THE TROUBLE WITH MUFFY
"Hi Kate!"
Kate turned to see her friend Marcie running up from behind her. "Hi Marcie, How was your summer vacation?" asked Kate.
"I can�t even remember summer," said Marcie, pulling her jacket in tight around her neck. Fall had arrived early this year and the blustery wind had already stripped most of the leaves from the trees. The heavy gray sky seemed to promise an early winter. "I've got Dr. Melton for Composition 201, know anybody that had him last year?"
"I don't think so, but I've heard he's tough" Kate replied. "I have Sternberger for Astronomy 101 this morning."
Marcie made a face and laughed. "Did you lose a bet or something? No, I�m just kidding, I was going to take him too. I wish I had known you were signing up for his class, I would have let you do my homework.� They laughed as they walked along. �I wonder if the class is full yet? I was thinking of dropping Melton�s class anyway.�
They merged with a crowd of students and bounded up the front steps together. "He's the only one teaching Astronomy 101 this semester," she said, raising her voice over the din of the converging students, "so you should talk to him soon if you�re going to try to�Oh No!" Kate looked stricken as she stopped mid sentence and clung to the handrail at the top of the stairs, gripping it tightly.
The din of the stairwell faded into the background as she struggled for balance. The ticklish feeling of stiff leather raking under the arch of her stockinged foot had lasted only an instant before being replaced by the pleasant sensation of a rush of cool air. Familiar yet confusing sensations washed over her, emotions and fears swirling together. Mixed emotions: It was a pound of dread crowding out a penny of exhileration, a dark cloud of embarrassment and self-conciousness concealing the secret thrill of exhibitionism. Her face felt flushed and heated as her white knuckles grasped the handrail tightly.
"What is it?" Marcie asked, but then she looked down. Kate was still wearing the same tired old, well-worn black suede pumps that had been her favorites from last year. Or more accurately, she was still wearing one black suede pump. The other shoe was nowhere in sight and Kate�s black nyloned toes floated above the terrazzo floor as she balanced on her remaining shoe, and looking agitated.
"I lost my shoe!" Kate shrieked, restating the obvious as she searched the floor through the legs of an oncoming army of students climbing up the stairs. Her apprehension was growing by the second.
"Oh dear me, I bet someone has stolen it," Marcie said with exaggerated sarcasm, "It was in mint condition after all, like new and fresh out of the box."
"Knock it off Marcie,� Kate said sharply, �I have to find my shoe! And I'm going to be late for class."
�Hmmmm,� Marcie craned her neck and held her hand over her brow as if searching in the distance. �Don�t see it,� she said gleefully. �I guess we�ll be going to the mall this evening.�
�Stop it Marcie!� said Kate, sounding genuinely concerned. Her mother had always warned her about playing with her shoes, that she would loose them. It had never happened yet, but last year, she lost one under the bleachers and was lucky to get it back at all. After that episode, she had tried to control her unconscious habit, and losing her shoes had almost become a phobia. She had made the mistake of explaining this to Marcie, and since then, she had teased Kate about it, even stealing her shoes a couple of time to taunt her.
�Sorry Kate,� she said. �Just sit tight, we�ll get your shoe back.� Marcie had seen this show before. Like that time in the gym bleachers, or that one on the train. Marcie smiled inwardly. Kate would panic every time. Where was her shoe going to go anyway? Marcie felt bad about finding humor in her friend�s idiosycracies, but it really was sort of funny, wasn�t it? Besides, it was her own fault. She always wore those tired old suede pumps that were loose to begin with, and she always wore stockings with them, compounding the problem.
They stood silently at the top of the stairs for several more minutes, unable to descend against the heavy flow of upward traffic. Kate held the handrail tightly looking very worried as they waited. Her jet-black stockinged toes were perched atop her remaining shoe, scrubbing nervously at the toe cap of her remaining shoe. It was nearly 9:00 when at last, the stampede ended as quickly as it had started. The stairwell was nearly empty now, but there was still no sign of Kate�s shoe. Marcie set down her bag, but before they could do anything else, a lone straggler shuffled up the steps holding a well-worn black pump in his hand, staring at it as if it were a magic lamp or something.
