Short Stories

The Summer Shoes

The scorching heat touches my skin as I walk along the boardwalk.

I stop by Crocs and look at the crocs that seem unique and yet 'cute' at the same time.

I look out the window and see an amusing sight.

A girl around my age is running in the sand, chasing a dog who has- flip flops? in his mouth.

I approach the girl as she plops down on the sand, clearly tired.

"Hello. Need some help?"

She looks up at me. "I need a new pair of slippers. I mean, yeah, I guess. I give up."

I look at the dog and rub his back. He drops the flip flops and pants.

I throw a ball and he runs out to fetch it.

I hear her let out a sigh. "Thanks."

I smile at her. "No problem. May I?"

She nods and I sit beside her, handing her the flip flops.

We watch the dog play in the sand.

I look at her, her medium length brown hair 'waves' around as the wind blows. Her sparkling blue eyes meet mine.

"Who's dog is that?" I ask.

She sighs and looks down. Shamefully?

"My boyfriend's."

Oh.

After a minute of silence, we start talking about anything, introducing ourselves and talking about the beach.

The afternoon passes by quickly and soon the sun has begun to set.

We stand up about to say goodbye when a drunk guy stomps towards us and grabs her by the wrist.

I step forward and push him off. He looks me up and down.

"I'm her boyfriend. She just met you. Back off."

Her eyes meet mine but then she looks away, ashamed.

She holds the box I gave her. When she went off to get food in between our conversation, I went off to buy her new flip flops since hers were chewed off by her boyfriend's dog.

He whistles and his dog runs to them as they walk away from me.

***

A few minutes later, a text pops up. I rarely get texts.

Thank you for today. I haven't had someone to talk to or listen to me like that in a long time. You can come by anytime okay? My mom would love you! God bless!

I smile.

***

The next day, I stop by her house and see that she's right. Her mom does love me. She even asked me to visit the next day and whenever I can. I said that I could because I have no one and nothing to take care of.

The next day, I come back. And this time, she hands me a box with her mom smiling from behind.

"Thank you for being there for me. I found out some things and that was the last straw. I finally had the guts to leave him. Thank you for the new flip flops. These are your summer shoes. I hope you like these."

I take the box and open it to see black and blue Sperry's. Wow.

"Thank you. You made my summer one hundred percent better."