“Where’re my shoes?” I asked, leaning in through the door, frustrated. “I can’t find them – again.”
A ripple appeared on her smooth brow, and the scented candle on her side flickered. “Did you try in the rack?” she said, slowly, without opening her eyes, sitting erect in the lotus position.
“I did.”
She took in a long breath, exhaled it slowly. “In the study?”
“Yes.”
Another breath in, and out. “Under the dining –”
“Oh, come on!” I flung the grocery bag down. “Will you just stop it?”
Her eyes sprung open, and steadied themselves on mine. “Why are you so ruffled?”
“Well, maybe ‘cause I have a call in thirty minutes, but it’s veggies I have to go shop.”
“It’s Monday,” she said, reminding me. “Your turn. And you knew it well in advance.”
“I know! That’s why I’ve been looking for my damn shoes. Any idea?”
“No.” She shook her head, and straightened her back again. “Go look again.”
I stared at her. “You know,” I said. “I’m so bloody fed up of this. I take my shoes off at one place, and when I come looking for it the next morning, they are never there.”
She stared back, her mask of calmness threatening to crack around the jaws. “You’re not blaming me for it by any chance? Are you?”
“I don’t know. You do need to be careful about them, yes. Leave them where they are, at least, if you can’t help by keeping them at a place I could find. It’s just so frustrating when I have to –”
“Are you even listening to yourself? Careful about your shoes? Me? Wow. Why this huge privilege? Coz I’m the wife?”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I know that’s exactly what you mean. It’s always the duty of the woman to keep her man’s things in place, right? His towels, his undies, his hankies, his shoes. Your mother did it for your father, didn’t she? So, I’ll have to do it for you,” she said. “Till death do us apart.”
“You’re taking it the wrong way,” I said. “Anyways, I’ll go back and check the balcony again. Maybe –”
“No. Wait. I’ll tell you.”
I squinted back at her. “You kidding me?”
“No. But let me confess something, first.” She uncrossed her legs, stretched them out, and slumped back against the wall. “These shoes of yours…” She examined her nails, before looking up. “They are special. Aren’t they?”
“What?”
“Yes,” she answered herself, “they are. They kind of come alive when left alone, you know.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“And you’re right,” she continued, ignoring me. “You don’t find them. You won’t. Because whenever you’re out of sight, I pick them up and hide them behind the sofa.” Our eyes locked. “Then I go back to them in the night, when you’re asleep. And I watch them.” Her voice suddenly dropped to a scandalous whisper. “I watch them make love to each other – all night long.”
We looked at each other for a long moment, before I slowly tore my eyes away. “Okay.” I raised my hands. “Okay. I will… check the balcony, then,” I said, slowly picking up the bag again.
Out in the living room, checking the clock, and shaking my head clear of the disturbing images, I hurried past the sofa, and halted at the balcony door. I glanced back, unable to resist an urge to check. I tiptoed back to it, and quietly leaned over to peer down the gap behind it.
And, there they were – my shoes!
Surprised, and curious, I looked closer. One of them was trying to wriggle on top of the other, or so it seemed in that moment.
I jerked back up in horror, my eyes instinctively flying in the direction of the room. She stood there in the doorway, with her arms crossed, watching me intently.
I swallowed.
She raised an eyebrow.
I shook my head, wore my mask, and dashed out to the market in my flip-flops.
Sundaram Chauhan
Please do convey my regards to the pair of shoe!
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Haha…sure Smita… thanks for stopping by..:))
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🙂
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hahaha wow! I loved it, so brilliant. I just can’t seem to shake that image out of my head now.
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haha… yes you won’t… I had to write a story to do that… thanks so much for the appreciation… :))
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Sentient shoes are the source of all my relationship woes. Great piece 🙂
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Thanks so much…:))… yeah sentient shoes… “))
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Lo e your shorts. Perfect to wake up to.
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Thanks Clive… glad I gave you something to cheer about… :)) Good morning…:))
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Wow, a love story in the garb of a marital discord. Amazing read!! 🙂
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Thanks Deepak… appreciate the kind words… Happy Diwali…:))
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My pleasure buddy, wish u and your family too a happy diwali!
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Lol…. Loved this story. I’ll try it with my hubby…using an item he always asks me… His sanitizer …😂❤️💐
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Hey Diana… you definitely should… I’m sure you can come up with something even more creative to frighten him… convinced of women’s ingenuity… I am. Thanks for the lovely review…:))
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Hilarious. Now, if you could just tell me where my other sock goes after I’ve washed and dried them both together….
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Gotta ask the missus, Brandon :)) She would know something I’m sure. Thanks so much for stopping by… appreciate it. :))
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Effing shoes!
