The Blue Shoes

Simon placed the blue shoes in the middle of the display and prayed this would bring more customers in. Business had been very bad and they’d taken a gamble when they’d had these shoes especially made for their shop. They had been hand made in Italy, and only the softest finest leather had been used, which was why they’d cost so much. His brother Gordon had said they needed to take this risk or go bust.
The shoe shop had been in the family for years and had been quite a thriving business, until Shoemarket had opened up across the street. They sold cheap affordable shoes and people were always going in and coming out carrying plastic bags with their purchases in, and then, as if to rub salt in their wounds, walk past their shop without even glancing in at the display. This was the last resort he thought, as he placed the price in front of the beautiful shoes.

Sally and Jayne came out of Shoemarket loaded up with plastic bags.

‘Good bargains weren’t they?’ said Sally who’d purchased four pairs of shoes in there. She just couldn’t resist them at those prices. They were absolute bargains. Now she had a pair to match all of her outfits.

‘Yes,’ said Jayne. ‘If we’d gone to Bruno’s we would just have been able to afford one pair.’

‘If that, or starve for the rest of the week,’ Sally said sighing. ‘It’s a shame though because their shoes are really wonderful and so comfortable to wear because they are hand made.’

As they crossed the road they could see a crowd gathering outside Bruno’s shop window, so rushed over to see what was happening.

‘Wow, look at those blue shoes, they are simply to die for,’ said Sally as she pushed herself to the front to get a better look.

Jayne manoeuvred herself between two woman who had their faces pressed against the window to get a better look. Sally was right. These shoes really were to die for. She’d never seen such delicate, but sexy shoes before. They were the same colour as her new dress. Pity about the price though. Five hundred pounds! Well out of her price range, no wonder they were so nice.

‘Is is working?’ Gordon asked Simon.

‘Yes, there’s a big crowd and it’s getting bigger.’

‘Ok, second stage of the plan then,’ said Simon, as he picked a large notice up and walked to the shop window display.

The screams of delight could be heard half way around the town as Simon put the notice at the side of the blue shoes. It read, ‘whoever these shoes fit will be given them courtesy of Bruno’s. Fittings take place 9.00am tomorrow. Please form an orderly queue if you wish to participate’.

‘They’re mine, they’re mine,’ yelled Sally. ‘I know they will fit, I can see they’re my size.’

Jayne pressed her face closer to the window. The shoes looked like a size five, her size. Sally was a six, so the shoes would be hers, not Sally’s. ‘Um, I’ve got to dash Sally, I’ll see you tomorrow night. I’ve a lot to do,’ she said as she rushed off down the road. Sally however had already disappeared so hadn’t heard a word that Jayne had said.

More and more ladies gathered around the shop to look at the shoes. There were lots of oohs and aahs, but as soon as they saw the sign next to it they ran away as fast as they could.

‘It’s working isn’t it?’ said Simon gleefully, as he rubbed his hands together in delight.

‘Yes, and we must be ready with the next stage of the plan,’ said his brother, who was visualising a full till once again.


Arthur, the cleaner, was kept busy dusting shelves as the brothers emptied the boxes and marked all the prices down. Then Roger the young assistant had to arrange them in the shop ready for the ladies to look at as they left the fitting room. He was given strict instructions to make sure the ladies noticed the big reductions and what a bargain they would be getting. He was told that there would be a bonus for him at the end of the week if he did well.

‘You did do a deal with Franco to buy these blue shoes back if we can’t sell them, didn’t you?’ asked Simon, as he decided how much to mark the shoes down that he was holding. They were a bit dated, but well made. A bargain if he reduced the price by fifty percent. They needed to sell as much as possible over the next few days so that they could restock with cheaper shoes to enable them to compete with Shoemarket.

‘Well sort of,’ said Gordon.

‘I don’t like the sound of, sort of. What exactly does that mean?’ said Simon, starting to worry. Everything was going to plan so far. He hoped his brother hadn’t cocked it up. They couldn’t afford to be left with those expensive shoes if their plan didn’t work out and no one bought the shoes.

‘He’ll give us half back if we don’t sell them. Sorry, but it was the best deal he would agree to and you know we desperately need these shoes for the plan to work,’ said Gordon, looking apologetic.

Oh well, thought Simon, half was better than nothing and hopefully they would do the trick anyway. He was sure that when the customers came out of the fitting room disappointed the shoes hadn’t fitted, that Roger would be able to persuade them to buy one of their ‘bargains’. Roger was young and handsome and a very good salesman. As long as they could get the ladies in, then Roger would manage the rest.


