TALES FROM THE BAYOU: Falling In And Out Of Love

 

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In my current day job as Program Director and Center Manager of a martial arts school, I don’t really worry too much about the shoes I wear. Most of the time I’m barefoot out on our mats so nothing stays on my feet long enough to really matter.

But when I was a kid back in the swamps of southern Louisiana, it was almost like a status symbol to have some cool shoes to strut around in. And my sister had what I thought was the coolest pair of shoes in our hometown.

I’m pretty sure my sister didn’t realize just how much I admired her when we were growing up. I thought Janet had it all…a witty personality, a bevy of friends, and the coolest wedge sandals I had ever seen.

I’ve been 5’10” since I was eleven years old. Tall enough to tower over most of the other students in my class which didn’t win me any popularity contests, but the thought of adding another 5 inches to my height was too tempting to resist. Besides, to a gangly pre teen, those shoes represented about the sexiest thing I had ever seen.

My sister let me borrow those shoes one day and I strutted around the playground like I was the Homecoming Queen. That is, until I tried to turn the corner of a building and ended up falling off those shoes.

Hitting the concrete face first.

In front of a group of cute boys.

Who started to laugh and point at the goofball on the ground trying to gather her dignity and her high heel wedges before slinking off to hide in the girl’s bathroom for the rest of recess.

For one moment in an otherwise mediocre elementary school career, I was on top of my world! But after falling off those shoes, I fell out of love with the notion of walking on stilts and stayed closer to the ground the remainder of my school career…

 

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donna

 

International best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest book, LUNADAR: Homeward Bound (a YA fantasy), is now available in eBook and print form from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and other online retailers.