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WILL YOU WEAR THEM?
By
Rick Brown
The
door to the closet opened and there were voices. One by one, the shoes
lined up on the floor were moved down to make room for another pair.
While the shoes watched, the lid to a box was removed and a new,
gleaming pair of tennis shoes was placed on the floor with the others.
The door to the closet closed and it was quiet for a few minutes.
“Everybody still here?” asked the dress shoes.
“I think so,” said the smallest pair.
“I’m still here.”
That was the oldest, most beat-up shoes in the closet.
“If anybody’s going to tossed out,
I’m sure it’s going to be me but I’m still around for
another day.”
“Oh, now don’t talk that way,” said the baseball shoes.
“Well, it’s true. My days are numbered. There’s no getting around that.”
“So, who’s the new pair?” the dress shoes asked.
“Oh, hi everybody,” said the new
shoes. “I’m fresh out of the box. Nice to meet
everybody.”
“Yeah, nice to meet my
replacement,” said the old shoes. “Well, I knew it was
going to happen. Things are getting a little snug in there and the way
he treats me, I’m surprised I’m still around to see another
day.”
“Well, you’ve got that
right,” said a pair of sandals. “I’m sure
you’re his favorite but he doesn’t spare you anything, does
he?”
“Just the other day he was dragging me
along while he was riding his bike. Can you believe that? And puddles!
He just loves puddles. Why, he’s never met a puddle he
didn’t jump in. I consider it a lucky day when we go for a walk
on gravel instead of concrete.”
“I’ve got it easy,” the
baseball shoes said. “Believe me there’s nothing quite like
playing in the grass. It smells so good, too. The other day at the game
he stood in the outfield the whole time. I don’t we had to move
once. It was very, very peaceful.”
“You want to know about peaceful?”
the dress shoes asked. “You ought to come with me sometime. We
hang out in church or maybe go to a wedding or a band concert. Keeps me
in pretty good shape, if you want to know the truth. Although he
isn’t always so excited to put me on. I guess that can’t be
helped.”
“He hardly ever uses me anymore,”
said the smallest pair. “You wouldn’t know it to look at me
but I’m so old I used to hang out with the pair of shoes he used
for learning how to walk.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Oh, he’s grown over the
years and I have a lot of great memories but those shoes he used for
learning, they were mighty nice. Very friendly shoes, they were. I
don’t know why they were still in the closet when I got there. I
guess his mom hadn’t gotten around to tossing them yet.
They’re long gone now.”
“Did his mother say anything when she bought you?” the dress shoes asked everybody.
“Well,” said the old shoes,
“I think she said something like ‘Will you wear them if we
get them for you?’ What else is he going to do with us?”
“That’s exactly what she said when
she bought me, too,” said the dress shoes. “Is she still
saying that?”
“Oh, yes,” said the new shoes.
“He tried on lots of other shoes and when he finally came to me,
his mother sighed and said that same thing: ‘We’ll get them
for you if you’ll wear them.’”
“Well, she didn’t say that when I
was bought,” the baseball shoes said. “I guess she knows
he’ll have to wear them when he plays baseball and that’s
about it. He can’t wear me to school or anything.”
“Yo dude, I remember once when he wore
me to church,” the sandals said. “Oo, like his mom was so
unhappy with him. Do you remember that? She said, ‘You are never
to wear these dirty, old sandals anywhere except around the house, out
to play, at the beach, at the pool, in the rain . . . ‘ and I
don’t know what else because she went on and on and on with a
huge list, like. He can wear me just about anywhere EXCEPT to
church.”
“I remember that,” said the dress
shoes. “I laughed so hard I thought I was going to swallow a shoe
lace.”
“Do his feet smell?” asked the new shoes.
“Oh, brother, let me tell you,” said the dress shoes.
“Phewwee, you should play baseball with
him some hot summer afternoon and see what you think,” said the
baseball shoes. “Talk about stink! This kid would only take a
shower on his birthday if his mom would let him.”
“Well, I don’t mind it,”
said the old shoes. “We’ve been everywhere together and
after a while, you get kinda used to it and maybe you even you start to
like it a little. Then, before you know it, you’re so comfortable
that something like that doesn’t even matter. I think maybe I
even start to smell a little different, too.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got that
new shoe smell,” the dress shoes said to the new shoes.
“When will he pick a pair of us to wear?” asked the new shoes.
“In case you don’t know,
it’s summer time,” the old shoes said. “He goes
around barefoot whenever he can. We’ll each get our chance soon
enough. You know what his mama says: ‘Will you wear them if we
get them for you?’ |
