As your story ends the flames grow dimmer.  There is fire yet to spin our tales.

 

Wait, Olivia didn't you have that phase a few years ago where you wore a lot of pink?  Ah see?  A blush!  That's a better answer than any words.

 

Last story before we go back to Jen.  I'll try to think of something good...

 

Well no I couldn't think of a story while other people were telling theirs; then I wouldn't be able to listen to theirs, would I?

 

Damn Jen, do you want to move a little bit towards me?  The smoke is curling towards you pretty thick.  Yeah, just a few inches should...  Well, bad luck.  It followed you.  Guess you'll just have to live with it.

 

Alright, I've thought of one.

 

Let my words mingle with the swirling smoke as I begin our sixth story.

 

The scrap of paper was held against the plastic table by the weight of a small stone.  The boots were standing upright in their box, just waiting for someone to come along and buy them.  I looked at them piteously; it would be a shame for Chrissy to just trash them without anyone having worn them.  They were really quite cute and Halloween was coming up.  I could probably throw together a costume that included them.

 

I gestured at Chrissy to come over.  She stopped unloading a box full of mismatched mugs and walked over.

 

"Hey Chrissy, what size are these?"

 

"I'm a size six so I'd assume they're size six," she replied, tugging the shoebox lid out from underneath the shoebox, "Although I remember there being something weird about them... Oh right!  They're supposed to be 'One Size Fits All'!"

 

She tapped the corner of the shoebox lid.  Printed on it in a comical sunburst were indeed the words "One Size Fits All!"

 

"That's impossible," I scoffed, my eyes sliding up the lid towards the brand name, "Doctor Sols?  I've never heard of that brand.  Are they some sort of gag gift?"

 

"I have no idea," Chrissy admitted with a shrug, "I picked them up because they were cheap and was going to put together a secret agent costume a few years ago for Halloween.  But then the bodysuit didn't show up in time so I had to fall back on my previous year's costume of low-effort ghost."

 

I grinned remembering Chrissy's crappy ghost costume.  A white tablecloth with a hole cut out for her head and three pieces of black felt sewed to the front for a mouth and eyes.  She had forgot to cut arm holes, so she spend the whole night having to claw her way out from underneath it to open doors, hold drinks, and shake hands.

 

"If you want them, you can have them for ten bucks." She offered, placing the lid back on the table beside the box, "If they don't fit, bring them back by one of the other days I'm doing the yard sale and you can just swap them out for something else that's ten dollars."

 

"So your refund policy is that I still have to take home some of your old junk?" I tried to give my most accusatory look, but found myself betrayed by the playful grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.

 

"Isn't that the point of a yard sale?" She perked her head up to peek over my shoulder, "If you want them, you better buy them now.  I have a feeling that old fella over there is going to want me to help him untangle every cable in that big ball of wires I've been trying to get rid of.  He'll probably ask me to explain what each one is to him too."

 

"Alright, deal." I slid a ten out of my wallet and handed it over, "Good luck with the sale."

 

"Thanks!" She strolled past me towards an older man staring perplexedly at a knotted mass of wires and cables he was trying to tug apart.  I nestled the boots down into their box and flipped the lid on top of them.  I gave the lid one last read before I headed home: "Dr. Sols Shoes.  Style: Gogo knee-high boots.  Color: Blank Black.  One Size Fits All!"

 

I strolled the three blocks home and let myself in.  Dani was stretched out on the sofa playing one of her farming simulator games.  She looked up as I walked towards our bedroom.

 

"Hey sweetie, how was the yard sale?  Find any hidden treasures amid Chrissy's old crap?"

 

"Not really," I admitted, "Just an old pair of boots that I might use for Halloween."

 

"Oh cool!  That means you can put together that Lady Fatale costume you were talking about."  She turned her head back towards her game.  "Lunch should be ready in fifteen minutes or so.  I've just got to finish planting all these pumpkin seeds..."

 

I walked off as she focused back in on her game, her eyes shining intensely behind her glasses.  I placed the box of boots on the bed and sat down beside them, kicking my shoes off in the process.  I unzipped the left boot and pulled it on over my foot, frowning at how much space was inside the shoe.  Perhaps that was the joke behind "One Size Fits All!" that if they made the boot large enough anyone could fit into it, albeit not comfortably or in a way they could walk in them.  Sighing I zipped the boot closed, the patent leather pulling together around my calf.  I shot the shiny black boot a disappointed look, it was clearly way too large for me.  Then I felt a tingling sensation.

 

It started at my feet, feeling like a hand was gently brushing along the skin.  It continued up my ankles and through my calves as the glossy patent leather wriggled and writhed around my leg.  I covered my gasping mouth with both hands as I watched the boot shrink smaller and smaller until it was the perfect size.  The tingling feeling was supplanted by one of being held firmly but gently; every inch that was covered by the left boot feeling a slight pressure that was comfortable, pleasant, and reassuring. 

 

"Wow," I gasped breathily into the empty room, my hands already reaching for the other boot.  I unzipped it, tugged it on, and zipped it back up again; watching and feeling as the shrinking process happened again.  A minute later I was left with two perfectly fitting, and rather sexy, shiny gogo boots.  I strutted over to the mirror and struck a few poses in them, admiring how sleek they looked on me now that they'd adjusted to my size.  With a victorious grin on my face I sauntered back over to the bed and lifted one foot up to take them off.  I was planning to put them back in the box until I could assemble the rest of my costume, but then the tingling feeling started again. 

