| A tube-like shoe |
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I was five, maybe six years old that Sunday afternoon, and purposely playing in the front yard, not the back. Surely they would come. The three young women, not unattractive, in navy suits, black stockings and sensible shoes often passed our house on their way to chapel at the end of the block. I said the shoes were sensible - Oxfords with solid, two inches stacked heels. Well, five of them were. But the sixth shoe, a left shoe stood out from the rest.It was made of the same black leather, not tall, but tube-like, showing no sign of an instep or toe. The lacing went straight down the front, flush with the shin. The heel was low, unlike its right mate. Perhaps to add stability, the shoe was built out an inch or two at the back.
They came by, as always, on the other side of the street. I gaped. They looked too. "Oh! Isn't he cute!" they said. And then they hurried on. What kind of foot needed a shoe like that? Why did the left leg seem longer than the right? It puzzles me still. In the 50 years since, I have, in idle moments, sometimes doodled a sketch of that shoe and leg. I imagine visiting the girl, leisurely chatting over a cup of tea. Then, tea finished, I kneel down in front of her and gently untie the lace on her left shoe....
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