiness, there are no blue shoes here.”

Joy scrunched up her brow in confusion and walked to the old man’s side.  “Sure they are Mercury, right here,” she said as she looked down on the floor of the display to see … nothing.  “But … but … they were right here.”

Mercury stepped further out of the way and said, “No blue shoes, Joy.  But I’ve got some great red ones that will fit you perfectly.”

Joy instinctively pulled her scarf snug and smiled at her old friend.  “I don’t think so today, Mercury.  I’d better be getting back to work.”  The puzzled look on her face remained as the bells sang her departure.

Meanwhile, Mercury stood quietly waiting for his heart to calm down.  When the shaking in his right leg finally eased off enough for him to walk, he made his way back to the small office hidden behind the storeroom.  He saw it as soon as he entered the room, just like he had seen it every other day he had ever come to work.  On the far wall, hanging above his wooden desk, was a hand drawn picture that seemed to pulsate, drawing him closer and closer.  He couldn’t remember how he got it, and he didn’t know what it meant, but in his heart he knew it was nothing good.

He reached out with his old hands, removed the push pin holding the paper to the cork board, and sat down.  His fingers trembled as he gazed at the meager artwork of a pair of blue suede shoes, eerily similar to what Joy had just described minutes earlier.  The shoes weren’t what bothered him so much though.  It was the hard, bold, underlined letters scribbled in below the pair.  And even though he didn’t understand the significance, the letters seemed evil to him.  So much, in fact, that he never stocked blue suede shoes in his store.  His fingers traced the patterns for the millionth time:

W T F!

Read the rest of “Blue Shoes” in WTF Anthology, soon to be available directly from Kerlak, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

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