Will B. Doesn’t Need Shoes
Shoes? Who needs shoes! Not me in the summer as a kid, that’s who. Summer has always been my favorite season for many reasons, I think mostly because of the endless memories I made during those long, hot summer days.
One such summer my brothers and I spent our summer vacation in Wichita, Kansas. At the time it was considered a rural area, and close to the house we stayed that summer had, what I believe, were wetlands and a few swampy areas. Perfect for three boys looking to explore that summer.
It was a long, hot summer filled with catching fireflies, hide and seek at night, some volleyball, swimming and fishing, and many other things. The absolute best thing about that summer was the exploration of the local wetlands.
One such day of exploration is the day I lost my shoe in quicksand. At least that’s how I remember losing it. We had been exploring and a bit of fishing with some swimming in a local pond thrown in to round the day out. On the way back from the swimming hole we ran across a rather large water moccasin. Now usually such I thing would warrant examination, but for some odd reason this snake was a bit ill-tempered and started at us rather quickly. We all jumped with a start and slowly jogged away from it at a lazy pace until we noticed it was still slithering towards us at a brisk pace. That was all it took and we shot off at breakneck speed, completely forgetting the treacherous area we had been traipsing through all day. Sure enough, next thing I know, I was knee high in some slurpy, goopy mess. Lucky for me, my two brothers had missed it and the snake had finally gotten tired of terrorizing three young rascals. My brothers got on either side of me and tugged and tugged, and with a huge slurping noise followed by a low popping noise I was free. One of my shoes would remain a victim of the swamp, never to be seen again.
It was a long, soggy sock walk home, followed by a scolding for losing a shoe. I had to wear flip flops the rest of the summer with no money for new shoes. I didn’t mind one bit, let me tell you! The price of a great summer adventure was worth every bit of a sneaker! This is Will B saying, check back next week to hear all about my first snipe hunt, on my first scouting camping trip.