He was handsome, Marcie thought, but seemed very shy. She watched as he stopped, frozen in his tracks as Kate�s stockinged toes came into his view at eye level. He looked up at her nervously without saying anything, then stared at her stockinged foot once more. There was a long uncomfortable silence and Kate struggled for something to say. �I�m Kate,� was all she managed before he knelt on the steps in front of her and held the empty shoe for her as she slipped her foot back into it. He sprung up and ran down the hall without looking back.
"Thank You!" Kate called after him.
"Who was that masked man?" Marcie said with a sigh, " He's hot." Marcie wished that she had the power to stop guys in there tracks that way. Kate was so lovely. Marcie imagined the handsome stranger kneeling at her stockinged feet. �Yuck!� she thought, and shook her head. She hated the thought of anyone going near her feet.
"I'm already late," Kate said, and ran off toward her class, "I'll meet you for lunch!"
Sternberger's class was nearly full when she arrived and she was forced to sit in the second row, closer than she would have liked. As she inched past several people in the row to reach the vacant seat, she brushed against a backpack and stepped halfway out of her shoe again, but this time she steadied herself and recovered it before anyone else noticed. As she reached her seat, she was pleasantly surprised to see �prince charming� from the stairwell sitting directly behind her. She smiled at him and sat down. Now she was unpleasantly surprised. The bleached blond hair, it couldn't be, but look at those white kneesocks, and the blinding white tennis shoes. Muffy Van Cleef was sitting right in front of her. What in the world was Muffy doing in an astronomy class?
Muffy Van Cleef doodled on the folder in front of her with a pen, completing the last of twelve figures, the symbol for Capricorn. She had been meaning to learn more about this stuff for a while now, although she had read some books and magazines already. She was a Virgo, and with her boyfriend Brendan being a Capricorn and all, she reasoned that things should be going much better than they actually were.
None of this sounded familiar to Muffy. Professor Sternberger was droning on about "Quarks" or "Quasars" or whatever, and she was losing interest fast. She didn't know anyone who was a "Quark", and she figured it must have something to do with being born on a leap year or something like that. Sternberger was terribly boring, he wasn't a very good teacher in her view, and she decided she would tell her uncle exactly that. Her uncle Clarence Van Cleef was a Regent and was the head of the Alumni Association. Plus, the fact that they were all sitting in Van Cleef Hall should count for something in her book.
Muffy shifted her feet to the left as she admired her spotless sneakers. She didn't like the looks of those big black boots on the guy next to her, and if he kicked her foot, or even accidentally brushed up against it, her sneakers would probably be ruined and she would have to go all the way back to her gym locker to get a fresh pair.
Muffy took her responsibilities as a cheerleader very seriously, and even though she was out of uniform today, it was obvious to anyone that mattered that these were her cheerleader shoes. Muffy extended both legs in front of her and looked at them again. Her jeans revealed eight inches of immaculate white kneesocks leading to fresh, gleaming white sneakers. She looked up to find Professor Sternberger standing directly in front of her. He appeared to be inspecting her shoes as well.
"May I help you with something?" the Professor asked, his impatience obvious to everyone in the class except Muffy, "or do you have a question pertaining to the subject matter?"
