Below is another short story I wrote based on a writing prompt given to me from my friend.

Prompt: Write about a kid who’s a tourist, but told from the shoe’s perspective.

With a rumbling thud, we finally land. Everyone unstraps themselves from their seats as the bay doors open. It seems that everyone else on this ship got ready to leave before we did. We are still tucked under our cubbyhole, as our family of inserters is still strapped in. They’re not even packed.

Toby, our master inserter, throws a fit, adding another to his many during the expedition to get to this newly terraformed planet Dentalia. His Momma and Poppa finally unstrap him, letting him run free. He runs for us, as fast as his little feet can carry him. Toby falls to his knees and crawls into the tiny cubbyhole and pulls us out. He straps us on one at a time, me first, Righty, then my younger sister, Samantha. She technically came off of the assembly line before I did, but my sole was stitched together first. I will always have that on her.

His parents want to help, but Toby bats them away. He’s a big boy now, or so he tells them, all 3 years and a few months of him. His toes stretch and wiggle inside of me, feeling my familiar cavity and finally settle in. I tighten around his foot, securing our familiar bond. Samantha does the same. Now we’re ready.

One leg, then two, Toby is finally up. He jumps up and down, clamors to his parents and pulls on them.
Let’s go! Come on, let’s go!

Patience honey is all Momma manages to say as she continues on with Poppa.

Should we pack everything?

Let’s pack what we need right now.

We don’t even know what’s out there. Maybe…

Toby’s attention drifts away to what’s beyond the bay doors. The brightness of the outside world beckons him. What adventures await us outside? He taps Samantha on the metal-grated bay floor, up-down up-down up-down. To say he’s impatient is an understatement and I totally understand why. I’m excited too.

The Sisyphus started its expedition to Dentalia five years ago. It was aboard this ship that Momma and Poppa met. For his entire life, the Sisyphus is Toby’s home. The cold gray hardness of the ship has been Toby’s everything. Momma and Poppa would tell him stories and show pictures of their long ago home. There were mythical creatures almost as big as the Sisyphus, and celestial balls that shine and warm us whenever we bathe in their light. Is that waiting for us out there?

Soon we’re led away with Toby’s hand wrapped tightly in his Momma’s. Toby’s feet scuttle Samantha and I along, three of our jumps to one of his parents. Each step brings us closer to the new world. I stepped into it first, the warmth of the closest star shining down on this world, then my sister. We wait until our many eyes finally adjust and then we see it, the world. Even the vast vocabulary of educated adults like Momma and Poppa can’t put into words what beauty lies before us, let alone those from my laced tongue. Gasps of awe are all that we can manage and quite simply, that is enough.