It all started on a warm summer day at Jodi’s birthday party. Jodi’s parents had ordered her a bounce house for the special occasion. As she was trying it out, her three best friends Lindsey, Lila, and Rudy arrived. Rudy suggested to his friends, “Let’s go inside the bounce house and see if Jodi is there!”
Before they could go Jodi’s mom yelled out to them, “Girls and Boys! Make sure before you go in the bounce house that you put your shoes in the cubby or else you might lose them.”
So the little kids followed Judy’s mom’s instructions and put their shoes in the cubby. Before they left Lindsey commented, “No matter where you put your shoes there is always one missing!”
Ruby in total agreement said, “It’s like one of them gets up and walks away.”
“That could never happen. Shoes can’t walk or talk,” Lila stated.
Little did they know that there shoes were about to embark on a crazy adventure.
Once the boys and girls left Rudy’s cowboy boots came to life, talking in a Texas accent. He said, “Howdy. My name is Rowdy! Man today was so boring. Rudy keeps wearing me to Wal-Mart even when it’s pouring.”
With that being said, the ballet toe shoes that Lila had been wearing began speaking in a very proper English accent. “Hi, my name is Lilly. My owner is very silly. Lila always walks on her heels. She doesn’t know how painful it feels. Look at that slipper over there. Does your owner care?”
A few seconds later, the white fluffy slipper that Lindsey had been wearing, named Lazy Lacy, sleepily answered, “What, who me? I’m sorry I can’t quite see. Lindsey wears me day and night. I never feel quite right. She’s always at the mall, having a ball. Slippers are meant to be lazy, not running around like crazy.”
Now that the three shoes finally met, they needed to find something to do while their owners were playing on the bounce house. Lilly had an idea! She suggested that they run away. All three shoes were totally game to run away but their pairs, not so much. They tried and tried to convince them but they would not budge so, Lilly finally said, “Let’s go anyways, and leave our pairs behind to stay.”
With that all being said the shoes jumped out of their cubbies and landed in a heap of shoes. With a thud and a bang the shoes finally got up and were about to walk away when Lilly noticed something. There lying in the pile of shoes was a bright colorful flip flop that wasn’t moving. Rowdy exclaimed, “I’ve never seen one of those in all my days! She is such an odd shoe, especially the interesting way she lays!”
Lazy Lacy wondered, “I wonder if she is alive? And if so, I hope she will be able to survive! She isn’t looking so hot.”
“I once read a book that said if you are unconscious, you don’t have a soul. To help her should be our goal.” Lilly exclaimed.
“My momma once told me about Queen Hi-Heel. She is the evilest shoe of all. She makes peoples feet hurt and is prettier then all of us. The one thing that she does do that is nice is grant peoples wishes. It is of course not very easy to get a wish granted. My momma always made it sound like a big ordeal. We should at least try though. Heelywood, Massashoesettes is her home. Her castle is as big and beautiful as Rome!” Rowdy told all of the shoes.
Lazy Lacy thought that this was a great idea! She just wasn’t in the mood to walk all of the way there so she said, “Shoe-Fly Express would be the fastest way there. It would be a whole lot better than walking all day.”
They all agreed that the Shoe Fly express would be the easiest way to get there. So, using their telephones on their souls they called for the Shoe-Fly Express. They bordered the Shoe-Fly express in Kalamashoe for a flight to Heelywood Massashoesettes as soon as they could. The carried the flip flop on the plane and got ready to go get her a sole from Queen Hi-Heel. Lilly wasn’t looking so hot and very frightened. She nervously said, “I wish I had my lucky horse shoe, I’m scared of flying, BOO HOO!”
Rowdy complained, “These seats are so tight, I need a shoehorn to make me feel right.”
“Quit complaining. It’s not so bad, can’t you see! Shoe-Fly don’t bother me!” Lazy Lacy sleepily replied.
