The Scarlet Shoes

I was standing on platform 2A at the gloomy end of the city train station the other evening at the end of a tedious day waiting for arrival of the 17:32 and thinking of nothing in particular, when a pair of scarlet shoes on the opposite platform grabbed my attention. It was like looking at one of those adverts where everything is presented in shades of muted grey except for the product being marketed. In this case the product was a pair of open toed, high heeled, slightly sparkling scarlet shoes. Apart from the striking colour and general style, so unusual for the time of day, the finer design points were lost over the distance of the two rail tracks, but what really drew my eye to them was the way they moved around. They could have been the red shoes of the fairy tale. They seemed not to stay in one position for more than a few seconds.
Of course they did not move around on their own. They fitted snugly around feet which were attached to a pair of shapely legs, a skirt that should have been 6cm longer, a mane of blond hair and a mobile phone.
A pair of toes faced me across the divide, one ankle wrapped around the other, then one shoe would fly into the air while the other did a neat pirouette and I would be looking at the heels both solidly planted on the ground hip distance apart ready for action. They would then turn to the right and take a few steps and then a few steps in the opposite direction. An extravagant knee high kick in the air, a twirl and the toes would be facing me again. It was like watching an aerobics exercise or line dancing. Ankles crossed and step to the right and turn and too the left and kick and twirl and ankles crossed and turn and forward and back and kick ...... Those shoes knew they were something special and they wanted to be noticed. I was transfixed for a good five minutes until my train arrived - on time and the shoes were blocked from view. I wish I had had my camera with me.