Old Shoes

The sky is streaked with light, giving everything a luminous glow. Singing, chirping coming alive with warmth, another morning.

The yellow dirt road whines past neglected fields and a broken down fence. Preceding near a small pond with a family of ducks swimming happily, through a stand of trees, that have grown so large they nearly hide the house.It’s a huge structure crying out in its neglect. Shutters that once graced every window, now hang haphazardly here and there with no purpose any longer.The paint chipped and peeling, there is no color. Weeds have choked the gardens. Yet,there is a perfume of Lilac’s in the air, as old bushes burst forth in flower. It is as though time froze in this place. Abandoned, awaiting its renewal.

No! Not abandoned. She is coming, walking slowly. Yellow dust from the road rises in a small cloud around her fancy high heel shoes. Their color faded as everything else, worn and trodden down. Bright silver and rhinestone clips adorn the shoes. Their brilliance lost long ago. They are petite as everything else about her is. A white lace dress, pristine in color hangs on her thin frame. On one shoulder is an embroidered shawl, colors now blended together like murky water.The rest of the shawl drags behind on the ground. She cares no longer, as her shoes get caught, tangled in the fabric, she braces herself against falling.

There is only one thought now. The silence of the house and the memories hidden there. The shoes carry her forward closer to the sanctuary she craves. As though they have a will of their own, the old shoes stop near the pond. She looks out and smiles, the family of ducks pay no attention as they chatter noisily among themselves.She is almost there, her long thin fingers feel for the cold steel door knob. She grasps it and it turns.

Light focuses on the old rhinestone shoe clips and they dance once more in the sun, as they did years ago. Reflecting the life that once was.The door closes, she is gone. In the memories, in the silence, in the darkness.