The Christmas Boots

 

The lone boot lay abandoned in the median of the busy intersection. Few people spared it a glance as they hurried about their day; the holiday was approaching. Homelessness was rampant in the city. No doubt it was just the cast off of one of the many vagrants who occupied that slender piece of concrete hour after hour, day after day.

One man cursed under his breath as he cut the turn too close and the boot caught under his tire, dragging along for a moment before breaking free and bouncing into the center lane. The next car swerved around it and then traffic resumed it's steady pace as cars sped over it.

It was so covered in dirt and filth it was impossible to tell what color it might have formerly been. Even before being run over, it was almost unwearable. The uppers were clearly pulling away from the sole in many places, the laces were completely gone and it was essentially held together with strips of dirty duct tape.

All the Little Things

It was quiet. Too quiet. I’d become accustomed to the patter of little feet following behind me, of constantly looking around my own feet to make sure I wasn’t about to step on her, to seeing her curled up in one of her many beds, to her snores and squeaky yawns, to impatient yaps when I didn’t let her back inside fast enough, to her theatrical spins and running about harum scarum as I prepared her food. It was too quiet. But she was everywhere I looked. From the beds still scattered about, the blankets she loved to burrow into, the few toys that she never played with on the ground, the gate across the hall to keep her from wandering, the stairs she needed to get on the bed. She was everywhere and nowhere. The hole she left behind was cavernous. And now here I sit, alone, wishing with all my heart that dogs’ lives weren’t so short and what I would have given to have more time.

Last Call

Uncertain if I'll pursue anything with this, but here's a very short blurb that I came up with a little while back.

She viewed it all through a blur, the edges of her vision slowly growing darker until it all faded to black.

She stood on the platform, waiting for the train to arrive. An old security officer wandered by, offering her a smile.

"Off to somewhere exciting?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm finally getting out of here," she told him, a smile stretching across her plump face.

"Where to?"

She shrugged. "Wherever the train takes me. As long as it's away from here."

The old man nodded sagely. "Mmm, the greatest kind of adventure, where your destination could be anywhere and nowhere all at the same time, where time means nothing and the possibilities are endless."

She nodded eagerly. "Yes, sir, exactly. I've always wanted to see the world and now I'm taking that chance."

She stood up straighter as the train appeared in the distance, gleaming black and gold. 

"Here it comes!" she cried, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

It slowly puffed into the station, groaning slightly as it finally stopped. The doors opened, but no one got off. Instead there came the call of "All aboard!"

The young woman turned to the old man with a grin, face shining, eyes bright with excitement.

"Well, sir, this is it! I'm off!"

"Best of luck, my dear. Go see that world."

With a little wave, she bounded up the stairs of the train. A few moments later, the train pulled out again, steadily gathering speed until it was a mere dot in the distance, headed due west into the setting sun.

The old man smiled sadly before turning around and making his way back to station house.