The door to Jon McMillan's room burst open, and a giggling teenage boy in a cherry red minidress and a black leather bolero jacket burst through, squealing with adrenaline as he threw himself onto the pink, designer, weighted blanket that covered his four-poster bed. Somewhere downstairs, some distance away, one parent's voice could be heard echoing across the marble, saying "I wonder what got into Jon this evening," and another parent's voice could be heard responding "I have no idea."
Somewhere in the back of his head Jon heard the voices, but he didn't process them. Didn't translate them into any kind of meaning in his head. He couldn't! He'd just had the most amazing meal he'd ever eaten!
He had to tell his shoes.
Hastily, but carefully, he removed the leather boots he'd been wearing for the last few hours, and replaced them with a pair of chestnut-colored suede Ugg boots in-- why was he thinking of them as being in Sarah's size? Jon was the one who'd been wearing them for most of the day. They were in his closet. They were in his size.
Jon replaced the black leather boots with a particular pair of chestnut-colored suede Ugg boots in precisely his own size. And he started to gush.
"I'm back!" Jon cried, barely holding himself together.
"How was it?" the shoes asked him, feeding off of Jon's energy.
"I had no idea that a place like that even existed in Lake Point! The lighting almost made it feel like we were the only table in there. Each menu was hand-written! With calligraphy! And the decor, oh, I want to get married there some day."
"But you knew all that, right? You've been to the Oxbone Tavern before." There was a slyness to the shoes' response.
"I mean, yeah," Jon backpedaled, "but I don't know, it felt like I was looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes tonight. I don't think I'd ever really looked at the place. It just clicked tonight. This is the place I want to get married in."
Jon paused for a moment, scrunching his shoulders and just savoring the idea of that wonderful dining area, tables removed, rows of chairs set up, and him in the middle in a pristine white dress.
Then he blinked. "Oh, and the food! I had never had foie gras before, and I have no idea why. And they had duck confit. I didn't even know you were allowed to eat ducks! Like, aren't they just wild animals? I mean, it was kind of like chicken, but it also wasn't anything like chicken at all. It's like someone took everything boring out of chicken and filled it back up with all these new flavors I never knew existed. And oh god, I'm babbling."
"Calm down, Jon," the shoes soothed. "You've had foie gras before. You've had duck confit before. Daddy uses anything as an excuse to go down to the Oxbone Tavern, and you've tried everything on their menu."
That information didn't sound right to Jon, but it felt right. And he was just so full of energy, he just accepted this new information and incorporated it. "Shush. I told you it felt like everything was new tonight, and that includes the food. I know I've had duck confit before, but I just want to pretend, just for one night, that I haven't. I just want to savor the feeling of trying something new for the first time. I know I get to have a lot of experiences that most people don't have, and I think it's important to, I don't know, stop and smell the roses sometimes. Just appreciate life as though I've never had the chance before."
Inwardly, the shoes smiled. And as they were warmed by the feet that were inside of them, they were equally warmed by the ease with which Jon was adapting to the role they were giving him. And they continued to warm throughout the night, as Jon told them the draft of a story that they were very eager to edit.
