There Once Was A Princess...With A Pair Of Shoes

This is a story about Olivia. And as many of you know, she is VERY dramatic. It is sinful sometimes...but that is for another day. Today, I will tell a tale of fairies, "suckers", and princess shoes and the meanings of those words in Olivia's world. As you read, you might envision her many facial expressions- the way her eyes widen with suspense and then narrow with suspicion...the way her speech suddenly grows quiet, almost a whisper, lingering...on every...word...just to get her point across...closing her eyes...with a slight roll...at the very end...to add just...the slightest...touch...of dramatic...emphasis. This is my Olivia. And this is a story...about her and her shoes. A little bit of history at the beginning...so you get the punchline at the end.

One day, not too long ago, Olivia and her family went out for a glorious day. With "Sucker" (an endearing name for her pacifier borrowed from good friends of ours in VA) and "Fuzzy" (her securitey blanket), she was ready for the adventure that lay ahead. Sadly, for our fair heroine, tragedy was also on the horizon.

They all stopped for lunch that day and ate in a sunny little courtyard with a pond and geese nearby. Olivia was so excited about the possibility of feeding the geese later, but her mother and father were not as thrilled. Geese are nasty noisy creatures known to attack fair maidens. As a distraction, they decided to go shopping, which was an exciting proposition for the Little Princess. However, there was a condition. "Olivia, we will go shopping in that little store over there, but you must behave. And if you do, you can win a prize." (Yeah...so we bribed her...it doesn't ALWAYS happen that way...)

All went well as the happy group looked around that little store...and as their escapade came to an end, our prima donna learned she had won her prize. What a triumph! So great was her excitement that as she was given her cookie, she spit out Sucker onto the pavement and didn't bat an eye. And neither did her cunning parents...as they quickened their pace and devised a story to explain the fate that befell their daughter's cherished soother.

As soon as they arrived at their "coach", she requested her usual. "Mama, my Fuzzy and Sucker, pease?" With much compassion, her mother turned and told her...that the Sucker Fairies had come and taken Sucker back to her home. What horror! A grievous event that she lamented over...for only a few days. But at that moment, the world stopped spinning and life was pale and bland.

That was about 6 months ago.

Now...about her shoes. A pair of shoes, which must have some sort of magical quality to them, was bestowed upon her one fateful Christmas morning by her Aunt Meghan. Though Olivia wasn't able to wear them for almost two years, the virtue of those shoes was not lost because now they don the name "Princess Shoes" and she wears them EVERYWHERE...most outings, out in the dusty backyard to play, to the POOL! She has even passed on this phenomenon to one of her close friends, who will remain anonymous, because as her mother would say, the Princess Shoes are more like "Shoes of Sin". Which may be quite fitting as a description for Olivia's Princess Shoes...I don't know...you decide as you peruse this recent photo of the once very cute and stylish ballet flats that my daughter adores. Take a gander...

Yes, they are black as soot inside and have...well...a very undelightful odor to them. I'm sure hidden within the stench and darkness is either the cure for cancer or a pandemic disease. Plus, they are at least a whole size too small. So, I gathered the courage one day to tell her what might need to happen very soon. "Olivia," I said, in a very serious and compassionate tone, "I think that the Princess Shoe Fairies are coming to take your Princess Shoes away." This was her response..."NOOOOO!!! They took my sucker!"