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Haha…yeah:-)
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Wonderful!! I loved it Sundaram 😄🤜🤛✨
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Thanks Ellie…😀🤜🤛🤘
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😄
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In my case I don’t find my purse also, and my car keys … Till I find them in the pocket of the trousers I wore the previous day 🙂
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All about habits brother, I’m told. And I’m being forced into adopting them…😁…I’m getting better…🤘🙌🤘
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Quirky and Interesting!!
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Thanks Wasim… 🤘🤜🤛🤘
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Men will be men…🙄🙄
But a great read otherwise 👍👍😀😀
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Haha… sure… there wouldn’t be any spice otherwise… nothing to tell…😀
Thanks so much….🤜🤛🤘🙏
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Yes that’s true…it’s because men and women are so intrinsically different that their thinking and everything is so different..
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Mars and Venus, remember? 🤜🤛 And that’s the beauty…
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Exactly so!! 😀
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Haha.. amazing 🙌
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Thanks so much Astha…😀…🙌🤘🙌
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Very cool story.
Art
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Thanks so much…🤘… Appreciate the kind words..🙏
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I enjoyed this
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Thanks…🙏…glad you did…🙌👍👍
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Lol.. a shoe love. This was a brilliant piece. Lucky shoes.
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Haha… thanks Yeshu… I’ve been keeping them separate in different rooms ever since…😁😀😁
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Haha.. don’t do that.. let their love blossom 😂
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Haha this was fun and they are such an adorable couple! I enjoyed how he is almost apologetic about sounding husband-like and she questioning if she is being blamed for not being wife like – and all this taking such a playful turn.
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Thanks so much…🙏🍀🙏 Glad you enjoyed the little banter…
I loved writing it…😀🤜🤛🙌
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Your joy of writing it is evident and brings us smiles while reading it 🙂
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Thanks Pragalbha…🙏🤸🙏
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Aila Sandy! Kya tha yeh??? I am sitting in my balcony and laughing out aloud! And there’s my sister’s flip flops staring back at me? Do you think err…they do it too? 😜🤣🤣🤣
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You laughed…then the post served its purpose…(even if it was the stupidity of it all that prompted it😁)
I’m sick of talking sense sometimes… It’s the balancing act…🙏😁😀🍀
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Btw I had also left a comment on another post of yours titled Tiny tale: A poem the same day I commented here. Not sure if it went through. Do let me know
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It did…I missed it…read it just now. Thanks..
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I was waiting for a horror story to unfold, imagine!!! Damn! I can’t look at a pair of shoes now on without wondering…🙈
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And flip-flops are feminine…(🤔 I think)…
So…
No comments 🤐😁😀😂
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I don’t mind if they are feminine and doing it!. I’m all for the LGBTQ community. As long as they dont unfold a horror story of their own on one of the bleary nights I decide to wake up for a sip water!
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Hahaaa…🤜🤛🙌🙌 😁😂
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Fascinating read 🙂
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Thanks Ananda…🙏 Appreciate the kind words. .🙌
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Oh I just loved this..your sense of humor, your wonderful dialog *Always!) You so have men and women down when they talk to each other and they are not new at it either:) Then the quirky secret of those naughty shoes and how you did find them behind the couch being so bad haha. What a flight of imagination and yet in its magical realism..it felt very real too!!
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Hello dear Karima…🤜🤛☺
It’s so much fun to bring to life these little banters I almost feel guilty of writing them 😀
Thanks so much for you awesome appreciation…(you know how much I value them)…
Have a great day, and keep smiling…🍀🎼🍀🌸
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Wow! This was so lovely. I like how you address real life issues in your story. I’m inspired. I hope men and women out there would learn.
Nice one, again!
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Hey, thanks so much for such an awesome comment…🤜🤛🙏
Sure widened my smile… feels great that it resonated with you…☺🎼☺
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This is different. And fresh. Great read.
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Thanks buddy. :))
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Welcome!
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I never know where your stories are going to go… and this is an wonderful thing! 😁
So much cleverness is just a few words. Thank you for sharing.
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Thanks Hamish. An awesome compliment that is. Hope to keep you interested the same way…:))
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Wonderful pen !!!!! Brilliant image !!!!
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Thanks so much. Appreciate the kind words. 🤜🤛🍀🍀
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Great!
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Thanks.
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Wow! First time here and I am already a fan of you. Loved it!
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Hey Arjun. That’s a wonderful comment to begin my day with. 😀 Thanks so much for taking out time to read. Appreciate it. 🙏🤘🙏
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Started off with the simple topic of shoes, then it explored men and women’s expectations in a relationship, then humour was added, and finally the story ended with an element of fantasy. Not an easy thing to do mate. Well done
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I’m happy you enjoyed it…:-) It’s the simple things often that hide behind them the big stories. Appreciate the lovely encouragement. Thanks 🙏🙏
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Haha amazing content 😂
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Thanks so much…:-):-)
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😊
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This is great, thank you! 😆
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Thank you for reading…:)
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