 

This time it was stronger, like a surge of electricity, zapping into my legs from the boot and jolting up through my body.  It didn't hurt or sting, it was more like a lively pressure zooming its way upward from my lower legs to my head.  My eyes closed briefly as my back straightened and my head swung backwards.  When I opened them again I couldn't remember what I had been doing.  Confused I looked down at the boots and ran an admiring finger over them.  I wondered how they would look in the mirror.

 

I strutted over to the mirror and struck a few poses in them, admiring how sleek they looked on me now that they'd adjusted to my size.  My brain interrupted my admiration of the glossy black boots with the eeriest feeling of deja-vu.  I brushed it off and gave a final slow spin in front of the mirror before I decided it was time to put them back in the box until my costume came.  I sat on the bed and reached for the zipper as a pulse of energy rippled through my body again. 

 

My eyes were rolling as I straightened back up, having suddenly found myself lying flat on my bed.  Feeling a slight pressure around my legs, I looked down.  I was wearing some really cute black, patent gogo boots, although I couldn't remember putting them on.  I rolled my feet around slowly, giddily watching the light reflect off the shiny surface of the shoes.  It was almost mesmerizing.  Smiling a dopey smile I got up to check out how they looked in the mirror.

 

I awoke again on the bed, eyes only half opening as I lifted myself forward.  I stared into empty space for a minute before my vision drifted downwards, my eyes blinking rapidly in wonderment at the sexy pair of knee-high black boots I was wearing.  Some time passed before I realized I was sitting there with my mouth half-open, rocking my head back-and-forth as I followed the pretty streaks of light reflecting off of them as my legs swung side-to-side.  I heard a voice, I don't know whose, say the word "lunch" in the background as I shambled towards the mirror.  Even though everything in my mind was blurred and somewhat sleepy, I felt my body straighten up automatically as I checked myself out in the mirror.  The corners of my mouth were tugged upwards by some phantasmal force as my body made minor movements so I could see how gorgeous I looked in my new footwear.  My mostly-lidded eyes drank in how wonderfully they accentuated my lower legs and how beautifully they caught the light before my body swayed around clumsily and hobbled back to the bed. 

 

"Brooke, are you okay?"  I could hear a familiar voice nearby.  I opened my eyes that I only now realized were closed.  I was staring into a white void with a bright light at its center.  A rapidly-moving hand interrupted it.

 

"Hello?  Earth to Brooke," the voice said, a cute face suddenly eclipsing the light, "Stop staring at the ceiling and come get lunch."

 

"Get lunch," I murmured back as I stood up.  I followed the person who had talked to me, the thought of getting lunch all I could remember.  I sat down in front of a plate of rice and chicken and began to slowly and methodically eat.  The owner of the voice sat across from me.

 

"So what's the verdict, did the boots fit?" the voice asked cheerily.

 

"Boots fit," I answered, my head nodding absently.

 

"Are you okay?" the owner of the voice asked, their head cocking in worry, "You sound a little tired."

 

"Okay... tired..." I mumbled, my shoulders slumping as I said the word.  The owner of the voice stared at me as my body relaxed more and more into the chair behind me, my eyes struggling to stay open.  I heard the clatter of my fork as my hand let it fall onto my plate before swinging down to my side.  My world went dark until the voice spoke again.

 

"Brooke, stand up."  It was mostly a command with just a hint of uncertainty at the end.  I felt my body rise to its feet, standing proudly on its two shiny boots.  My spaced-out eyes opened lazily, spotting the voice's owner looking at me inquisitively.

 

"What's my name, Brooke?"  I shook my head slowly.  I felt like I should know this but everything was just so blurry right now.  I said the only name I could think of.

 

"Brooke?" I slurred out, hoping I was right.

 

"Oh my god, you really are just a blank shell."  She arched her eyebrows as she looked down at the table.  With great effort I swiveled my eyes and head to look where she was looking.  There was a box lid of some sort there with words that said "Dr. Sols Shoes" and then some other words after them.  The information meant nothing to me, as soon as I had read past a word I forgot it.  I tried to cobble together a sentence, but the only words I could find were:

 

"A blank... shell?"  I looked back to the pretty owner of the familiar voice, hoping she understood what I was trying to ask.  Not that I was sure what I was trying to ask, I had forgotten already.  A grin broke out across her face as her eyes gleamed wickedly.

 

"Oh, we are going to have so much fun tonight."  She said as she approached me. 

The next morning I awoke as Dani unzipped a pair of patent-leather boots I was inexplicably wearing.  I blinked and shook my head as memories unblurred in my mind of Dani ordering my blank and mindless body around, of her playing with me and teasing me deep into the night before we both fell asleep in exhaustion.  I felt the excitement of the experience rush back to me, the heat of the previous night flowing into my cheeks and between my legs.  Dani carefully removed both shoes and gingerly placed them beside the bed.

 

"You're keeping those boots, Brooke," she insisted as she pushed my eager body back into the bed, "And I think you're going to wear them more often than just on Halloween."