Off to Seek a Wizard... -4- An Extra Mile in Her Shoes by Erin Halfelven

 
We finally take off almost three hours late. The bad weather has apparently blown itself out and we're on our way. I'm so excited I almost leaned over and hugged George but remembered in time that I'm not really a girl and he might get the wrong idea.

We climbed up out of the smog and we could see mountains! It's summer in Southern California so the hills are brown and only near the top are the mountains green. There's a tiny bit of snow left on the north side of Old Baldy.

George says it was probably artificial snow for the ski nuts who wanted to keep skiing as long as they could. I said there was entirely too much of it for it to all be artificial, you couldn't make enough off of a few fools with boards tied to their shoes to pay for that much fake snow.

He didn't have an answer to that so he just laughed. He has a nice laugh and I laughed too.

We flew over those mountains and then some desert and more mountains and the plane had to go higher. About that time my feet started hurting. My shoes are maryjanes with hardly any heel to them at all but they are patent leather and they don't have a lot of give to them.

"My shoes are getting too tight," I said to George.

"I doubt your shoes are shrinking," he said. "Your feet are probably swelling from the change in altitude."

"Ow, who are you, Mr. Science?" I said. "Ow. Are you saying I've got big feet?" I asked. It was the first thing he'd said that wasn't so nice.

"You could take them off," he suggested.

"I don't think so, I've had them all my life and that would make a bloody mess, don't you think?"

"I meant the shoes," he said. He grinned at me.

"Oh, I don't think I could," I said.

"If they've gotten so tight you're not sure you can get them off you better take them off for sure."

"No, I mean. What if... Uh, what if...." I couldn't say it.

"What if your feet smell bad?" Now he was down two. Boys should never talk about your feet, it's a lose-lose topic.

"Well, what if they do?" I said whimpering a little. "And what if I can't get them back on when we get where we're going?"

"Ask a flight attendant, they probably see problems like this all the time."

"I don't... They're... Oh!" I said.

"You should have worn comfortable shoes," he said. Strike three!

"You're not helping," I said.

He turned away and signaled to the flight attendant. "Miss," he called out.

I wanted to kick him but my feet might burst and the shrapnel would make a hole in the plane and we would all die. So I just pouted. Mom showed me how and I'm really good at it.

Flight attendants on Emerald Airlines, all women on this flight, wore a very smart skirt-suit in a brighter green than my dress and the cutest little hats that looked sort of military, if everyone in the military were a girly-girl.

One of them came over, her name tag said Sarah, and George told her what was wrong. I nearly did kick him.

"If they are really hurting, you can go to the lavatory and take them off. We can give you a little bag to put them in your carry-on. And we've got shower flops you can wear off the plane." She smiled.

"You do?" I said. "I never heard of airlines offering sandals to people." George got up to let me out and got my carry-on down and handed it to me. I followed Sarah down the aisle, carrying my purse, too.

She stopped at a cleverly hidden storage cabinet and used a key to open it and took our a clear plastic bag holding a pair of shower flops, green of course. "We're Emerald Airlines," she said. "We go the extra mile for you."

"Just as long as you stop at the end of the runway," I said but I said it under my breath.