Feet Aren't Made for Walking [BEING PUBLISHED!] #OnceUponNow

Part Three

One dance turned into two, which turned into three, four, five. And I was shocked to find that the more time we spent on that street corner, the more fun I had. My feet were still clumsy, and my fingers couldn't grip to save my life, but something about the way Corinne spun around, looking as ridiculous as me, made it okay.

But time was running out. We had less than two hours to get Mia back, and yet whenever I mentioned this, Corinne clammed up and nervously glanced at the blinking red light atop the tallest building in the city. The Queen's chambers. (It was called the Steel Building in Pittsburgh, but here it was known only as The Q.)

Something was up with Corinne. And my future depended on discovering what that was.

"So..." I began, realizing she knew much more about me than I did about her. "If I broke your curse, why are you still green?"

She skipped along the street, shrugging. "I think it's permanent. Green's my favorite color though, so it's not a total disappointment. Orange on the other hand..." She laughed, but her heart wasn't in it.

"How did you even get green to begin with?"

"Long story. Oh, hey! Want some ice cream?" She took off in the direction of a nearby building, leaving me to hobble after her. I could recognize when someone was deflecting. I was a pro at it after all.

I squinted at the sign above the parlor. "Mice Cream?"

"Yep. These guys are great. Look!"

Screaming isn't considered very manly, but at the moment I didn't care. I screamed like a thirteen-year-old girl. I screamed like Mia at her first bubblegum pop boy band concert.

Three five-feet-tall white mice were staring right at me.

"We seem to have alarmed him," said the one on the left. It was wearing a putrid yellow top hat and holding an ice cream scoop.

"Newbie," added the mouse on the right. It adjusted the lapels of a hideous glittery blue suit.

The middle mouse said nothing. It pushed a pair of horn-rimmed glasses up its nose and offered me a bowl of red ice cream.

Top Hat Mouse bowed. "Enjoy our complimentary mint chocolate chip. We added extra chips this week."

I glanced at my bowl. "Why is it red? Are there cherries in here?"

"Don't mention that," Corinne said. "They're colorblind."

I blinked. "Colorblind...mice?"

"Red-green colorblindness mostly. Sometimes blue-yellow."

"My lady," Top Hat interrupted, "I do love your green hair. It's quite alluring."

Corinne nudged my arm and pushed a lock of red hair over her shoulder. "See? It certainly doesn't help their sense of style."

Top Hat rounded the counter, allowing me to get a closer look at him. He wore orange and white striped pants and a checkered shirt. He was a bit too close for comfort. I tried not to scream again.

"You guys are the stuff of nightmares," I confessed, wincing as the truth spilled out.

"How rude," said Top Hat. "You know, we do love to gnaw on a good block of wood."

"I'm not a block!" I said, exasperated. "I have arms, you know."

But Top Hat seemed to have grown bored with me. He turned to Corinne, while his two friends retreated into a storage room.

"It has been too long, my lady," Top Hat said with a bow. The look of reverence in his beady red eyes freaked me the heck out.

"Indeed," Corinne said. She'd relaxed once we entered the shop, but her shoulders were tense again, eyes skittish. "Don't tell anyone you saw me here. I haven't been recognized yet."