“That sounds neat, Tim. Where to?”
“Watson Mill Bridge State Park, it’s about 20 miles from here. It’s a real pretty place to go. Have you been there?”
“No, never have. I think I heard somewhere it had a nice picnic area near the Broad River.”
Tim had packed a large blanket a basket with sandwiches and snacks and a cooler with soft drinks for them to enjoy. They arrived at the picnic site and it was very pretty. There was a scattering of trees near the riverbank and a few picnic tables in the shade near them. To one side, a nature trail began along side of the riverbank.
Tim and Trisha were still dressed for church. Tim was somewhat casual with a button down shirt and Khaki pants and casual nubuck leather shoes. Trisha was less casual but not formal either. She had on an ivory blouse with a tartan plaid cotton skirt and a pair of brown, low-heeled weave-pattern mules.
During lunch they had a wonderful conversation about their plans for the summer. Tim was going to be a youth minister at a small church back in Ocala. He had done that before and was looking forward to it. Trisha had a job lined up at Wachovia Bank in Kennesaw as a filing clerk. She was going to also try to take a computer class part-time at North Metro Tech. (She naturally omitted revealing her plans to date Chuck again over the summer.) They talked about the past year at UGA and laughed about all the fun times. After lunch, Tim suggested they take a stroll down the nature trail. It had rained a couple of days earlier and as the area became more wooded, the ground was a little muddy.
‘Sorry about the conditions Trisha, we can turn back if you want.”
“No, I’m okay so far. I’d like to get up to the scenic point up ahead before we turn around.”
So they continued and the mud got a little thicker. The trail had narrowed and Tim was leading the way. Suddenly Tim heard a gasp from behind him. Trisha’s left shoe had gotten caught in some mud. Tim ran back to retrieve it and replaced the shoe on her foot. He noticed her well manicured foot and red toenails and was reminded of the time earlier in the year, he had helped her find her missing high-heeled shoe that had been mistakenly thrown out a window of the Sunday school room and how pretty her legs and feet were in those heels. He was reminded of what first attracted him to her and how he decided to ask her out to lunch for the first time that same afternoon.
“Are you sure this is alright with you, Trisha.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. These shoes clean up well and my clothes seem to be okay,” Trisha said while dipping the recently fallen shoe and peering over to look at how the mud was caked on the edge. Tim took notice of this second glimpse of her foot but was careful to not be obvious about it. When she dipped, the shoe turned upside down so she had to slide her big toe under the shoe, grab the leather upper under the edge and twirl it upright, all while Tim stole another secret glance.
A little farther they reached the scenic point, a clearing where the river was in good view. Trisha walked off the trail to get closer to the water’s edge. Tim followed behind. She got to the area where the riverbank began to slope.
“Be careful Trisha, don’t get too close.”
“I just wanted a sip of water - it looks so clear and clean.”
As she leaned over to cup her hand for a sip, her left foot game way and slid forward a few inches. Then suddenly the bank came free and her leg slipped into the ground almost up to her knee. Her skirt got a little wet on the edge, but not too bad.
Tim gave her a hand and she pulled her leg out of the mud. Her leg was thickly coated with mud and she put it down on the ground for support. Only then did she realize her shoe was missing.
“Oh no! I lost my shoe in there. Would you help me find it!”
“Trisha, why don’t you find a more solid part of the bank and go wash your leg in the water. I’ll dig out your other shoe.”
Trisha kicked off her remaining shoe and waded out in the water and rinsed off the think syrupy mud that had caked on her leg. Meanwhile, Tim took off his shirt and got down on his knees and began probing around in the mud. A few minutes went by with no success.
“Hey am I trying in the right spot? I can’t seem to find anything.”
“Well, you look like you’re okay. When I jumped out I sort of lost track of where I was. The edge of the river is a bit deceiving. Isn’t there a hole where my leg came out?”
“Actually there’s no trace of a hole, the mud must have filled the hole as soon as your leg came out, I can’t tell where it was. I’ll keep trying though.”
Trisha got down on her knees next to Tim who continued to reach into the mud in hopes of finding her shoe. The thought of reaching her own hand into the slimy mud was disgusting to her, although she was beginning to think it might be necessary.
After fifteen more minutes of digging in the slimy mud, Tim asked, ”How much did you pay for those shoes, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Well, I think I got them on sale at Parisian for about $30.00. I like lots of shoes so I look for discounts and clearance sales whenever I can. ”
“Just wondering because we could spend all afternoon in the mud or even go to the nearest hardware store and buy a shovel and dig up the whole area if we had to. Or we can just leave now and you can replace this pair when you get a chance. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind looking, but I would rather our last time to visit before going separate ways for the summer to be doing something more fun.”
“Okay, let’s go back to the picnic area and enjoy the afternoon.”
Trisha put her one remaining shoe back on and Tim washed his arm and put his shirt back on. They walked back to the picnic area and sat at the table again. She crossed her leg and dangled her one shoe a little and eventually kicked it off under the picnic table. They talked for another hour and then got in the car to go back to Athens.
Tim sneaked a few glances down at Trisha’s beautiful feet and toes while driving down the road. He did not see her one remaining shoe but just figured it was under the seat or something. About 10 miles after leaving the picnic area, Trisha realized she had left her remaining shoe under the picnic table and she mentioned it.
Tim replied, “I guess that’s no big deal. Whoever uses that table next will probably be curious as to why there’s a single shoe under their table. It’s sort of like you are when you see one shoe on the side of the road or in a parking lot. Each story is probably as unique as yours.”
Eventually, Tim and Trisha arrived at the Sorority house and they went inside hand in hand. Trisha resembled the farm girls she knew from southwest Georgia in her Sunday clothes and slightly muddy bare feet. They stood in the lobby and said their goodbyes and he gave her a kiss - their first. Ironically, the radio playing in the lobby was tuned to the oldie’s station WFOX 97.1 out of Atlanta, which was playing Brian Hyland’s Sealed With a Kiss (See You in September). Trisha was going back to Atlanta where Chuck would be waiting on her with hopes of starting a summer romance. She now had some hard decisions to make.
NOTE: This story can also be found at Dangling.Com.