For several long, uncomfortable hours the shoes flew above many cities. Very soon Lazy Lacy fell asleep and Rowdy and Lilly imagined what Heelywood would be like. Finally the true moment came. Lilly looked out the window and saw that Heelywood sign. They had finally arrived to their final destination! Rowdy exclaimed, “Hey, I know the meaning of that sign, glamour, fame, and riches divine!”
They all squealed in delight when the plane had finally landed. They all decided they needed to hurry quickly in order to make it to Queen Hi-Heel before it turned dark. As Lazy Lacy woke up she complained, “I knew Heelywood was going to be such a pain!”
The three shoes first tried to catch a train, but there were no routes out to the castle so, they caught a taxi instead. They rode for about an hour when that finally reached the gates of the Queen Hi-Heel’s Castle. It was definitely an eye opener on what a successful shoes life was like. The castle was luxurious, stone-walled, had huge doors, and was overall beautiful. In the front yard there were statues of the Queen made out of both stone and hedges. When they first arrived the guard led them into a den to wait for the Queen.
The den was made out of marble. It had fluffy velvet couches that looked almost too perfect to sit in. There were painting and photographs of the queen herself all over the room. When the Queen finally entered after about fifteen minutes she rudely welcomed them by saying, “Hello, I’m Queen Hi-Heel, what is your deal?”
The three shoes bowed to the Queen and Rowdy politely introduced himself. “Howdy, I’m Rowdy.”
“I’m Lazy Lacy, as you can tell from the name, I’m very lazy.”
“I’m Lilly.” She pointed to the flip flop saying, “It’s lost its sole, which is not very silly.”
As Queen Hi-Heel examined the four shoes, Rowdy stated, “We have come all the way from a birthday party our owners were attending. We were going to run away, and then we had to stop because we came across this flip flop.”
“We were worried because she would not talk when we called out for her to wake up. Then we noticed she could not breathe, move, or walk!” Lilly said.
After a long stare Queen Hi-Heel answered the eager shoes, “I’m happy you are putting your friend first and working together to help her out and get her healthy. But I can't just grant you this wish unless there is something in it for me. So, if you accept this deal I will give this shoe a sole. Your task is to go get this special sap from this particular tree in the forest. You must bring me back this flask, and it must be full. See, right now I am not as shiny and as beautiful as I would like to be. I am looking very dull these days but, if you bring me this sap back my shoe polish will be complete and your wishes shall be met.”
Lilly answered for the three of them, “We will do it but, we do have one question. How will we know which tree to get the sap from?”
Queen Hi-Heel answered, “It will be very obvious there is only one tree in the whole forest that is for us shoes and not for the humans.”
Lilly seeming very skeptical said, “Ok, if you say so.”
Queen Hi-Heel said, “Alright then, I’m glad you will do it. Once you are done bring the flask back to mean and I will then help you.”
The three shoes said their good byes and were on their way to the forest in a blink of an eye. The shoes walked and walked until they finally came across a tree that had shoes hanging from its branches. It was a very large tree that stuck out as a sore thumb. It had bright red leaves and hanging from their laces, shoes were hanging from the branches. They quickly went up to it and Lazy Lacy starting explaining that they needed its sap. The tree quickly replied, “Do you know who I am? I don’t just give my sap to any shoe on the block. You must have a good reason, not just the fact that you’re going to make my sap into syrup because it’s good to eat.”
Lazy Lacy was furious that he was being so difficult but she was not going to give up. They had come all this way so she started telling him their story. She said, “Me and my two friends brought this shoe all the way from Kalamashoe. We took turns carrying her all the way, and it took out a big chunk of our day. We are trying to get her a sole but the Queen Hi-Heel but she told us we needed to see you first.”
“So, you brought this shoe to the Queen Hi-Heel since it didn’t talk, walk, or feel?” questioned the tree.
“Well, we wanted to do our part. Our help really felt like it was coming from the heart,” explained Lilly.
