Ruby’s Slippers

Episode 12

How clever Ruby had been to open her shoe store next to that fabulous dress shop! Sonja came to this conclusion after noticing that nearly all of the seats were taken with witches dressed with flair and town ladies who just wanted comfort. After all, why do women buy shoes?

“No matter your size, there will always be shoes to fit” said one witch when Sonja asked her the question. Another woman chimed into the conversation, “I am simply addicted to buying shoes. I buy them all the time. I guess you could call me a collector!” All the people in the shop got into a lively conversation about the numbers of shoes that they had while Sonja walked around looking at the great shoes for sale. She would have loved to own a gorgeous pair of black boots on display but the 40 pendracle price was far beyond what she had in her pockets.

And, then she came upon the pair of glass slippers. She sat down in the first available seat to try them on. Why not? She felt kind of like Cinderella at the moment although rather than mean stepsisters she had to deal with yellow-eyed evil Igor. She put the shoe on her foot but no prince arrived to whisk her away. “Oh well, it was worth a try, she said out loud not really talking to anyone in particular. As she spoke, an advertisement came flying through the air and landed at her feet. Sonja picked it up to see that it was announcing a Halloween casting demonstration in the Center Court of Spirit Hill Square. Should she go? She pondered the question only a short minute before deciding to check it out. Just maybe she would find something from Igor’s list. Saying good night to all the ladies in the shop, Sonja scurried off to visit more shops in the few hours left before she was going to attend the demonstration at Center Court. Sonja was beginning to relax in Spirit Hill. She was starting to notice the street people. There were witches on motor scooters! She even saw a witch with a broken leg going along in her wheel chair. Surely she was in for quite a few surprises as she searched the rest of the stores for the items which remained on Igor’s list.

EPISODE ONE

How it all began...

It was a strange Halloween day in San Francisco. The tule fog was so thick upon the ground that one could not see to the corner of the block.

True to the post-office motto, the mail carriers left the sorting station with their arms heavily loaded to deliver the day's mail. Sonja's mail cart was unusually heavy this morning. She huffed and puffed a little as she pushed it and began her delivery route. She smiled as she passed the Little Red Schoolhouse where the children, all in costume, were having the traditional Halloween parade, marching in a circle around their teacher dressed as the wicked witch.

After delivering to the first block on her route, she came to the block she disliked above all the others. Each house had 16-20 stairs to climb to deliver the bills, ads and small packages for each postal customer. Dutifully, Sonja climbed the stairs of the first two dwellings but as she turned to descend the stairs of the second house, a dog barked and she lost her footing tumbling down the stairs and landing hard on the cement sidewalk. Immediately, she fell into a state of unconsciousness. Hidden by the fog shroud, she was not visible to her co-workers or travelers on the street.

Sometime later, Sonja awoke to feel a sharp pain in the side of her head. Fortunately, she had no broken bones, so carefully, she began first to sit upright and finally to stand. So thick was the fog that she could see nothing of her surroundings. She could not see where to go! Sonja noticed that she was no longer wearing her uniform! Instead her attire consisted of jeans, a black turtle neck sweater and a beautiful silver necklace with a large attached heart. The worst thing of all was that her mail cart was missing. She could be fired for this loss. Sonja began to feel panic in the pit of her stomach. How long was she out? Where should she go and what should she do?

Slowly, she turned her sore head to the left side and felt some pangs of relief when she saw the hint of a light through the fog. She started walking toward it. She walked and walked. Again she began to panic, for she felt she was walking, but making no progress. Sonja was about to turn around when she noticed the tunnel. It seemed as though the light was brighter at the tunnel's end so she proceeded in that direction. Onward she walked with her eyes wide open, her head hurting and her heart pounding.

As she stepped through the distant opening of the portal, she could not believe what lay before her eyes. The fog had receded somewhat and she was able to read a sign which read, "Welcome to Spirit Hill Square- the Finest of shopping for witches, wizards, mystics and those with psychic leanings."

Shaking and suddenly very scared, Sonja saw a postal person riding a bicycle. She yelled out "Can you help me? I'm lost and can't seem to find my postal route. I'm from San Francisco, California. You know the Golden Gate to the Golden State!"

The postal delivery person looked at Sonja very strangely for he had never heard of San Francisco or California. However, genuinely wanting to help Sonja, he replied, "If you come with me on my route through the square, I will introduce you to the shop keepers and one of them should be able to help you find your way."

"Hop on the back of my bike. You look a little shaky. By the way, what's your name?" Rousting up all her bravado, she said, "My name is Sonja. What is yours?" She got on the back of the bike while he told her that his name was Lebec and that he was new on this route. Off they went: he to deliver the mail, she to find a way home.