The Pink Crocodile Match

A shoe isn’t a very spectacular thing. In fact, it is quite plain. A glittery stiletto left at a bar with its heel snapped might turn a few heads, but it is forgettable. A broken thong - ahem, apologies, flip flop - on a hiking trail might draw a laugh at the expense of someone’s misfortune. A dirty runner - *sigh* trainer - tied to a power line might beg the question of how it was tied without the ease of its partner to hang with. We have all likely seen one of these mentioned scenarios. They are, after all, predictable fates for the footwear of their kind. A shoe is very rarely a spectacle, therefore unusually considered spectacular.

So why, dear readers, do you think a sole crocodile shoe is nested into the sandy beach of a small Pacific island?

I hear your suggestions:

“A used car dealer is taking a break in the salty waters, kicking his shoes off, so desperate to dive into the ocean that he only took off one shoe…” An unlikely story. There are no used car salesmen on this island. In fact, there is no used car depot within sight.

“A group of teenagers kicked off their Lacoste shoes, took some selfies, loaded a messy TikTok dance video, then grabbed their things to head to the other end of the beach, leaving a shoe behind…” I think you misunderstood me, dear readers. I said crocodile shoe. I mean that literally. No, not crocs either. This shoe has only one hole: the one the foot goes into.

“The person has a crocodile shoe because they live in Australia, and Australia has a lot of beaches, and they were eaten by a crocodile as revenge but left one shoe behind…” No. Did you miss the part where I said small Pacific island? Australia is by no means small, nor is it considered a Pacific island. Nice try, though. I think it might be my favourite scenario of yours so far.

There is one key flaw in your suggestions: there are no people on this island. I ask you again, how did the crocodile shoe find itself being pecked by a curious parrot upon the sandy beach of an abandoned tropical island?

Ah, you see? This is a spectacle.

This is the unexplainable, the improbable, the peculiar, the unknown. How did it get here? Whose shoe is it? Where is the person? Why is the bird now trying to drag it toward the dense foliage of the forest? There are no answers I can give you without spoiling the surprise, of course.

You are on the edge of your seats. Who knew that a simple existence of a shoe could hold such mystery and excitement?

Wait - you aren’t excited?

Well… nor was the owner of the shoe when their plane crashed into the middle of the ocean. There, are you happy? I spoiled the surprise. Are you excited now? It is tragic, I know, but now marvel at the chances of a second shoe approaching, slowly being drawn in toward the island. This place is certainly alluring if not one but now two shoes have migrated here.

The bird is trying its hardest to pull the shoe up during flight but its sole is thick and the crocodile skin impenetrable. Fear not, the bird is not the antagonist but the unlikely hero of our story. Upon the second shoe’s arrival, the bird gets distracted and tugs with all its might at the soggy sheep wool of the pink Ugg boot. The shoe is resilient, proving too heavy for the bird’s patience, so it is left tossed on its side under the afternoon sun. Resting beside our first shoe, they make an unlikely pair.

I hope you are as astonished as I am by this miracle the universe provided today. On an abandoned pacific island, a right and a left shoe have become acquainted, one having come from a plane, and another from a cruise ship.

This, dear readers, is spectacular... that from such a traumatic airplane accident, there can still be beauty in this world.