The old tree explained, “Oh yes, I see I see. I think you are exemplary! I’m so glad that you aren’t bad. Most shoes are selfish, and don’t end up getting their wish. I’m very proud of you guys. Now you are allowed to get sap from me, the red ruby tree. I think it all evens out in the end. Your friend gets a sole, and the Queen Hi-Heel gets her sap, now step up and give me a tap for your sap.”
Lilly asked, “I thought your sap was very rare and no one could ever get it from you?”
You taught me a very dear lesson on friendship and kindness. That to me is the rarest thing of all!” replied the tree.
“Thank you so much for letting us have your sap, so now I can FINALLY take my nap!” Lazy Lacy sleepily thanked the tree.
Lilly stepped up to the tree, filled the flask with the special sap, and then saying their goodbyes thanked the red ruby tree and left to go back to the grand castle.
When they finally arrived at the castle the three shoes were very happy and grinning ear to ear. They were escorted back to the very back of the castle and what they found was truly shocking. There they found the Queen’s spa room. All over the room was neatly organized bottles of nail polish, shoe polish, a bath tub, lotion, and red flowing curtains lined in gold. Under the curtains was Queen Hi-Heel sitting in a medium sized purple spa lounge chair. Immediately when Lilly saw her, handing her the flask, she exclaimed, “Now were back at your command. We hope you think your polish turns out grand!”
As the Queen inspected her sap, she said, “You have done quite well. I have never seen a shoe succeed when asked to visit the red ruby tree. I will now grant you guys each a wish. Choose very wisely and don’t be foolish. This is a once in a lifetime chance.”
Rowdy requested, “I’d like to have a cowboy who rides very well. Now I think that that would be quite swell.”
Lazy Lacy stated, “I’d like to have a girl that is lazier. Not one that runs around and gets crazier.”
“I don’t want to fell dizzy and sick. I just want a dancer that can do a few nice tricks,” Lilly requested.
Looking down at the flip flop Queen Hi-Heel answered, “But what about your friend that has no sole? If you don’t help her than you can’t reach your goal!” She reminded them.
Lazy Lacy admitted, “I’d like to give the flip flop a really nice sole. The she will be whole and we will have achieved our goal!”

Queen Hi-Heel told them, “Now go back home and you will see how all your wishes came true! All you have to do to get back home is to close your eyes and say Heelywood three times, and then lift your feet like you are going to climb.”
Rowdy, Lazy Lacy, and Lilly did what the Queen said and suddenly appeared back at the cubby.
“Wow, what occurred? I feel so absurd.” Lazy Lacy exclaimed.
Rowdy replied, “Ya, me too. By the way, have you seen the deceased shoe?”
From behind the cubby, Flo came running out with excitement in her heart. “Hi! I’m Flo. I’m so aglow. It has been so long. I feel so strong. Thank you for giving me a soul, now I feel whole!”
Lilly happily greeted her and replied, “You’re welcome. It was no big deal.”
Flo asked the others, “I wonder if your wishes came true?”
They all looked around with curious looks wondering if they had. Rowdy exclaimed, “I can’t wait to see the changes that have been made for me.”
Rudy, Lila, and Lindsey finally came out of the bounce house and started to search for their shoes. However, they could only find one shoe remaining in their cubby. Then Lindsey told her friends, “I told you! No matter where you put your shoes, there is always one missing.”
“Without that toe… There it is! Now I can finally go to my first ballet lesson. I am so excited!” Lila picked up her shoes and ran off to her lesson.
Rudy looked where Lila had found her shoes and found his other cowboy boot. “Thanks Lila! Now I can go on my first horseback riding lesson!”
When Lindsey found her slipper she said, “There you are. After all that jumping I think we should rest.”
Finally Jodi came out and looked at Flo, her new flip flops that she received for her birthday, and exclaimed “I love these new flip flops, they are so pretty and colorful!”
So all four of the shoes live happily ever after and their wishes were finally granted. For the rest of their life they would all remember this amazing journey and the great friendships they gained.