But after twenty or so hits from the mallet and a few screams from George, the shoes were as tight as before. Puzzled by this outcome, Mr. Plummer scratched his chin and went to the back room for a larger mallet, and George quickly loosened the grip of the vise that held his feet and knew Mr. Plummer’s shoe repair shop was not the answer.
George walked along the street and felt totally despondent. He didn’t know what else he could do. Am I to spend the rest of my life wearing these shoes? He wondered how he would sleep at night, how would he shower? He even grew more depressed when he thought about his wedding night that was just a few weeks away. What will my Wendy say? Will she still love me even if I had to wear these shoes for the rest of my life? George knew that he had to go to Wendy’s house and explain his problem. Surely she will understand, after all, he thought, she will soon be my wife.
George rang the doorbell and Wendy greeted him with a hug. She immediately sat him on the couch and showed him a furniture catalog that she had been looking at. She told him how the furniture inside the catalog would be perfect for their new place once they were married.
“My, this catalog sure is nice,” George agreed, but then remembered that he came to tell her about the shoes that wouldn’t come off his feet. “Wendy, please listen to me, I have something important to say.”
Wendy grew deeply concerned for what could be more important at that moment than the furniture catalog that sat on George’s lap.
George was near tears as he related the day’s events of his aching feet, on how he lost his job, how he couldn’t remove his shoes, and even how old Mrs. Wilma laughed at him in the podiatrist’s office.
Wendy was quizzical and thought he was joking, but George gave her a quick demonstration on how he couldn’t remove his shoes. Wendy tried to remove them herself. She tugged and pulled with all her might until her face turned a bright pink.
“See, I told you,” said George. “It’s no use, they won’t come off my feet!”
But Wendy wasn’t easily deterred, and again she tried as she used all the strength she could muster. She twisted his feet in different directions and yanked as hard as she could. But after battling with his shoes for more than an hour, all she had to show for it was a couple of broken nails and beads of sweat that dripped from her nose.