The Shoes

"Karen!" her mother yelled. "It's time to get rid of all your old clothes!" The sound echoed up the stairs into Karen's room. Sunlight poured through her windows, announcing another beautiful spring day, one too wonderful to spend indoors. Unfortunately, Karen could think of no way of getting out of it. She had been procrastinating long enough--she had run out of excuses for her mom days ago. Karen looked wistfully out the window for a few minutes before dragging her eyes back to the problem at hand...spring-cleaning.

Her room wasn't messy like that of most teenagers (primarily because she'd been threatened she'd not get to play soccer if she didn't clean it), but just as haphazardly decorated. Posters of various and sundry pop singers littered the walls and a stereo system sat on a table by an unmade bed bearing blankets covered with bright pink and purple flowers. A bookshelf revealed an eccentric literary taste with books on everything from witchcraft to poetry and science fiction to romance. A silver jewelry box lay open on her cherrywood chest. Inside was a vast array of new and old necklaces, rings, and bracelets, including a brooch her grandmother passed down to her for Christmas one year. Many contained crystals and jewels of varying size and color. Her favorite, however, wasn't inside the jewelry box. It was a ruby-encrusted ring she'd had as long as she could remember, so loved that Karen never took if off. She'd been told that the ring had been given to her by her father when she was only a baby, before her father had gone on a business trip and been killed in the return flight. Maybe that was why she felt so connected to the ring....even though she didn't even remember him.

Well, it was time to get down to business. Karen walked over to her stereo and put in Aerosmith. As Steven Tyler wailed that he was going crazy, she pulled clothes from the closet that no longer fit or were no longer worn. Occasionally, she'd hold up some garment that clashed with her short red hair and green eyes, and she would wonder what she could have been thinking. After a while, a pile of clothes lay on the floor in a heap. Too little skirts and blue jeans were mixed together with blouses that were no longer "in." Now that the clothes were finished, the shoes needed to be separated, but not until after lunch. Karen was famished but grateful that spring-cleaning wouldn't ruin her soccer game tomorrow. She quickly ran downstairs to fix herself a sandwich and pour herself a glass of orange juice, then returned with her lunch to her room. She switched on a radio station that sometimes played oldies but goodies, and KC and the Sunshine Band blared out of the speakers. The music certainly matched the weather, she thought, looking out her window and munching on her sandwich.

A guy walked down the sidewalk and under a tree in the front yard with a dog, a cocker spaniel. He looked to be about 19, had shoulder-length black hair that curled at the ends, and enough muscle on his chest to give him the appearance of an amateur bodybuilder. And the view isn't bad from the back either, she thought.She could just imagine her best friend, Jenny, saying, "I'd walk that any day," as she so commonly commented on hot guys. She laughed...it's too bad Jenny couldn't be here now keeping her company instead of spending a miserable weekend trying to catch up on her homework she'd missed out on the past few weeks. Naturally she'd been grounded until her grades picked up. Karen knew because Jenny had griped about it for the past four days. It'll cut into my social life, she'd complained. As much as she loved her, probably why she loved her, Jenny loved a good time. Karen envied Jenny's life of the party personality sometimes, but for the most part loved the differences between her and Jenny. They'd been friends long enough to respect and enjoy those differences.

Well, that's enough gawking and mind-wandering for now. No soccer tomorrow if the job isn't finished. Karen walked over to her closet to fish out old or outgrown shoes. Every so often, a pair of sandals or dingy tennis shoes would come flying out over her shoulder. Just as suddenly as she began, she stopped. At the bottom corner of her closet was a pair of sneakers. The once-white running shoes were now sadly discolored, transformed into brown patched with black spots. The soles were severely worn and scrapes liberally covered the sides of both shoes. Even the heart she'd drawn on the left side of the left shoe with a permanent marker had almost been worn away. Only the blue shoelaces she'd replaced the old broken ones with remained clean. She put her hand over the top of the sneaker and rubbed her fingers over the sides gently, lovingly.

Karen saw herself two years ago, when she was fourteen and buying shoes for soccer. She hadn't even wanted to play, but Jenny had talked her into promising she'd sign up with her, like she did everything else. Her mother had been excited to see her getting involved in something and had made it her job to see that Karen had the perfect shoes. Karen had looked at shoes without much enthusiasm but had decided if she was going to be wearing them a lot, she may as well pick out something she liked. And then she saw them. The perfect shoes. They didn't look extraordinary to the naked eye. They just appeared to be a regular pair of white Reeboks, but it was as if they were made just for Karen. Sliding them on her feet, they fit perfect. It almost felt magic.

She saw herself again at her first soccer practice. It was damp because of the rain the day before and the sky was cloudy and not quite menacing. She was a little nervous, this being the first time for her to play soccer. Kids stood around the field chattering in their T-shirts and athletic shorts until the coach blew the whistle. Mostly all the coach had them do that day was run, but it felt great, running across the field, the wind blowing through her hair and in her face, the smell of dewey grass invading her nostrils. It was magic...she felt like she'd been flying. It didn't even matter to her when Jenny quit soccer just one week later.

Next, she saw herself running on the pavement a few blocks from her home. With her ponytail flying behind her, she passed cars, trees, and houses at a ground-eating pace. She never knew until that moment that she could love this so much. The sights and sounds of early mornings in the city were surprisingly thrilling. The sun was barely peeking out above the horizon turning the sky into a deep pink like the blush of a new bride. All around car horns blared, motors hummed, and people hurried out of their homes and into their vehicles for their commutes to work or school. Warm energy flowed through her body as her legs pumped her farther down the block while the cool morning air rushed by her and sweat poured down her face. Who knew that running made you feel so alive? Aided by her trusty Reeboks, Karen discovered another side to life entirely. She discovered that the peace in your soul could exist in the midst of all the chaos.

Karen looked lovingly at her well-worn beloved shoes. After so much together, how could she possibly trash them...They had brought her such joy and had opened her up to a whole new world. She disappeared into her closet for a moment, the light clamor of boxes and clothes being shifted around inside her closet barely audible over the sound of the radio still playing. A few minutes later, she came out of her closet with a large box that looked hand-decorated. Bright pink glittery letters spelled out "Karen." This was her special box, where she kept all of her "treasures." She opened the box slowly, as if the items inside were rare and precious, because to her they were. Inside this box, amidst all the other special treasures she had kept throughout the years, she would place her tennis shoes in a place of honor--a piece of her memories and a reminder of the peace that can be found within.