When The Shoe Fits...

We are always in search of that perfect pair of shoes. That unique pair which combines beauty, grace, elegance, and somehow comfort as well, into two pieces of divine material, encasing your feet like soft flower petals, protecting it from the muck out there in the world.

The only problem is that, that perfect pair we keep dreaming about, is almost always in hiding.

Some might go their entire lives in the hope that one day it will finally be their turn to put on that perfect pair. What they don’t realize, is that unless they get out there into the world, and demand them, the shoes really are never going to fall into their lap. You may find it in your first visit. Or your hundredth. You may choose to try some on, or just look. But they will not come to you.

Because there is no such thing as the perfect pair of shoes.

Don’t roll your eyes and scream “Cynic!”…hear me out (read me out?!?!), patient reader.

So you go to this expensive shop, where you only ever window shop, because simply put its way beyond your pocket depth. And as you move along, humming to yourself, ignoring the snobby salesgirl’s annoyed looks, your eyes suddenly fall on them…those beautiful heels…nothing like anything you’d ever seen before in your hum-drum life. You tip-toe towards them, excited, yet apprehensive at the same time, that they might just not fit. You wonder for a good few minutes, if perhaps it would just be better to dream about them, than know that they weren't for you. But finally your heart gets the better of you, and you lift them, and gently place them on your feet. Lo and behold! They’re a perfect fit!

You look in the mirror and think… “Perfect!”

And somehow the price tag doesn’t matter anymore. You love the shoes, you even love the box and the stuffing they come with. Just the thought of them on your feet makes you smile in the middle of your work day.

And so, on the first occasion you can find you excitedly put on your new pair of heels. They make you look tall, chic, and your legs look like they go on forever. You love the looks of adoration and jealousy that come your way. You finally found them, what everyone was looking for all their lives, what you didn’t even know you really wanted till now…that perfect pair of shoes.

But then you start to notice that just at the back of your ankle, just slightly, it’s starting to burn. Every step you take, it rubs against your skin just that little bit more, causing a pain that is almost impossible to catch, but not really possible to ignore. But you do try to ignore. You keep walking. Because you paid a lot for those pair of shoes. And it isn’t humanly possible that the shoes aren’t perfect. I mean, look at them!

But as the day goes on, that small tiny annoying pin prick of a pain keeps growing, keeps rubbing deeper and deeper, till you’re almost certain that another step can’t possibly be taken without you screaming out loud with pain and your shoe almost certainly filling up with some impossible amounts of blood.

You run home in tears. You hold your shoes in your hands and look at them with loving accusation, “How could you do this to me? I thought we were meant to be!” And with a tear barely contained in your eye, you put the shoes neatly back in their box, and push it under your bed. And you look at your pretty pedicured and now wounded feet and apologise.

Or you don’t.

There is no such thing as the perfect pair of shoes.

You give it some time. You let your feet heal. You try on your shoes again. Just for an hour this time. And the next day for two perhaps. And then a little more. And some more. And you start to realize something. The shoemaker wasn’t dreaming of your feet when he was making shoes. But now, with time, the shoes feel different. You notice how the leather seems to be adjusting just a bit more. How your toes are no longer cramped up. How the ankle spreads out a little more easily. And surprisingly, you notice how your skin is slowly adapting to the contours of the shoes, the ankles, the heel.

And you look pretty, and tall, and chic, with legs that go on forever.

And you’re happy.

In the perfect pair of shoes.

Except, there really is no such thing now, is there?