"As a matter of fact I do have a question," Muffy said, oblivious to his ire. "My boyfriend, he lives in the city you know, and he's a Capricorn, and well, I'm a Virgo, I don't know if that was on my transcript or anything�"
Kate stared at Dr. Sternberger who looked completely dumbfounded. There was only a momentary silence in the room before it erupted. All at once, gales of laughter filled the space from all directions as people shrieked and gasped for breath. The guy sitting next to Muffy literally fell out of his chair laughing. Even the perpetually dour Dr. Sternberger threw his head back and roared. After a full minute, the din had not stopped. Kate wiped the tears from her eyes with her shirtsleeve, but could not stop laughing, even though her stomach was starting to hurt. Muffy face was crimson and she was livid, as she sprung to her feet and wheeled around to glare at the class in general, but at Kate in particular. This only made Kate laugh harder, and she pulled her legs up in front of her and held her arms across her stomach, kicking in the air and still laughing uncontrollably. Her left shoe slipped halfway off and dangled on the tip of her toes momentarily, before falling onto the seat back in front of her and tumbling onto Muffy's chair. The loud clack of the heel replaced the beat Kate�s heart had skipped as her shoe tumbled away from her.
Muffy Van Cleef snorted as she picked up her hand lettered Zodiac folder and gave the room one more menacing glare before turning to leave. Almost as an after thought, she snatched Kate's empty shoe from the seat before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind her with a thunderous boom. The sound of pandemonium still filled the air, but there was one person not laughing anymore.
Kate sat in stunned silence. Muffy Van Cleef had just stolen her shoe! Just grabbed it and ran out of the room with it! What was she going to do with it? She had to get it back. Her heart pounded in her chest as the reality of her predicament set in. She could her her mother warning her in church years before. Mother had been right, Kate had finally lost her shoe. The laughter was finally subsiding and Professor Sternberger was back to his usual imposing self. He raised both hands and at once the room fell silent. Kate raised her hand tenatively.
"Professor, may I please be excused?" she asked urgently.
"I should think not," he said, and turned toward the black board. "The origins of the Universe are unknown," he began, "but our observations have given rise to many theories�"
Kate looked down at her exposed toes through her sheer black stocking. "Now what?" Her next class was across campus and she didn't have time to go to the dorm for another pair of shoes. Even if she could, she hadn't unpacked yet and it might take a while to even find a pair. She couldn't just pad around a University in her stockinged feet, but on the other hand, what else could she do? There was no other choice. Whatever she decided to do next, she would be doing it minus a shoe. That much had already been decided for her.
Class was dismissed at the end of the hour and Kate stood up unsteadily in her remaining shoe. Should she remove the other shoe as well? She stared at her half naked foot, and she thought she noticed Prince Charming staring too, but when she glanced at him, he quickly turned away.
Kate stepped cautiously with her stockinged toes and made her way out of the row of seats without snagging her stocking on anything. She headed for the hallway, where she found herself hobbling along next to prince charming again. There eyes met awkwardly, but neither spoke.
Kate noticed that nearly everyone glanced at her feet as she walked by unevenly, her stockinged foot slipping on the polished floor. She stopped for a moment when she reached the front doors. There were less people outside, but her missing shoe would seem all the more ridiculous. Pushing through the doors, she headed off toward the commons. The chill of the sidewalk and the cool fall air rushed her along as her jet-black stocking foot chased her remaining shoe across the sidewalks amidst the rustle of fall leaves. She saw Marcie outside the cafeteria, and walked toward her with her head down. �I lost my shoe again,� she said, and told her the whole story.
"You poor thing," Marcie said, sounding insincere, but then she offered, "Why don't you go find us a seat and I'll grab us some lunch."
"I'm O.K.," Kate said staring down at her stocking, "I'm just glad it happened today and not tomorrow, or I would have been going on a field trip to the city in my stockinged feet."
�Field trip?� Marcie asked, �Tell me about this filed trip.�
They finished their lunch and when it could not be put off any longer, Kate stood up and shuffled across the cafeteria, heading out to span the campus again. She completed the balance of her schedule with one stockinged foot that afternoon, fielding the �what happened to your shoe?� question a mere 40 or 50 times. Per hour. Predictably, by the time she returned to her dorm room, her black nylon stockings were ruined.
In spite of a very late night out, Muffy woke up early and got dressed. She decided to wear a pleated navy blue skirt today with a blue University sweater over a white blouse. It wasn't her actual cheerleader outfit, but it would be obvious to anyone that she was in fact a cheerleader. She gave her makeup a final check and assured herself that she looked perfect.
