The Escape - Chapter 4

The sock got damp. Perhaps I should say soggy. The ankle boot didn’t let any air in. The smell got strong, like old humid basement mixed with foot sweat. My eyes itched and burned in this pitch black pit. I had the humiliating foot sweat of that girl Celia in my mouth and was forced to swallow by the constant pounding of her steps. Cotton lint, wet dust, and extremely well worn insole under me and the immense pressure were driving me crazy.

I tried to stay as limp as possible to avoided trying to fight back and get exhausted too quickly, but exhaustion got me anyway. Why was she doing this to me? It made no sense. Who in their right mind would torture someone like this? Come to think of it she knew exactly what was happening to me inside her boot.

When she finally pulled her foot out of the boot I was ready to really flame her about the facts he tortured me but I quickly noticed she was crying. She walked away from the boot, leaving me instead, panting and breathing as much fresh air as possible. I crawled my way up the heel slope until I was on the heel insole surface and I looked up. I called her name but all I could hear were sobs. Something was definitely going wrong and I immediately put aside my own problems.

“CELIA!” I screamed, but got no answer. Only a huge cat’s face came into view. I crawled back deeper into the smelly boot, afraid of that monster who could kill me with a simple paw or could eat me anytime. Footsteps came closer. Then the boot was picked up and titled on its side. I fell down into Celia’s upturned hand.

“Sorry about that.” She said. “My boyfriend just dumped me.” She said. She visibly wanted to cry some more, but I looked up at her and felt compassion for her.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I said.

She brought me to her room and placed me on the bed table and started ranting and talking about her now ex boyfriend. She literally emptied her heart. I listened. I let her finish, then as somepoint after that monologue I simply couldn’t have any more compassion anymore. After what she made me endure, I simply couldn’t feel for her much more than that.

“So what now, are you calling the police? We have to save my friends.” I said to her.

“I prefer to keep you as my tiny footslave, honestly. I’ve always wanted to have one. Didn’t know the shoe repair shoe employed some. By the way did you enjoy your time in my boot?”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I am not a footslave, I am a human being, we all are, and we’re not employed, we’re tortured to work on people’s broken shoes!” I explained.

“It’s not really my problem, Lisa. And since you’re now with me, I guess you’ll either have to stay, or risk yourself in the wide world. I don’t want to call the police, they will say I am crazy. I can always bring you back to the shoe repair shop if you want. Or you can stay with me.” She said to me. I was baffled.

“You’re not serious, are you?” I asked.

“I am, in fact, to prove that I am, I’m gonna put you inside my house slippers for a while and let you think about it.” She said. She stood up from her bed and grabbed her white leather house slipper. She quickly snatched me and dropped me inside. Soon the slipper was brought down to the floor and her huge bare foot rushed in like if it was the most natural thing to do. Why was she doing this to me? I knew there was something wrong with that girl. First she tortured me in her boot willingly and now she was forcing her bare toes all over me inside her well worn leather house slipper. I tried to fight back, but she stomped me.

“Now now, be nice in there or I’ll make it harder for you. I’m being kind with you. Wither you accept to stay with me, or I’ll just give you to Mr Cuddles or worse.” She said from above me. Then she walked, and did whatever. I think she sat in front of the Tv and started watching a show. I was in total disarray. She was using me.

She was giving me the choice of being her footslave, or die. that pretty much summed it up. Why would I choose to be eaten by a cat. She knew I didn’t really have a choice.

“You can lick my toes in there. You better get used to it cause you’re gonna spend a lot of them under t hem from now on.” She said.

I refused to lick her toes. I simply tried to stay sane under this sad girl who just lost her boyfriend. Maybe she was using me as a punching bag to relief her frustration. Maybe all I had to do is be nice and get her to actually have compassion for me and my friends still stuck at the shoe repair shop. Maybe time would help me and be on my side. I needed top be patient and not lose hope.

Hope would keep me alive.

After she watched TV, Celia dumped me inside the sneaker I was actually smuggled in. She told me to think hard about my decision and that I would have to make up my mind by next day. She then stuffed a sock over me, trapping me inside telling me it was for my protection against Mr Cuddles. That stupid cat really had an eye on me. I was there, stupid and helpless, inside the smelly sneaker. I didn’t want to go back to being a footslave at the shoe repair shop, but I was seriously considering that option. Being there with my friends was surely a better predicament than being a footslave of some sort to some cruel woman who just didn’t care about me at all. I had the night to think it through.