Spring has unofficially arrived in the Bayou State. It may last or it may retreat for a few days – one never knows, for March can be a fickle fellow down here. Nevertheless, Granddaughter and I decided to profit from the mild temperatures and sunny skies by frolicking out of doors.

Granddaughter didn’t need words to express her delight in the unexpected warmth of the day. She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her towards the pines that border our property. I tell her that’s where the fairies live, but unless she is quiet and patient, she won’t spot them. To date, they have not revealed themselves to her swift, impetuous self.

As she was dashing through the fallen leaves, she stepped into a most unfavorably placed hole (Who put it there?). Out came her discalced foot. “Shoe! Shoe!” shouted she, pointing to the naughty hole.

“Oh, my, Petite Chérie! Who has stolen your shoe?” I parted the leaves to discover that the missing shoe lay precariously upon a precipice within said hole. Gingerly (yes, gingerly – after all, not only rabbits, but snakes too inhabit holes), I attempted to extricate the wayward shoe from the hungry hole. Unfortunately, the hole was quicker than I and chomped down further. The shoe slipped (was it a slipper? Haha.) and tumbled further into the abyss.

After further deliberation, I decided that the hole could keep the shoe. It was at the end of its useful life, Granddaughter’s foot having grown since the shoe made its debut in her wardrobe. “Au revoir, shoe!” I said, waving. Granddaughter waved too, completely unperturbed by the disappearance of her shoe.

Of course, when one marries a knight in shining armor, a happy ending must be the denouement of any story. When Pawpaw noticed Deedle Deedle Dumplin’s shoe catastrophe, he jumped into action by grabbing his snake pinchers and heroically retrieved the erstwhile missing shoe from its stranglehold. “Yay!” we shouted in glee. Pawpaw saved the day!

Not every story has a happy ending. But stories with Pawpaw and Granddaughter always do.

I hope all of you in cyberspace are having the kind of day where you don’t lose a shoe. ❤