Finally, she sat down on the bed, pulled her brilliant white size 7-1/2 sneakers out of the box, and unlaced each one carefully. Next she unrolled a bright white pair of cable kneesocks, laying them across the bedspread. She removed her bare foot from one slipper, inspected her pedicure, and then without touching the floor, slid the soft white knee sock over her toes, pulling it all the way up. Still avoiding the floor which might be dusty, she stepped into her sneaker and began tightening the laces. She arranged the knot so that the laces lay flat and were not twisted, then looped them over again tying the shoe in a very tight double knot.
Once, Muffy had seen a cheerleader performing a pyramid, and as she climbed up to the top, her shoe fell off and landed on the wet grass. After she got down, she had to find her shoe, then put her wet muddy grass stained sock into it. Muffy shuddered at the thought, giving her laces an extra tug just to be on the safe side. Satisfied that they were tied perfectly, she slipped off her other slipper and repeated the entire ritual again. Most men spent far less time tying their neckties, but Muffy knew that it was important to look neat, and she was particularly fastidious about her footwear.
Muffy opened the door to leave for class, and had nearly closed it when she glanced at the solitary high heel sitting in the corner. She had planned on returning it to that what's-her-name Kate, but she didn't really want to walk around campus carrying an old shoe. Besides, it looked all worn out anyway, she probably should have thrown it away, or left it in the hall. Kate had had so much fun laughing at her, and Muffy hoped she felt ridiculous walking around shoeless. Muffy didn't think a proper lady would wear those shoes in the first place. And what was it doing off of her foot in the anyway? Muffy's mother had taught her that it was poor form to remove your shoes in mixed company, let alone in a prestigious institution of higher learning. This Kate was obviously from an inferior family. Muffy left the shoe and locked the door behind her.
As she walked across the commons, she couldn't wait to get to class. Let them snicker if they liked, she was going on the big field trip today. She could always drop the class after that. She hadn't seen Brendan for more than a week since school started, and this field trip was her free ride to the city. She and Brendan had already made plans to meet at the Field Museum at the stroke of noon.
When she arrived at class, they were already heading for the bus. Kate and some other girl were talking. The girl glared at Muffy, but neither of them said anything as she passed. Muffy sat in the front row of the bus, and set her jacket next to her on the seat in hopes that no one would sit next to her. The floor of the bus was very dusty, and Muffy placed her feet in front of her, being careful not to kick or rub against anything dirty.
She must have dosed off during the ride, because when she opened her eyes they had just passed the Field Museum and were heading down the short parkway toward Adler Planetarium. Professor Sternberger was standing at the head of the bus.
"There will be a short presentation in the planetarium," he said in a booming voice. "Next, you will be free to visit the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, and the rest of the Adler Planetarium at your leisure. At exactly 2:30, we will reconvene for an afternoon lecture in the planetarium.
The class filed out of the bus and into the Adler Planetarium. Muffy found a seat in the back row, several rows away from everyone else. After a brief discussion the lights went out and the presentation started. It was pitch black in the room and Muffy felt her eyes begin to close almost at once. Professor Sternberger spoke in a low monotonous voice as she settled into her seat and leaned back, extended her legs cautiously under the seat in front of her.
Kate and Marcie found seats near the aisle just in time for the lights to dim, and as they listened to Professor Sternberger, it was so dark that Kate couldn�t be sure that Marcie was sitting next to her until she whispered that she was going off to find the restroom. Kate heard her make her way up the aisle and disappear.
Muffy hated this. They were chasing her again, like a hundred times before. "I'll get you my pretty!" Muffy heard the witch scream. She raced through the deep woods desperate to evade the flying monkeys, but as she pulled herself up into the safety of a sturdy oak tree, she felt the claws of the beasts groping at her legs, trying to pry the Ruby Slippers from her feet.
