The Red Shoes-Pam's Version

Once upon a time, in a beautiful and faraway land, called Detroit, a little girl with long brown braids and freckles lived with her parents and a sister, with curly blonde hair and freckles.  The little girls lived a happy life, playing with dolls, a lively brown and white spotted dog, and lots and lots of books.  The little girls went to a parochial school, where plaid pleated skirts and brown shoes were the rule.  Every year the mom and dad would take the little girls for shoes, in their chariot, a really nice white buick.  Listening to beautiful music called ABBA, and Captain and Tennille.  

The girl with the long brown braids and freckles had a hard to fit foot, big, wide and square, not unlike Fred Flintstone.  The little blonde sister had a narrow, perfect foot, not unlike her maternal grandmother, The Queen Of The Golf Course. The little sister was able to shop at any store, and her shoe needs were easily and inexpensively taken care of.  The other sister had to shop at a store call Verfaillies, that carried shoes for her enormous foot. Each year, although her parents tried to keep a brave face, they secretly worried and fretted over the expensive shoe trip.  

One year, when the little girl with brown braids was seven, the girl and her mother went to visit the store.  Mr. Verfaille was a kind man, and his store was festively hung with colorful banners that said "Back To School Sale".  He quickly took care of the school shoe needs, and the little girl was pleased with her wide brown shoes that reminded her of Holly Hobbie.  This was a time long, long ago, called the seventies, when children had one or two pairs of shoes, and were quite happy with having enough.  Not too much, but enough.  

Then, the nice shoe man took the mother aside, and quietly whispered that he had gotten in a very special pair of shoes, and would the little girl like to see them? The mother nodded, but figured they were out of the yearly shoe budget, and really, the girl had enough. But she knew that the little girl with brown braids and freckles loved looking at pretty shoes, and secretly wished she had a perfect foot like her little curly blonde haired sister.  The nice man, with a sparkle in his eye, gave the little girl a tootise roll, gave her braids a little tug, and bustled off to the back room.  The little girl sat, happily swinging her feet, admiring her new shoes.  The man came back and told the little girl to close her eyes.  He slipped a shoe on her foot, and told her to open her eyes.  The little girl slowly opened her eyes, and both she and her mother gasped.  The most beautiful pair of red patent leather shoes they had ever seen were on the little girls foot. And they fit!  They were shiny, like a perfect red apple, had beautiful straps and buckles, and were made for parties. The little girl with the brown braids squealed and skipped around the store, so happy to be in normal little girl shoes.  The mother was delighted to see the little girl so pleased, and asked the man the price.  He told her, and the mother sadly looked at the little girl and told her they were out of the budget.

Crestfallen, the little girl started to take the shoes off.  But then the nice man reminded the mother that the store was having a sale, and with a special discount for little girls with freckles, the beautiful red party shoes could easily fit into the budget.  The mother and little girl could hardly believe their good fortune, and thanked the nice man that gave the little girl an extra tootsie roll for her little curly blonde haired sister.  The little girl loved the shoes with all her heart and wore them at every opportunity.  She was sad when her foot grew too large for the shoes, but she never forgot them, or that very special day. It instilled in her a deep love of red shoes that ran true and fierce.

Well, the little girl with the long brown braids and freckles grew up.  She learned how to find shoes that fit her enormous foot, and  delighted in finding a good shoe sale.  But still, she worried.  How would she ever find a prince that could love her, despite her enormous feet?  She busied her self through the years, caring for and playing with children, and learning how to cut and braid hair of other little girls with freckles.  

Then one day, she met a charming prince from a beautiful and faraway land called Texas. Prince Larry was dazzled and smitten with the girl, who now had short hair of varying colors.  He fell in love with her, enormous feet and all.   He took her to a beautiful and faraway land called Singapore.  They lived a happy life of laughter, pho noodle soup and travel.  One day, Prince Larry took the girl of now varying hair colors to yet another faraway land, called Amsterdam. The charming prince took her all over the land, exploring it's wonderful customs.  One day, they toured a wooden shoe factory.  The girl was delighted with all the pretty shoes, and wandered over to where they sold shoes called Clogs.  She was happy to see they had shoes to fit her enormous feet, and chose a nice black pair to wear when she styled, cut and braided hair.  As they were leaving the store, the girl happened to turn back, and notice a nice man, with a sparkle in his eye.  He smiled and nodded at the girl, and extended his hand to show the shoes he was standing by.

The girl nodded and smiled back, but then, as if time stood still, she looked down, and she swore she heard angels singing.  There, on the bottom shelf were the most beautiful pair of red patent leather clogs she had ever seen. One pair.  In her size.  The girl squealed and skipped and did the cabbage patch dance as Prince Larry rolled his eyes, and tried not to grumble to hurry up, so he could see the cheese factory.  The girl hastily threw the boring black clogs to the side, narrowly missing some innocent russian tourists, and skipped and squealed all the way to the cash register.  

The Prince and his Princess with varying hair color and freckles came back to Singapore, and she has been happily clomping around in her new shoes ever since, much to the delight of the neighbors in the flat below her.  Prince Larry was happy for the girl, and laughed as the girl wore them to bed the first night she got them. He stopped laughing when quite by accident one of the beautiful red clogs met his shin, in the middle of the night.  The princess promised to only wear them at appropriate times, and they lived happily ever after.  THE END.