Flaming Fast Feet

Something about the used pair of Chucks in the thrift store window caught Audra’s eye, stopping her in her tracks. They were scuffed and worn, but the red and yellow flame pattern was still bright.

As she gazed at the shoes, Audra let the heavy backpack full if laundry slide to the sidewalk beside her and rolled her sore shoulders. The laundromat was a two mile hike from her apartment on the other side of town, just far enough away to be too far to comfortably lug a heavy load. But without a car, lug she must.

Money was tight, she knew she really shouldn’t, but Audra reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the roll of quarters she’d brought for the laundry. She peeled back the paper and dug out fifty cents, the exact price of the flame covered Converse, then pushed open the shop door and stepped inside.

Moments later Audra emerged, the flame covered sneakers in hand. She plopped down on the shop steps and kicked off her crocks. The sneakers fit her feet perfectly, as if molded to her exact footprint.

A grin spreading across her face, Audra stood up and bounced from foot to foot. She had the sudden urge to take off running to see if her new kicks would make her run faster, like she had done as a kid. She remembered her younger self, flying down the sidewalk after leaving the shoe store with her mother, yelling “Look how much faster I can go!”

She imagined the flames on her new shoes blasting her forward, like a pair of rockets at her heels. "Look, Ma! I'm flying!" She said to herself, then laughed out loud. As she hefted the backpack crammed with laundry and continued on her way, her step was just a little bit lighter.