"No!" she cried. Suddenly, she was awakened by the sound of her own voice and the flying beasts had vanished. The muted giggles and the drone of Professor Sternberger�s voice reminded her where she was, and that she had been napping. She tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness once more. The last remnants of her nightmare dissipated until only the groping paws remained. And remained. And remained.
Muffy was startled, and fully awake now. The bad dream was gone, but she could still feel her shoes being pulled hard by unseen claws. She grasped the arms of her seat and pulled back hard, but she could not free her legs from the unseen tormentor. She opened her mouth to scream, but caught herself first, deciding she had endured enough laughter and ridicule from this particular group. Obviously, there was not a flying monkey pulling at her shoes.
She strained her eyes to see who was sitting in the seat in front of her but she was sure it was empty. She reached out with her hand to confirm it. Kate. It had to be Kate she thought. She could feel the nimble fingers attempting to undo her shoelaces. Go ahead, knock yourself out she thought. Muffy knew that even she could hardly untie those laces in this darkness, so there was little chance that Kate would be able to do it. Muffy tried to kick free but she had extended her legs too far under the seat in front of her and her shins were tight against the seatback. Her ankles were gripped firmly restricting her movement almost completely.
She felt the hands stop working at the laces of her shoes. She pulled her right foot back quickly as soon as she felt the grip on her ankle relax.
"Nice try Kate," she hissed under her breath, struggling to pull her other leg free. There was no response from the floor in front of her, and she heard only a soft metallic click.
Marcie struggled to get her arm from under her as she lay on her belly, holding Muffy's ankle in her hand. The struggle had pulled Muffy�s sock down and bunched it around her ankle, but her shoe hadn't budged a millimeter. It was hard to believe that anyone could tie their shoe so tightly, but Marcie had another plan. Moments before, she had the solution to the problem in her hand but she dropped it on the floor and she was still searching with her free hand to find it.
"This would be amusing if it weren't so pathetic," Muffy whispered. "Why don't you just give up and I won't have to turn you in to Professor Sternberger.� Muffy pulled back hard again. The tugging at her shoe had stopped but her ankle remained stuck in a firm grip. �Kate, you�ll probably be expelled you know, my uncle is a very important man."
Muffy expected the lights to come on at any moment now. The Professor had said a �short� presentation after all. The idea of Kate being caught red handed, lurking around on the floor was very appealing indeed. Muffy was feeling quite superior now, convinced of the way it would happen. When the lights came on, she would announce loudly that Kate was licking her shoes. This bunch of eggheads could laugh at someone else for a change.
"Maybe you should get used to it down there on the floor,� Muffy whispered, deliberately taunting her. �Trashy little girls like you are always groveling at the feet of people like me," she hissed derisively. "Any second now, the lights will come on and everyone will see you there, rolling around on the floor licking my shoe. You hear me Kate?"
Marcie felt around on the floor with her hand and located the item she had dropped as more of Muffy�s venomous taunts rained down from overhead. The fact that she was such a bitch made this whole thing so much more fun, and Muffy thinking that she was Kate was too hilarious. In response to the crack about licking her shoe, Marcie slid a few inches forward and bit down on her shoelace. With her free hand, she opened the nail clipper from her key chain and made one tiny snip at the bottom of Muffy�s lace.
�Kate this must be so embarrassing for you, I mean really, first you run all over campus like some low rent Cinderella and then��
Marcie heard her stop mid-sentence and draw her breath in sharply. She picked at the bottom eyelet and pulled the severed lace loose. She had Muffy�s attention now, as she flicked at the laces again.
Muffy held perfectly still. Something felt all wrong. She could feel the pressure of the laces tied tightly, but her shoe was beginning to loosen up very gradually.
�I don�t know what you did to my shoe but you better just stop it right now!� Muffy whispered hoarsely. She bent over to tried to reach her foot with her hands but it was no use. �Come on Kate!� she whispered again. There was no reply but she felt her sneaker getting tighter and loosening all at the same time.
Marcie pulled at the laces again and she could feel Muffy�s shoe coming loose. She grasped the double bow and tugged, feeling the laces give up another inch or so. One firm tug finished the job and the shoelace, still tied in a bow, came to rest in her hand.
