The shoe showed up in the school parking lot sometime in September. Someone graciously placed it on the curb, like an offering. “Here I am. If I am yours, take me home.”
But no one claimed the shoe.
Every day I park in the same vicinity of the shoe. It became like a parking spot marker. “Oh, you. Back again. I’m still stepping in your path.”
Winter months came. Lots of rain. The shoe remained.
One day I asked the secretary when I stopped to sign the ledger, “Have you seen that shoe in the parking lot?”
“Huh?” She looked up from counting money. The secretary always seems to be counting money. “No, I don’t think so.”
I tried to ignore the shoe. Maybe I could pass in peace and not notice.
Well, the shoe heard me all right and decided to do something to show me. Here we are, almost to April with 7 weeks left of school, and that darned shoe stuck herself right in my path. I opened my car door about to step out and Yikes! There it was!
By this time, I felt the shoe was stalking me. I took no sympathy and kicked the thing underneath another car.
You didn’t think I was going to pick it up, did you? I didn’t see it today. Perhaps it’s gone to another parking lot. One can only wish.
I could imagine this slice evolving into a picture book. You have me wondering lots of things about this shoe that keeps hanging around.
Random shoes find their way into the street…it is a weird phenomenon I have noticed too
What a funny story. Now I’m wondering… whose shoe is it? where is the other shoe? what story is that shoe telling? can other people see the shoe, or is it only you? where does the shoe go at night? I’m imagining the shoe secretly hitching a ride on the back of your car or clip-clopping after you on your way into school. I see it sneaking into your classroom and then rushing back out to get to the parking lot before you do… oh, the shoe.
I love your slice! This is one of those small details in life that you took time to notice and created it into something large. I wonder where it’s going to make its self present next time you go to park your car?
Oh, slices are truly everywhere. I was shocked to see the shoe was a sandal. I totally pictured a bedraggled tennis shoe weathering the seasons!
[…] an itinerant teacher, I drive from parking lot to parking lot. During March Slice of Life Challenge, I wrote about the shoe in the parking lot that seemed to be haunting me. This week, I noticed a […]