A Girl and Her Shoes

There once was a girl named Apple. She lived in a far away land where every child was given $100 on their thirteenth birthday. They gave you your money once, people said, and that was all you would ever have. When her thirteenth birthday came around, she put her money in her purse, and cherished it for many years, not spending a single dime of it.

But then one day while walking through the market, she saw the most beautiful shoes she'd ever imagined in a shop window. Her heart nearly broke she wanted them so badly. She went into the store but the shop keeper stopped her in the doorway.

“Let's see your money!” he said. She showed him. And so he let her look at the shoes.

She looked at the beautiful shoes for hours and hours. And finally she went home, but she thought about the shoes all day and all night. They were so beautiful, and the shop keeper told her it would feel like walking on air when she wore them. She was so excited, but they would cost nearly everything she had! It made her sad to think her money would be all spent, and she'd be broke and poor for the rest of her days.

But in the end she decided that with shoes that beautiful, it would be worth the cost. So she went down to the store and asked to buy them.

"Are you sure?" the shop keeper asked. "You won't be able to return them."

"I'm sure. I love those shoes. They're so beautiful. I will treasure them forever."

So the shop keeper gave them to her, wrapped in a beautiful box, and she went out of the store already feeling like she was walking on air before she even put them on. She sat down by the road, took off the shoes her mom and dad had given her, and put on her brand new beautiful shoes. Her heart was all aflutter. Her mind was all giddy with excitement. She put them on and looked at her feet. She felt so beautiful she was scared to even walk.

People passing by admired her shoes. "They're so beautiful on you!" one lady said. Another man told her they made her look radiant. But one old woman told her they looked very expensive and she hoped they were worth the cost.

"You only ever get $100, girl," the old woman told her, poking in the direction of the shoes with her cane. "After that, you're poor forever!"

Apple did not care. "These shoes are worth it!"

After a while she got up and began walking home. The shoes felt magical. She felt like every step was on a soft fluffy cloud, and she was so happy, she danced and pranced and skipped all the way home, singing joyfully to herself about how much she loved her new shoes. 

But after a while one shoe ripped. "Oh no!" she said, horrified. So then she walked along more carefully. But then the other shoe ripped as well. She began to cry. She was scared she was damaging the shoes, and she thought about taking them off, but she realized that she'd left her old shoes, the ones her mom and dad gave her, back in the street by the shoe store. She couldn't go home barefoot! And besides, what's the point of even buying shoes if you couldn't even wear them? She would just have to be careful.

So she walked carefully along. But with every step she took, the shoes got more and more ripped and torn. They were getting dirty now too. She walked along crying. "What have I done? What have I done?"

By the time she got home, her shoes were nothing but tatters and rags. They had completely broken up on her. The last of the threads fell away and she was forced to stumble along the last mile completely barefoot. Her feet were dirty and sore and all she could do was cry. "I'm such a fool. I'm such a fool. I bought those shoes just because they were beautiful, and they fell apart so quickly. And now I've lost everything. I'll be barefoot forever. I'm such a fool."

She ran in the house and went straight to her room. Her mother came in, and saw her crying so brokenly. Apple didn't want to tell her what happened. She was too ashamed. But her mother saw her dirty, bleeding feet and she quickly figured it out for herself.

"Don't worry, Apple. You're still a beautiful girl. I will always love you."

Her father came in with a basin of water and washed her feet. He put bandages on her cuts and kissed her goodnight.

"It's so nice to have such a beautiful family, but I'm still gonna be barefoot and broke for the rest of my life." And she cried herself to sleep, feeling miserable and bitter.

The next day, her friend Floyd came to visit. "Why are you so sad?" he asked. And she told him the story, still feeling angry and cheated. Floyd asked her one simple question.

"How much money do you have left?" he said, smiling.

And then he gave her a hug and left, without waiting for her to answer.

She went to her room and looked in her purse. She was absolutely astonished and over-joyed to discover that she still had $100 deep down in her purse. She wept with joy, feeling refreshed and renewed. Floyd had somehow known it! How had he known? Then she told her dad and her dad said, "Tomorrow, we'll go into town, and you can buy some new shoes."

She went to bed, beaming with excitement.

The next day, since she had no shoes, her dad carried her into town. It was a long walk and very tiring, but he didn't mind. He was more worried about whether her feet would be hurt. He put her down at the shoe store and wished her luck. Then he went home again, very tired.

"Ah ha!" said the little old lady. "Barefoot, I see! Foolish girl! Now you're broke and you'll have dirty feet for the rest of your days. Ha!"

Apple knew she was not broke. She still had her $100 deep down in her purse. She didn't tell the old lady that. She didn't argue at all. She just went back into the shoe shop.

"Why bother going in there?" the old lady said. "You're broke! You'll never be able to get a nice pair of shoes! And even if you got cheap shoes, your feet are all dirty now. You'll only mess them up!"

Apple went in anyway. Her father had washed her feet, and she still had every penny of her $100.

“Let's see your money!” the shop keep said. She showed him. And so he let her look at the shoes again.

This time she spent all day shopping. She'd learned that the most beautiful shoes were not necessarily the best quality. There were so many styles, but she could not tell how much quality was in each pair. She definitely did not want to make the same mistake. She still had her $100, but every pair was very expensive. So she looked at each one very carefully.