�Please Kate, no!� Muffy whined as the sneaker hung loosely on her foot now. She closed her eyes and curled her toes in an attempt to keep it from falling off. The unseen hand bumped against her ankle and she felt the shoe slip over her heel even further, swinging freely, dangling precariously off of her toes. �O.K., O.K. I�m sorry! I�m really sorry for taking your shoe the other day! Please, it was just a joke! This is different!� Her shoe crept forward and was almost off of her foot.
�Please Kate! I have to meet my boyfriend.� Muffy felt her exposed sock coming the rest of the way out of her shoe until she was barely touching it with the tip of her toe. She struggled to pull it back but eventually, gravity would not be denied. Suddenly her shoe was gone, disappeared into the darkness. The hand that had gripped her ankle was gone as well. �Come on Kate, give me my shoe,� Muffy pleaded softly as she imagined her white socked foot on display in a public auditorium. There was silence, except the pounding of her heart in her chest. �Please Kate, I�ll do anything. Just tell me what you want from me!� Muffy felt the shoe touch the tip of her sock again, but she couldn�t quite reach it. Suddenly, she wasn�t so pleased with the prospect of the lights coming on.
�O.K. let�s cut the bullshit!� Muffy whispered as she bent down. �Tell me what you want! Money? An apology? I said I was sorry! Surely we can reach some understanding here.� There was a long silence, and for one terrifying moment, she wondered if Kate had gone. Relief flooded over her as she felt the shoe slip over the tips of her toes again and cover a portion of her sock.
�Sure, that�s it, we can reach an understanding here,� Muffy said softly as she wiggled her toes a little bit farther into the shoe. �We could be friends, you and I,� she said, sliding her foot all the way into the shoe again and glad to feel her heel ease into it. �With me on your side, you could be one of the most popular girls in town,� she said, inching her shoe back slightly, but moving very slowly. She couldn�t tell if Kate was still holding onto it or not. Muffy relaxed now, her confidence returning. People like this always wanted something didn�t they? The trick was in telling them what they wanted to hear.
�You could try out for cheerleaders with me,� she said confidently, knowing it would never happen in a million years, but thinking it sounded good.
Her shoe retreated a millimeter. �O.K.-O.K. maybe not, but we could hang out together right?� her shoe was dangerously close to slipping over her heel again, and she felt a firm grip on her ankle again. �Come on Kate, what do you want from me?� Muffy whined, and felt the hand tap on her shoe several times, then pull her sneaker off another half inch. She felt the cold floor through the heel of her kneesock as the shoe retreated even further. �Please, tell me what you want!� she hissed, disguising the panic in her voice. �Please, I�ll do anything�� Muffy felt the grip on her ankle tighten and her shoe was pulled further until her toes were barely inside. She flexed and gripped desperately but could not get a hold on it. Her shoe receded again until only the tips of her toes were touching the heel of it. She slumped in her seat and tried to stretch, desperate not to lose contact with her shoe again.
Muffy felt a jolt as a fingernail raked across her sole. She fought her reflex to pull away and managed to keep her toes in contact with the shoe, but just barely. The hand gripping her ankle was sliding down, pulling her sock down at the same time. �Oh no, please no! Kate!� she pleaded, as her sock slouched to expose her naked ankle. Being stranded here barefoot was more than she could bear to imagine. The grip on her ankle loosened as she felt another hand wrap around her instep, poking her arch very lightly with a thumbnail. She jerked her foot back involuntarily as she was tickled, nearly lifting her toes from the shoe. She buried her face in her hands and squealed while she squirmed uncontrollably in her seat. The tickling stopped just when she was on the verge of crying out. She hadn�t yet caught her breath when she felt a finger burrow inside of her slouching sock and rake across her arch, causing her to recoil and allow a muffled peep to escape from her lips. She recovered quickly enough, but when she reached her toes toward the shoe again, it was no longer there.
