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Carol, Sheila, and Inez had gone to the Lost Valley Inn for a Sunday brunch.
It was a chance to get out, get some very good food, and relax and visit. This wasn't a place to go casual! Dress should be upbeat, not semiformal, but not too casual. Carol was wearing a pair of dark tan calfskin high heel sandals. These had closed backs, 3" slim stacked heels, and were of the T-strap design. The sides of the shoes were open. The toes were made of four wide straps crisscrossing, two right to left, two left to right. A center strap connected these to the ankle strap from the closed back. The straps were decorated with perforations and white contrast stitching. The ankle strap had a brass buckle. All the straps were wide, giving these sandals a very tailored look. She wore ivory ribbed trouser socks, khaki slacks, and a silk ecru short sleeve blouse. Sheila was wearing simple but classic black leather pumps with 2-1/2 inch slim heels. These were Nine West pumps, cut low on the sides and the throat, and she'd bought them the day before on her lunch break. These were worn with a below knee length pleated linen skirt in stone and a marled gray knit top. Tan nylons covered her legs. Inez was wearing a pair of red leather mules. These had 3" high stacked heels. The shoes had a decorative cross-strap and buckle. They came up high and had open toes. She had a slim straight white skirt with a white T-shirt and a red vest. Her nylons were cream colored. After eating they retired to the Innšs large stone porch. The three sat in a lounge chair resting their feet on the porch rail. This was a rustic stained wood rail. They were resting their feet on the middle rail. A summer rainstorm came up, starting with hard rain getting harder. The women were under a roof, but the rain was coming down on the porch rail. Their shoes started getting pelted. Inez pulled her feet back and Sheila and Carol laughed at her. They called her a chicken, a little girl afraid her "...widdle shoes will get wet". Inez put her feet back on the rail and watched as the three pairs of shoes got progressively wetter. They were waiting to see who would chicken out first and pull their feet back. The tan leather of Carol's sandals was showing dark wet spots. She was obviously getting nervous, but didn't give in yet. Inez' red leather mules were also showing wet spots, but she didnšt seem to mind. She stuck her feet out and moved them back and forth letting the rain flow into the open toes. She laughed and kicked at Sheilašs shoe like she was trying to kick the pump off her foot. The rain was flowing down Sheilašs shoe and around her foot. The black calfskin wasnšt showing much effect from the water, but it must have been getting as soaked as the others. Sheila kicked back at Inez' mule, but failed to knock it off. Carol tried to kick Sheila's pump off (Sheila was sitting between Inez and Carol) and managed to knock one shoe half off. Sheila pulled her foot down the floor to slip her shoe back on but Inez put the heel of her mule on top of Sheila's pump, mashing into the shoe, preventing Sheila from being able to slip her foot inside. Carol managed to get one foot on one side of Sheila's other foot, then push against the back of her shoe and pushed the high heel off Sheila's foot. The pump slid over to the edge of the porch and went off the edge. All three stood up and saw the pump laying about 15 feet below them on the grass, in the pouring rain in a puddle. They sat down, Sheila turned to Carol and said, "You kicked my shoe into the rain! I'm going to get even for that." Carol stammered that it was an accident, she didn't mean to knock it off the porch. Sheila bent over, grabbed one of Carol's feet, and started pulling off her sandal. It wasn't easy, she wormed the ankle strap over her foot and heel until the sandal came free. Then she went after the other sandal till she got it off too. Then she headed for the inside of the inn, leaving her pump behind. Carol was worried, she didnšt want her sandals messed up, and figured Sheila was going to wear the sandals out into the rain and wet grass to recover her pump. That's exactly what Sheila did. She appeared beneath her friends wearing Carolšs sandals and waded out into the wet, puddle filled lawn to recover her now soaked pump. Carol could see the heels of her sandals sinking all the way into the wet dirt, and see the water flooding into the shoes. Even from where they were they could see the leather turning dark brown, as it got soaked. Carol was mad now, she'd gotten one of Sheila's shoes soaked accidentally, but Sheila was ruining both of Carol's shoes. Carol picked up Sheila's pump that Inez had pulled off and yelled to Sheila, "Don't forget the left shoe, here it comes!" With that, she tossed the pump out toward Sheila. Of course Sheila couldn't catch the shoe, Carol tossed it away from her, it landed out in the lawn in the middle of the wash coming out of a down spout. The wash was like a miniature river, it was flooding to the parking lot and Sheilašs pump was washed along into the parking lot. This made Sheila mad. She had picked up her first shoe and now had to go after its mate. The downpour had stopped about the time her shoe fell, but was starting up now, she was getting wet. She hurried to where her pump washed. The water had washed through a flowerbed and that end of the parking lot had a lot of mud washed into it. She felt no remorse as she sloshed through the puddles in the lawn with Carol's sandals, feeling the heels sink into the soil, grating on rocks under the grass, and feeling and hearing the linings squish as she walked. Into the mud with Carol's sandals she went, feeling a strange tinge of thrill as she saw the sticky goopy mud flow over and into the sandals. She felt it seep inside and join the water changing the squishing sound into a slurping sound. She carefully bent over and picked up the shoe in the mud. Her nice pump was now full of mud, and she tried to shake it off and out of the shoe without getting much on her or her clothes. That was not easy. She tried to wipe it with her finger, which worked somewhat but she lost her grip on the first shoe and dropped it in the mud. Her reflex to bend over and grab the shoe before it fell made her step back. The heel of Carolšs sandal came down on a rock under the mud and she stumbled forward and stepped right on the dropped pump, crushing it into the mud and against the pavement underneath. She felt the shoe slide under her foot and grind against the pavement and all the wet grit in the mud. |
| Now she was mad. She scooped up her muddy pumps and pulled the sandals off
her foot. She slipped her pumps back on (after slinging out the mud as well
as she could). Her hair and clothes were wet from the intermittent rain.