Finally at the end of the day, she selected a pair that wasn't quite as attractive but looked to be more durable. The shop keeper put them in a box for her and she walked out, happy, but not as excited as when she'd bought her first pair of shoes.

"The first day, I was dancing and prancing, not being careful at all. Maybe it was partly my fault those shoes fell apart. I'll be more careful this time."

Still, she thought, a girl should be able to dance and prance as much as she wanted in a good pair of shoes. Isn't that what they were for?

She put them on and started walking. The old lady saw her with new shoes and scoffed at her.

“You only had a few dollars left. Those shoes must be terribly cheap! They'll fall apart before you even get home, and you'll have dirty, tired feet all over again! And now you're surely penniless! Ha! Silly girl.”

The shoes did last longer than the last time, but they were too tight on her and they began to hurt her feet after a while. And just like last time, they began to fall apart on her. They at least got her all the way home though. But she knew they would not last. She was very sad again.

But the next morning when she woke up, she realized she still had every penny of her $100 deep down in her purse. It  was a strange mystery.

She headed back to town, knowing she would need to shop for shoes again by the time she got there. Sure enough, the shoes fell apart on her by the time she got to town, and the old lady saw her with dirty tired feet again. This time she just shook her head, laughing.

"Soon, your feet will be all ugly and used up, and you won't even be able to fit a nice pair of shoes!"

Apple ignored her, remembering how her father had so carefully washed her feet.

“Let's see your money,” the shop keep asked. She showed him, and so he let her in once more to look at shoes.

“Twice now you've sold me very expensive shoes, and twice they've fallen apart on me. This isn't a very good store.”

“It's the only shoe store in town. Take it or leave it.”

She had no choice but to go in. This time she took a pair of shoes that were maybe not so pretty, but they looked comfortable and durable, and they were still pretty nice looking. The shop keep boxed them up. And this time, the girl went to a quiet stream to wash her feet before putting the shoes on. But while she was washing her feet, another girl with prettier feet crept up, stole her shoes, and ran away.

“NO!” Apple cried, dismayed. But there was no hope for it. The shoes were gone. She cried for a very long time. She began walking all the way home barefoot. But because she was taking so long, her father realized something was wrong and went out to meet her. He found her stumbling along crying, with wounded, dirty feet. He carried her all the way home. Then he washed her feet and hugged her.

When she looked in her purse before falling asleep, there was her $100, deep down inside. She smiled and drifted off into dreams, though her feet were very sore.

Floyd came to visit again the next morning. She told him all the crazy stuff that had been happening with her shoes and her money. “Every time I buy a new pair of shoes, I think I'm gonna be broke the next day, but when I check again, I still have my $100. Why is that?”

“Haven't you notice that the shop keeper just asks to see your money? You don't actually lose anything by buying lousy shoes each time. You're still worth just as much as you were before.”
That's very strange, Apple thought.


“But the old lady said-”

“That old lady is just mean. Don't listen to her. All you have to worry about is choosing a good pair of shoes so your feet don't wind up broken and sore.”

“But how do you know which shoes are good quality and which shoes are crappy? You can never tell just by looking at them, and you can't try them on before buying. It's like you just have to take a wild guess! It's so scary! I don't even wanna do it anymore!”

“Take as many guesses as you need to. You're still gonna be worth just as much each time some crappy pair of shoes falls apart on you. Some day, you'll find the perfect pair.”

“I don't want a perfect pair. I just want a pair of shoes that will get me all the way home without hurting my feet.”

The next day in town, she saw the girl who had stolen her shoes. The girl was sitting on the road side crying because the shoes she had stolen had fallen apart on her and her feet were all dirty and injured. At first, Apple wanted to point and laugh and tell her it served her right for stealing someone's shoes. But she realized if she did that, it would just mean she was mean, just like the old lady. And besides, all this girl wanted was a nice pair of shoes to put on her dirty tired feet. Apple knew exactly how that felt. She felt bad for the girl in a way.

“Look in your purse,” Apple told her. “Way deep down inside. You still have your $100, you know. You're not broke. You don't have to go stealing someone else's shoes.”

The girl looked, and sure enough, there was her original $100. She was over-joyed and she hurried away to buy new shoes. Apple smiled and continued along to get some shoes of her own.


“Let's see your money,” the shop keep told her. Apple showed him the $100, and he let her in once more to look at the shoes.

When she came out again, there was the old lady, scoffing.

“Ha! Back again, silly girl!? How many times are you gonna keep trying? You're obviously not very bright. And your feet are gonna be all ugly and dirty and all used up in the end. Ha!”

But then Apple looked down at the old woman's feet. She wasn't even wearing any shoes herself! Her feet were all ugly, and dirty, and all used up.

“Look in your purse, you mean old Lady!" Apple told her. "You still have your hundred dollars. You can still go buy yourself some shoes. You don't have to be mean to everyone else just because your feet are hurting. Just go get some shoes!”

But the woman was old and bitter and she didn't even bother looking.

Apple put her new shoes on and walked away feeling glad she had a friend like Floyd. She knew that no matter how many times she tried a new pair of shoes, no matter how many times they fell apart on her and left her sore and tired, she would always be worth just as much as she had been before. Feet could be washed. Cuts and bruises would heal. And she would still have her $100. Maybe she would find the perfect pair of shoes one day, maybe she wouldn't. But she would always be the same girl deep down inside, and she would always keep trying again.