�Kate stop, I�ll do anything, just stop! Please! Just give me my shoe back!� she whined. �Please Kate, stop it.�
More silence, but she felt the grip on her ankle loosen a bit more. �Kate?� She expected Kate to put her shoe back on again in order to continue her torment but this time she was mistaken. Suddenly, Muffy�s hands flew to her mouth and she tried to keep from screaming as sharp fingernails raked across the sole of her soft white sock. She kicked and struggled, biting her coat sleeve trying to remain quiet as she was tickled mercilessly. Tears filled her eyes as she tried not to laugh aloud. She jerked her foot back hard but could not break free, succeeding only in stretching her sock out of shape. �Kate?� she whined, �Stop it! What do you want me to do?� No response, but she felt the grip on her ankle release. Her relief turned to horror when she pulled her foot back quickly and felt her sock yanked nearly all the way off of her foot, until her naked heel was touching the chilly tile floor.
�No Kate, Please, not my sock, please! Kate!�
Marcie thought she could listen to Muffy�s muffled cries all day, but the lights would be coming on sooner or later. She looped the piece of shoelace into a slipknot and then pulled the baggy toe end of Muffy�s sock through it. She tied the other end of the lace to the seat frame and tightened the slipknot. �That should keep her busy for awhile,� she thought, and quickly retreated to the end of the aisle, quickly counting her way back to the row where Kate was sitting.
�Everyone is leaving,� Marcie told Kate. It was true, most of the seats were empty as people had slipped out under the cover of darkness. She would be willing to bet who the last one to leave would be. �Let�s get out of here,� she said, �go check out the museums.�
�I guess it would be all right,� Kate said, and they found their way to the exit. As her eyes adjusted to the mid-morning sunlight, she did not see Marcie drop the bright white sneaker into the trashcan by the door. They walked out into the bright sunshine and headed toward the Shedd aquarium, zipping their jackets against the chilly fall breeze blowing in from the Lake Michigan.
Marcie was sorry she couldn�t see the look on Muffy�s face when the lights came, but she was anxious to get out of there. They walked along the lakefront and stopped at a bench near the halfway point. Kate sat down and slipped out of her shoes as she often did, apologizing and explaining that she had worn them for the first time today and they were very stiff. Her black stockinged feet glistened in the bright sunlight.
Kate was always taking her shoes off, and Marcie always found herself noticing Kate�s feet. They were very nice looking, long elegant toes with fiery glints of red polish glistening through her sheer black stockings. Her arch was high and graceful, and her legs were long and lean. For several minutes, Kate reclined stretching her legs in front of her, crossing them at the ankles. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back to face the overhead sun, feeling the last rays of the season.
Marcie eyed her as they sat in silence. Occasionally, she found herself feeling jealous of Kate�s good looks and often wondered why. She knew she was not bad looking, but she was the polar opposite of Kate. Where Kate was graceful and willowy, Marcie was shorter and more athletic. She looked at her own legs clad in jeans and running shoes. She had always felt that her legs were too short, and as she nudged Kate�s empty pump with her sneaker, it seemed that her shoe would almost fit inside of Kate�s shoe. She glanced at Kate�s stockinged toes again, knowing she would never have the self confidence to kick her shoes off for some spontaneous sun worship.
Kate squinted as she opened one eye. �We�d better get going or I might fall asleep here,� she said, retrieving her shoes which appeared to have migrated a half a foot in Marcie�s direction. They headed toward the aquarium and the Field Museum. As they bounded up the steps to the Field Museum, Marcie took one more look at the Adler Planetarium a quarter mile Eastward, and wondered if Muffy was enjoying the rest of the show, or being the rest of the show.
�Kate,� Muffy whispered desperately, �Kate, let go of my sock, I�m begging you. I�m sorry about taking your shoe, I really am, and I probably deserve it, but please��
No response.
�We could be friends you know, I know I could get you on the cheerleading team! I�m sure of it Kate! We could get you a make over at the salon I go to. You would have instant popularity!�
No response.
