I used to watch people walk past the display window. Some stopped to admire me; at least that's what I thought at first. But I soon realised that they were all admiring the shoes next to me. I was a pair of pale red sneakers.
At last, the day I had always been waiting for had finally come true. But now it was something I regretted.
A very pretty looking girl walked past the window. The girl saw me, grabbed her mother's purse and ran into the shop. “Please give me those shoes!” she said. “Are you sure?” the shopkeeper asked. “Of course!” she replied. The next thing I knew was that I was in a dark container. It smelled really bad. In the long journey I drifted of to sleep. Finally a streak of light entered my eyes. “Mom, can I try on my new shoes?” “Sure darling,” said the little girl's mother. I was really thrilled to see my new home. At first I thought that it was going to be a nice home with many pretty, clean shoes.
When I came out of the box, I noticed that it was such a pretty room. She gently placed me on her shoe rack. But to my horror, there were all kinds of dirty and filthy shoes. That's when a gloomy pair of yellow platform shoes spoke to me — “You will soon turn out like me it said”. “Yes,” agreed a pair of white (which now looked brown) boots. “Nothing like that is going to happen to me,” I told them.
The next few days went on smoothly.
One morning, I woke up and noticed that it was a rainy day. I felt safe because I knew that my owner loved me more than any other pair of shoes. Suddenly, a hand reached out to me and pulled me away. The next thing I knew was that I was cold, wet and muddy. The moment we reached home I was tossed into a black bag and I overheard the girl saying “Those shoes are really muddy and dirty”. That's when I knew that I was going to get thrown away.
Now I am sitting in the same trash bag. Looks like somebody has forgotten to throw me away but after this experience I have learnt that I should be happy wherever I am.
Aakansha Chacko, V, The High Range School, Munnar
