The Girl in Blue Suede Shoes: a short story

1

"Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and, Lucy." A small whisper echoed through the fence. The boy shot his head up from his book to look for the voice even though a voice isn't to be seen.

"Who said that?" His puffy eyes narrowed during his scan of every inch of the wooden fence.

"Me." She—the voice—whispered, her voice came from the opposite side of the fence. The boy turned to his left and frowned at the fence.

"Where are you?" He stood from his stool in the patio, careful not to step too close the fire illuminating the pit.

She laughed, quietly, it was almost a hum.
"Why so scared? I can hear your heart pounding from up here."

"Up—up here?" The boy's heart pounded faster. Slowly, he brought his gaze to the sky and met two glowing blue eyes surrounded by a mane of fluffy, leafy blonde curls. He yelled in fright and fell back into his stool, toppling it over and shuffling his body backwards as the girl dismounted from the patio top.

"No need to be scared." She smiled, sweetly. The boy's scared brown eyes looked at her bizarrely large, navy winter coat being worn in the summer-nearly-fall weather, her brown skirt, grey-knit leggings and blue suede shoes. She continued to smile at the boy, refusing to shift her gaze even an inch until he returned the gesture. Finally, he did. The boy smiled nervously but she considered it a friendly invitation. The girl came around the fire and helped the boy back into his seat—she was strangely strong for a girl as old as him.

She picked up the book that fell from the boy's lap and admired the cover. Her fingers traced over the author's name and the edges of the pages with such delicacy. "Wha—who are you?" The boy said hesitantly.

"I'm a daughter of Eve, haven't you heard?" She smiled at him. His eyebrows furrowed, he was obviously confused. She sighed exasperatedly and lifted the book. "It's from your book—The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Your book mark is past that part so I assumed you would've understood."

He shook his head.

"How could you miss that?" She frowned at the book and flipped her thumb through.

"I can't read." He replied softly. The girl raised her sorrowful eyes at him but the sorrow quickly vanished.

"Then why on earth is your bookmark still in here?"

"I wanted to try and read. Mom was too busy to read to me, Dad has work so I read the words I could."

"Which are?" She clicked the toes of her blue shoes.

"The, that, girl, boy—,"

"That's ridiculous!" He nodded. "Well, the least I could do is teach you since we're friends—,"

"Friends?" She looked up at him and smiled. He returned her gesture.

"Friends." The girl sat on a log in front of the fire and pat the space next to her for the boy. That night, the girl taught the boy how to read and how to be free.

-

"Elliote."

"Charles."

"Read to me again."

"Book, resource, article...?"

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

The teenage girl, Elliote, sat up from her slouch on the oak tree branch to look at her friend. "By George, Charles, I've read that book to you three times through!"

"And I'll ask again, Ell. No one reads it like you." He smiled, covered his eyes with an arm and rested his feet in Elliote's lap.

The last school bell had wrung meaning it was free time. The two friends did their usual and sat in the big oak tree out front, reading and humming and doing what their hearts reached for.

She rested the book on his toes and began for the fourth time. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and, Lucy...,"

-

"You always miss the good part." Elliote stuffed the placeholder into her copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

"Your voice is soothing."

It was evening now, past dinner time, the two walked down the empty street towards Charles' home.

"I think you need an afternoon nap, perhaps then you'll stay awake during my reading." He nudged her shoulder, playfully and they both smiled. "The trees are comfy. I'd recommend them. Especially the big apple tree in the narrow neck of the woods before home. In the mid-afternoon it's breezy and exceptional for a light snooze." Charles chuckled.

"Hey, are you ever going to replace those shoes?" He pointed at her blue suede shoes. "Second year is nearly over. Isn't it time, Ell?"

She smiled at him. "Not yet."

"I can see your toes." Elliote laughed, an eyes-closed, mouth-open laugh.

They walked in silence for a while. Charles carrying both of their bags, picking leaves from her hair and Elliote kicking a pebble while humming them both to a fantasy.

A drop of water landed on Elliote's nose. She looked at the dark sky, bright-eyed and grinned as the rain fell down her cheeks. Charles yelped and guarded Elliote's bag in his school jacket then covered his head with his bag as the rain fell harder.

"Elliote!" He yelled through the uproar. "Ell!" Charles pulled Elliote's arm—knocking her from her thoughts. She grinned at him and took the bags from him, throwing them beneath some bushes.

"Dance with me." She yelled, smiling and pulling him deeper into the storm. "Come on."

"Are you insane? We're going to get sick!"

"I'm as sane as it gets! That's right, we're going to get to sick—of dancing! Come on!" She fell into a fit of laughter and started grooving in the rain. Her waist-length hair was soaked but she managed to whip her hair and move her hips and do flawless pirouettes in the puddles. Charles' shoulders sunk while the rain dropped from his narrow nose.

"Charles! Come on! Dance with me!" She held out her arms and began doing the Twist. "Charles!"

Reluctantly, he confided and danced with her in the rain. They twisted and spun and free styled. Their echoing laughs were contagious. Elliote took his hands and guided them to her waist. She went to her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Charles?"

"My dearest, Elliote?" She smiled against his shoulder.

"Come on an adventure with me."

Charles pulled away but held her waist. "What?"

Her ocean eyes were pleading. "Come on an adventure with me. Tomorrow. Let's—let's conquer the world, you and I, hand in hand."

"Ell—,"

"Come with me! I have it all planned out. Places to go, where to eat, I've saved what I've earned all my life and it's enough to keep us going for a while. Just imagine, dancing in the rain in a state full of paradise, sailing in a boat with the sea spray touching our noses!" Charles began shaking his head, his brows furrowed but Elliote continued. "Running in a field of perfect yellow daisies until our legs are too sore to keep us steady! I want to do this but only with you! Come on an adventure with me, Charles."

The rain poured harder. "Ell, we need to go inside." He tugged her waist but she pulled the lapels of his school blazer. Chest to chest, they were, as Elliote collided their lips together. The two stayed in the same place for a while, with their lips moving together and their hands pulling their bodies closer.

When they pulled back, their foreheads against eachothers, their heavy breaths mingling, and their eyes closed because they were too shy to open them again, Charles whispered the word that shattered the world.

"No."