Sally groaned when she saw where the end of the queue was. She thought she’d been pretty quick in dashing home for her sleeping bag and thermos flask, but so apparently had nearly every single female in town. The queue seemed to go on for ever and she wondered if it was going to be worth it. Those gorgeous shoes looked between a size five and a six, which nearly half the females in town would be.

Still she may be the lucky one, the small print in the notice did say they had to fit both feet perfectly and some people had one foot bigger than the other, so perhaps it was worth risking it. She hadn’t seen Jayne in the queue so she’d beaten her to it anyway.

Jayne swore when she realized how many people were before her in the queue for the shoes. Sally was five places in front of her. She would go bananas if they fitted Sally and she’d missed her chance by a few places. She desperately wanted them, they would go so well with her new dress. Perhaps then that gorgeous assistant
Roger would notice her at the dance on Saturday. He obviously had an obsession with shoes because all the girls he dated wore expensive shoes, never cheap ones as she
did. Well if she could get those shoes then she might stand a chance with him. She prayed they would be too small for Sally and all the others in the queue as well.

It was a bitterly cold night, but with everyone huddled together they all seemed to keep warm and the air was full of excitement.

‘It’s a bit like Cinderella isn’t it love?’ said the woman sat next to Sally.

‘Yes, but do we get the prince to go with them?’ said Sally, thinking of Roger. He would match the shoes perfectly. They were both smooth and gorgeous. She looked down at the woman’s chubby feet and smiled gleefully to herself. Well, she’s got no chance, she thought. Perhaps she would strike lucky after all.

The ladies looked at their watches, praying for that last minute to hurry up. At precisely nine a.m., Simon undid the bolts of the door and opened the shop to loud cheering. ‘One at a time ladies and if anyone pushes they don’t get a chance of a fitting,’ he said, feeling very pleased that their plan was working. There were hundreds, or perhaps thousands of ladies waiting to try the blue shoes on. Surely they would do well today?

‘What a shame they didn’t fit madam,’ said Roger, to yet another lady as she came out of the fitting room looking very disappointed. ‘I can see you have beautiful feet. Why don’t you have a look at these shoes, they would really suit you and they are such a bargain today.’

Roger continued with this banter as each female came out looking really disappointed that the blue shoes hadn’t fitted them. The till was filling up nicely. Simon and Gordon would be really pleased with him, he thought.

Sally carried a bag saying ‘Bruno’s’ as she passed Jayne, but her disappointed face told Jayne all she needed to know. ‘No good then?’ Jayne said, smiling. Her luck may be in after all. So many people were coming out disappointed that the shoes hadn’t fitted them. They were hers, she could almost feel them on her feet.

‘No,’ said Sally, crossly. ‘I could of sworn that they were a size six. Still if they didn’t fit me, then they definitely will be much too big for you. I know that for sure,’ she said cattily, as she walked off in a huff.

Jayne sat in the fitting room and took her shoes off.

‘What size are you, madam, then?’ said Simon loudly.

‘A six,’ said Jayne, smiling sweetly at him.

‘Six,’ he yelled, to no one in particular. ‘Well, madam, I will take the beautiful shoes out of the box and we’ll see if they’ll fit, but I have to warn you there’s been many disappointed ladies today.

Simon opened the box and Jayne moaned in delight when she saw them close up. They were really gorgeous. Simon lifted Jayne’s foot and put the shoes on. He nearly had a heart attack. They fitted her!

‘You did say you were a size six, didn’t you, madam?’ he said trying to breathe as he had a panic attack.

‘Yes, she said, standing up and admiring them in the mirror. They do fit beautifully, don’t they?….Are you all right, Mr. Bruno? You do look awfully funny.’

‘You said you were a six,’ he kept gasping.


Arthur, the cleaner, stood by Jayne and admired the blue shoes. ‘They look wonderful on you.’

‘Yes they do, they are absolutely gorgeous. I hope the two Mr. Bruno’s will be all right. Still the ambulance men seemed to know what they were doing, so they should be all right,’ she said, as she continued to admire the blue shoes.

Roger came into the fitting room and looked at Jayne wearing the blue shoes. ‘They really suit you, Jayne. Fancy wearing those shoes and coming dancing on Saturday with me?’


Jayne walked around to the back of Bruno’s. The new blue shoes were wrapped in tissue and in a bag on her wrist. Arthur came out and locked the back of the shop up.

‘Hi, Granddad. Ready to go home?’ she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

‘Those shoes really suit you, Jayne, it’s a good job you were a five and not a six, because the size six is still left on the shelf under the trap door to the box,’ he said, winking at her.

‘They lost a lot of money buying two pairs then, didn’t they?’ she said, swinging her new blue shoes about as she walked, and looking forward to wearing them on her date with Roger.