She walked up to one sandal and started walking on it, crushing the wet shoe
underfoot, grinding it against the pavement, and sliding it back and forth. She
made sure it got upside down so the sole and heel were pointing up. This
way the leather was getting scuffed and scraped. She returned to the other
sandal and repeated the process. Carol was watching Sheila during all this from the porch, and grabbed Inez' mules. She just bent over and grabbed one, yanked it off her foot, and grabbed the other one. She slipped these on and ran into the inn and down the stairs. She met Sheila coming across the lawn and yelled at her for ruining her shoes. Sheila said, "Look at my new heels! They are all scuffed, soaked, crushed and ruined. You did this! I was going to wear these to a wedding next weekend, and now I have to get new shoes." Carol felt bad, she was responsible for Carol's shoes getting ruined, but she didn't mean for the shoe to fall off the porch. But she lost her temper when Sheila ruined her shoes and felt bad about everything. Sheilašs anger drained away too, and they hugged each other there in the wet lawn, in the light rain. Carol asked Sheila how it felt to walk through the mud. Sheila looked down at the red leather high heel mules that were turning dark as the leather got soaked. She giggled and said, "Why donšt you find out for yourself? I'll go back and help you get your sandals back and you can wear these sexy mules right into the mud." Carol felt a large tingle rush through her. She could hear Inez from the inn. Inez was yelling at her to come back with her shoes. Apparently Inez didnšt want to walk on the soaking wet lawn in her bare feet, she was the only one not wearing nylons. She wanted Carol to bring her mules back. Carol thought to herself: "Inez is the only one of us who's shoes arenšt muddy, she started this trying to kick Sheilašs shoe off to begin with, otherwise Išd never have knocked her shoe over the porch." Feeling a surge of that tingle, and imagining what it was going to feel like with the mud oozing into the open toe, getting inside, making the mule slippery and goopy. She also wanted to see what that red calfskin looked totally soaked. It was almost soaked now, but those high heels and small platform kept the wet lawn from totally soaking them. She headed out to the parking lot, hearing a low moan from Inez and her saying "No, pleases God, no!" She almost whispered as she pleaded: "Don't get my shoes muddy, oh God, don't". But, Inez gave out a little giggle like a part of her felt the same thrill as Carol had felt. The first step into the mud Carol felt the shoe sink in and the first mud ooze into the open toe. Then the other shoe. As she walked the open toes funneled the mud inside. She tried dragging her toes through the mud, getting more inside. Finally she felt the whole inside full of mud, her foot sliding inside. The weight of the mud made the mules want to fall off her feet. Several times they did, and she stumbled a couple of steps and had to walk back to slip the lost shoe on. She didnšt want to scuff these up like Sheila had done to hers. Inez had run across the grass and was coming through the mud to her. She reached her sandals and kicked the mules toward Inez, who stopped, looked at them, then picked one up and shook the mud off of it. Carol said, "You should try walking in the mud in them, it's fun and sexy" Inez slipped them on and joined her as she examined her sandals. Carol slipped her sandals on and returned to the lawn and Sheila. All three women had muddy shoes and Carol and Sheilašs were badly scuffed and scraped. Near the inn was a water faucet. They stopped and rinsed their shoes off, first as they were wearing them, then they took them off and rinsed their feet off and rinsed the shoes out inside. Inez' shoes looked the best. They were soaked and darkened, but had not gotten scuffed and scraped like the pumps or the sandals. The three girls all started giggling and laughing as they looked at their shoes. Sheila stepped over to Carol and started stepping on her foot, scuffing the sandal with her pump. Carol did the same to Sheila's shoes. Inez didnšt want her mules scuffed, so she didnšt join in the footsie battle. All three girls had gotten soaked by the rain, but didnšt seem to mind anymore. It was warm, and they had had fun. As they walked to their cars, each one promised to get together and enjoy getting their shoes wet and scuffed again. Inez promised to wear a pair of sexy high heel Mary Janes the next time. Carol said she would get these sandals polished when they dried out and wear them again. Sheila suggested they meet at a picnic area on the lake. She remembered there were rocks piled along the pathways, an area with swings and sliding boards, and of course the lake. Carol felt that little thrill as she thought about a pair of high heel calfskin loafers she'd had for a couple of years but wore very seldom. They looked like new. As she drove home she kept wondering what those loafers would feel like soaking wet. The linings are leather and would really absorb the water. Besides, they might look tough chick worn with jeans after being scuffed up. Hmmm. |