A Mile in Flip's Shoes






                                                A Mile in Flip's Shoes


It had always seemed to Flip that they were made to be together, but she was almost ready to beat-feet out.

Two summers isn’t so long, but when every minute of every day is spent together, it can seem like a lifetime. He was smothering her, but what could she do? She could hardly leave. She had panic attacks thinking about life without him... she hated to imagine what would happen to her if he were to walk into the ocean and just disappear? It was not out of the question. That very thing had happened to one of her friends just last year. Something inside her warned her that she would be useless without him... a sole with no purpose.

She would be lying, though, if she said she wasn’t worn out with their relationship. It had gotten to where she couldn’t even finish a thought without him butting in. When they were a brand-new pair that had been cute, and so had the beach weekends, and the nights at the pool, but now she saw it for what it was. He was lazy. He was satisfied with his Friday night fun, but she wanted more. Last summer they had gone on a cruise. It had reminded her that life is short, and that she wanted to be more, and do more than just “hang around on the weekends”. She had some miles on her, but she still felt pretty. She wanted the blue water and the white sand. She wanted to lose these cut-off jeans and pull out that matching sarong. She wanted to live higher! Was that so wrong?

But she could not just run away, nor sneak away either. She was not built for running, nor for walking on tiptoes. She was a stayer, like it or not, but this party life was killing her. The odors of stale beer and urine followed her wherever she went. She suspected they were coming from him. It must be coming from him... from Flop. 

Surely she did not smell like that. She couldn’t, could she? But they were always together? For better or worse they were paired for life, and surely her foot smelled no better than his!

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