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The Red Bottom Barn

A story of new beginnings in unlikely places

By Mary DriverPublished 3 years ago Updated 3 years ago 6 min read
4
The Red Bottom Barn
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Valerie stepped down off of her private jet one Christian Louboutin red bottom pump at a time. Her icy presence was felt immediately, as the air turned stuffier than it had ever been in Britt, a small township in Northern Minnesota.

"Here, take my bags," Valerie demanded of her assistant Jonathan as she reached her arm out, looking around in disgust and confusion at the wooded scenery. Jonathan scrambled to grab the bags before they hit the dusty, dirt-filled runway but he was a second too slow, and the bags dropped. Valerie was too distracted to notice anyway.

"I can't believe this is where my sister decided to move after Mom and Dad died, to the 'Iron Range', why do they call it that anyway, it's stupid!"

Jonathan interjected: "...Miss Valerie, I think it is called the Iron Range because this is where they mine for iron ore and..."

"SHUT UP JONATHAN - I DON'T CARE!" Valerie snapped impatiently as she continued to complain to herself, "They should call it 'Iron De-ranged' because you have to be deranged in the head to actually live here, but whatever, take me to Sarah's house, I'm tired and need a drink."

Sarah was Valerie's twin sister and her only sibling at that, and although they looked identical, they were worlds apart. Sarah took after her father, who was a farmer by trade, and Valerie learned how to sew from her mother who was a seamstress in town. Valerie was more of the "fashionista" type, always putting on runway shows for friends and family. They didn't come from money, and their parents did enough just to get by, so Valerie had bigger dreams to become rich and famous.

Both of the sisters were extremely close growing up, mostly because they were each other's support system when their parents died in a tragic car accident when the girls were just 15 years old. After the accident, they were raised by their Aunt Tilly in Texas until they graduated high school, and both Valerie and Sarah decided to go their separate ways.

Sarah decided to move north with Aunt Tilly to Britt, Minnesota to watch over their father's other land that was purchased when they were young, and Valerie followed her dream of becoming a fashion designer and moved to New York, where she was accepted into The Fashion Studies Institute of Couture. This was their first time seeing each other since leaving for college 2 years ago.

"Valerie, you're always pulling up in style, huh?" Sarah said under her breath with a sigh as she looked out of the kitchen window at the shiny black town car pulling up in her driveway. She finished patting her hands dry on the towel and rushed towards the door to welcome the sister she hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

Jonathan stepped out of the driver's seat, politely nodded his head to Sarah, and opened the back door to where Valerie was sitting. Once again, Valerie stepped down out of the car one Christian Louboutin red bottom pump at a time, but this time, she had a Gin and Tonic in her hands as well, (she just couldn't wait for that drink).

"Valerie!" Sarah squealed as she ran towards her sister with open arms, lunging at her for a big hug. Valerie had barely made it out of the car when all of a sudden...

THUD, CRACK, SPLASH!

By Laura Rivera on Unsplash

Sarah had accidentally knocked Valerie's purse off of her wrist and her cell phone came flying out, and to make matters worse, it bounced and ended up in a puddle! Not only was this her cell phone, but it was also her work phone, and she had the most important meeting of the year with designer Joe Perdoux at 7:00 am the following morning!

"You IDIOT!!!" Valerie yelled at Sarah while trying to save what was left of her lifeless phone.

"Excuse me, Valerie?! You come to my home and the first two words out of your mouth to me in two years are, 'you idiot?'"

Sarah was dissapointed, to say the least.

See, Sarah was unfazed by the incident, as she just looked at it as a phone that could be replaced. She was not much for technology anyway.

"Sarah, if I miss this meeting with Joe tomorrow morning, I'm done! I will be the laughing stock of my class, my office, and I'll never work in New York again!"

Valerie could barely get the words out quick enough, she was in full panic diva mode.

Sarah responded optimistically, "We can just go into town and get you a new phone...I hear they have great flip-phones at Wally's Market."

Valerie spit out her Gin and Tonic as soon as she heard the words"flip-phone," and scoffed to the point of almost choking. She grabbed the rest of the bottle of Gin and bolted for the back door.

"Where are you going, Valerie?!" both Sarah and Jonathan said almost simultaneously.

"To go DIE and ROT somewhere!" Valerie said dramatically.

Both Jonathan and Sarah looked at each other and smirked, as if to say to "she'll be just fine," and they continued to watch Valerie stumble into the field behind the house, towards the old barn.

By Laura Baker on Unsplash

Valerie was now pretty drunk, and extremely angry, so it was no surprise that she didn't see the large tree root blocking the entrance to the barn, and just as her Christian Louboutin high heel snagged it, she fell...hard...and it was lights out for Valerie!

The bright morning sun bled through the cracks in the barn, and glimmers of warm light landed on Valerie's cheeks, waking her up slowly. As she opened her eyes, she saw Sarah kneeling beside her with a cool rag, ready to wipe away the dried blood on her forehead. Valerie was startled, but stayed still.

"What happened," Valerie asked, as if Sarah was supposed to know better than her at that moment.

"I guess you tripped, Val. You were pretty upset last night. You should know better than to wear high heels out in Dad's barn."

Valerie shot up like a cannon, "what do you mean Dad's barn, I thought this was Aunt Tilly's?"

"Well, it became Aunt Tilly's when Dad and Mom passed away, but it's soon to be mine...once I get the money to fix it up. It was always their dream to have one of us kids take care of the land and this old barn here in Britt, but you were busy living your dream in New York, with fashion school and your business, so this became my dream and my responsibility."

Valerie could feel her stomach start to turn with a mixture of guilt about not being there for her sister and the land, and a rush of fear when she remembered that she missed her meeting with Joe Perdoux.

"We better get you cleaned up though Sis, you have an important meeting to make today for your big girl job," Sarah said with nauseating optimism.

"There is no meeting, Sarah! I missed it! I blew it! This means there is no big girl job anymore...I have nothing!"

As soon as Valerie stood up, her other high heel broke off and she fell flat on her butt, leaving a stinging mark.

"NOT MY RED BOTTOMS!" Valerie cried.

"Well, now you literally have a red bottom, so I wouldn't say you have nothing!" Sarah said with a corny smile.

Valerie paused for a second while taking in what Sarah said to her and then let out a "snorty" chuckle. Both of the girls laughed for what seemed like an hour before walking into the house, one arm around each other, and a broken red bottom shoe in each hand.

Valerie stopped and looked back at the barn and then looked at Sarah and said, "I've got big plans for this old barn. I think I'm going to call it the "Red Bottom Barn", and I think we are going to bring some fashion up to the Iron Range for once."

"That's a good idea, sis! Dad and Mom would be proud!"

...and that is how the "Red Bottom Barn" in Britt, MN became the fashion capital of the world, hosting hundreds of runway and fashion shows per year...

A story of new beginnings in unlikely places

By Birgith Roosipuu on Unsplash

Short Story
4

About the Creator

Mary Driver

Passionate, empathetic, quirky. I write and sing music inspired by surviving addiction. I love Bob Seger & Tupac. I appreciate authenticity & kindness. I am intense. My Dad died from Alzheimer's, and it changed my heart.

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