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The
Red Shoes
Red. The colour of passion.
A colour that can drive you crazy if you
stare at it for a long time.
Red like blood. Red like roses. Red like
tomatoes. Red like wine. Red like the full moon of August.
Actually, red is not my favorite colour.
Despite the fact that I like to live my
life impassionedly and many times a little thing can drive me crazy and I
don’t feel sick at the sight of blood and I kind of like roses and I'm
partial to tomatoes and I don’t like wine at all and I adore the full moon
of August – red IS NOT my favorite colour.
And then, I fell in love.
While passing by a shoe store, I noticed
a pair of red high-healed shoes. They “called” to me.
As I became magnetized by them, I was
drawn closer and closer to the vitrine. I was almost touching the glass. As
I said, red is not my colour, and neither is brown. I can’t remember ever
having a single red or brown piece of clothing in my wardrobe.
It's the same with the shoes. As I am a
"shoe collector," I have dozens of pairs of shoes in my house, but nothing
in red. Of course, after I buy a pair of shoes, it’s extremely possible that
I will wear them only once, or not at all!
But I HAVE to buy them. I guess you can
call me a “shoe victim” as well as a "shoe collector".
This time, though, it was different.
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This pair of red shoes had entered deep
into my heart. I was in love! I wanted them! I HAD to get them! So, without
even thinking about the 150 euro price tag (six hours work for a single pair
of shoes –what was I thinking!) I immediately purchased the much desired
pair.
Happy and replete, I strolled along the
streets, smiling, with tender feelings towards the bag which carried my new
acquisition!
Over the next days, I waited impatiently
for the right opportunity to wear my new shoes.
And then the moment arrived!
Till then, I repeatedly tried them on,
climbing chairs in order to see them adorning my feet in the mirror. And, as
I said, the moment had arrived. It was a friend's birthday party that
Saturday night.
Although, I work on Saturdays – and
under different circumstances I would be annoyed because whenever I'm
invited out it happens to be on Saturdays and I usually go exhausted from
work – this Saturday I wasn’t annoyed at all.
In fact, I was happy! I would wear my
new shoes to work then go to the party! I would have them on for a long
period of time – at last!
So, I got ready. Black dress and red
shoes. Brand new, shining, red shoes. And then I went out.
I began walking full of confidence at
first – then I felt a bit uncomfortable.
It seemed like the new shoes were a
little tight or, maybe I should say, VERY tight?
Suddenly, it felt like a thousand knives
were stabbing my feet! Every step was painful. Every step was another stab.
It was an eon of eternities of pain all the way to my office.
Now, as I sit at my desk and stare at my
beautiful and damned, brand new, shining, red pair of shoes, I wonder how
something so beautiful, can be so tremendously painful!
I believe this is the first and last
time that I wear them…,” I thought as everyone at
work admired my shoes. It’s your fault, Maria, I continued thinking,
“other people starve and you have thirty pair of
shoes and still they are not enough for you… It serves you right…
It serves me right!
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