MAGICAL SLIPPERS

What exactly comes to your mind when you think of slippers? Shoes, sandals, boots and the list seems long. But not for Neil. For Neil, slippers meant magic. Is there any connection between the two? Let’s find out.

Neil was always about imagination. He looked at the things very differently. He enjoyed making his own stories about the things that he came across. Neil saw his new shoes and his mind started racing. He wondered whether these shoes possessed magical powers. The power to understand what people are thinking , power to make him the fastest human on the planet, so on.

The next morning, he woke up and found his shoes beside his bed. It was Monday and it was the first day of school . Neil groaned and wished he didn’t have to go to school. He got ready and sat down to wear his shoes.

Neil said, “ Bye mom and dad.”

“Bye , Neil. Have fun.” Said his mom.

He got up and realized that his feet were glued to the floor. He tried many timed but couldn’t move an inch.

“I will be so late now. if somehow I could move.”

His feet immediately left the floor and he was surprised. He didn’t think about it much and rushed to school. He was happy to see his friends in the classroom.His friend Rani said,” Hi Neil. Hope you had a nice vacation.”

“Yes I did. Now it’s routine life from now on.”

“Our school management has renovated the canteen. Can you believe it? It’s super cool and we have to wait until 12 to go there.”

“Until 12? That means two classes atleast. I wish I could go there now.”

He had barely finished the sentence and he reached the canteen with a lightning speed. He didn’t even remember whom did he see on the way because everything was blur. He had moved too fast.

The canteen manager thought that Neil was hungry and asked him if he wanted something to eat.

“ No sir. I have had breakfast in the morning.But the fresh bread counter looks like just the ticket.”

Again he reached the counter with super speed and crashed on the nearby chair.

“What is going on?” He said to himself and stared at his shoes. It didn’t take him long to realize that his shoes indeed had become magical. He squealed with joy and composed himself when people looked at him.

Neil went outside and thought of an experiment. He wished he could fly. He started the countdown in his head and expected a lift off but it was no rocket, was it? He was flying in no time. Here he realized something else. He was no bird either and the height scared him.His palms and feet started getting sweaty and apparently the shoes weren’t sweat proof. The shoes slipped and Neil started falling. He closed his eyes shut and cried for help. Luckily, he fell on a tree and that too near a bird’s nest. The bird didn’t like it and scratched Neil’s face. He somehow escaped and went back home.

His mother saw his face and became worried.

“Oh, Neil, Did you fight with somebody on your first day?”

Neil began to answer and wait … he was going far away. He went and went and felt that somebody was shaking him.

“Neil, for goodness sake, wake up . Don’t be late on your first day.”

He heard his father’s voice loud and clear. He blinked his eyes open and saw his uniform and shoes already beside the bed. He stared at the shoes for a long moment and laughed. Neil got up and started to get ready for school.