Muffy was furious, and she wiped her eyes and tried to hold it together. �Kate, if you pull my sock off in a public auditorium, so help me I�ll��
No response.
That was just the last straw. Muffy put her hands on the back of the seat in front of her. If she stood up very quickly, that bitch might pull her sock off, but she could reach over the row of chairs and grab a hold of Kate. She would wrest the shoe from her, and pull out a good chunk of her hair just for good measure. �How do you like that makeover bitch!�
And then she would report Kate directly to Professor Sternberger, and he had better take some swift action if he knows what�s good for his career! She was seething and couldn�t contain her rage for another second. She sprung to her feet, immediately feeling the sock stripped from her toes. The floor felt cold and gross under her naked toes and she shuddered as she lunged over the row of seats. She was prepared to grab a handful of Kate�s hair, or whatever else she could seize, but her hands caught nothing but empty air. Kate wasn�t there.
Muffy saw the light at the end of the aisle just as the auditorium door closed. She shuffled down the row as quickly as her shoeless foot would allow and burst through the door. �Stop right there!� she bellowed.
Two freshmen guys turned and stared at the furious woman as she stood in the lobby, fists clenched tightly at her sides and one bare foot perched angrily on the cold terrazzo next to her snow white tennis shoe. They looked around, confirming that there was no one else in the lobby she could possibly be talking to. Their eyes were drawn to her naked foot again.
�What in the hell do you think you�re looking at!� she demanded.
�Nothing ma�am, we were just sneaking out early because we saw everyone else was doing it.�
Muffy turned and jerked the door open, stepping cautiously into the pitch black auditorium again. She would just stand here and wait for the lights to come on. There was no way Kate was getting out of this room alive, she would just stand right here and� Before she could even finish the thought, the lights did come on and she was shocked to see that only she and Professor Sternberger remained, and he was headed her way.
As he walked past her on his way to the exit, he paused in front of her and stared at her naked toes. Muffy quickly pulled her barefoot from the floor tucking it behind her other leg.
�Is that a fashion statement, or is it some sort of a Virgo thing?� he asked, chuckling to himself as he exited the auditorium.
Muffy decided to do the only sensible thing. She would get her purse and cell phone, call her uncle, and then call the police. As she made her way back to the place where she had been sitting, a flash of white caught her eye from under the seat. It was her knee sock! Thank God! Maybe her shoe wasn�t far away either.
That�s it, she reassured herself, it was all just a practical joke. She pulled at the sock and found that it was tied to the seat in front of her. Very funny ha,ha,ha.
�O.K., you got me Kate! Real funny, now where�s my god damn shoe!?� The cavernous room was silent around her. She quickly loosened the knot with her fingernails and slid the knee sock over her toes, pulling it up all the way and feeling some measure of relief. The wall clock said 11:15. If she could just find her shoe now, there was plenty of time to get to the Field Museum and meet Brendan. She would deal with Kate later. Muffy walked the length of the row, her soft white kneesock slipping against the smooth floor with ever other step. It had to be here somewhere�
Marcie and Kate split up as the roamed through the Dinosaur Exhibit. As Marcie looked out from the upstairs windows facing east, she could see a woman walking at a very brisk pace in this direction. Even from several blocks away, something about her stride was unusual, just a little bit off. She wore only one shoe, and her gleaming white kneesock and solitary snow white shoe took turns slapping at the chilly concrete sidewalk as she stomped along. But there was something more to it than that. Everything about her said bad attitude. Even from several hundred yards away, it was obvious she was absolutely furious.
Marcie ducked out of the Dinosaur Exhibit into the main hall and watched from above as Muffy stormed through the main entrance. A guard at the ticket area stopped her for the obvious reason, and she exchanged words angrily with him, waving her arms and pointing excitedly at her stockinged foot with rigid gestures.
Marcie headed back into the Dinosaur Exhibit to find Kate. There was a storm brewing that they might want to avoid for a while.
Snowman
