I know what my brother will say because I can’t forget the Saturdays that Mom dragged us to the shoe store. He paraded his elven feet. Mine belonged to ogres. Huge and terrible, despite my rituals of raking the soles with sugar scrubs.
I tentatively began wearing flip-flops in college—for the shower only.
Now, I lift my dress’s butter white hem to show the pearly heels.
“Am I falling out of them?”
What glazes his eyes is a calm untethered from the past. “Your feet are so small,” he remarks without maliciousness, without his old games, without everything I remember.
Last two lines are lovely. Isn’t it something when people surprise us?
Cream of the crop from this week’s batch! Your work at the sentence level is obvious and pays off. How many times did you rewrite this?
This is very on-point! I love it.
This is tight and very creative. Every word matters and you nailed it!
So deep and beautifully written says your aunt with size 10 feet!
Val’s work is always so unique and lovely! Make sure to check out her other work too!
Such depth in these 101 words. You have a great ability that lores the reader in from the very beginning.
Very good. Elvin feet! “Without everything I remember”. So true.
Just beautiful! Your words move me??
The heart emojis I added turned into question marks!
Beautiful! I love that you could fit the lifetime of their sibling relationship into 101 words.