I did what I always do this morning. I read the words to R and C who said, “renovation” and “living in Tuscany” respectively. In the end it turned into an ode to a shoe cupboard … naturally. 
Actually, I have to blame thank Jeannine and Alicia for the inspiration over a little FB joke.
(Jeannine, the Manolos pinch!)
paint, use, sprees, outsider, away, fearsome,
part, reserves, body, intimate, written, window
There is a shoe cupboard built into the back wall of the bedroom closet of my 100 year old house.
I use it to store some of my silliest shoes; the results of overly-emotional PMS shopping sprees. I hide them away from the sensible part of my life.
My best friend came to visit a year ago and when he saw it he said, “When you renovate, this will be the first thing to go”.
But I think the cupboard will stay right where it is for as long as I live here because, while it’s a bit plain on the outside, the inside wall is covered with shimmering white and gold vintage wallpaper, a brilliant backdrop for my intimate fancies, a domestic geode bearing the glitter and sparkle of darling shoes.
The wallpaper is covering layers of paint; the last one is chartreuse, shining from around the edges like little moons.
I imagine the ladies who once filled this house, who filled the shoe cupboard with their shoes and their happy and fearsome days. The shoes are gone but nothing has really changed.
In this cupboard is all past strife and confusion, mistakes that we are, passed down from one before to the one who comes after.
Together we stand in our shoes. Bruised and beautiful in the filtered light from the closet window.
I can see you now twirling in your shoes on the wooden closet floor, your body looking perfect in each imperfection.
We fray the fabric of our lives; we count down the hours, dressing and breathing in the light of our mornings.
You can choose to see, you can choose not to see, but if you choose to see you must look deeper, harder, to sometimes strain, because the shoe cupboard reserves the answers you are looking for.
I sit cross-legged on the closet floor, my computer humming quietly beside me, the story waiting to be written, a cup of tea in one hand; I close the shoe cupboard with the other.
I like this one a lot, especially how you painted the images.
I think we all need a little storage place to place the quirky things in our life. It is these that make us different and often quite endearing.
oh good grief , will you stop doing this ….your words allways interupt my breathing patterns .x
Thinking that maybe I should build a special closet for those overly emotional shopping sprees! You can choose to see, you can choose not to see – love this line!
Fun to read about your shoe cupboard. I’m with you…keep it…maybe a 100 year old house is supposed to have a shoe cupboard.
Nicely done, Veronica. Interesting subject and your story wove the words in with ease.
Story written I would say – shoes and cupboards are essential to any good tale..
A very cleverly contrived tale! Enjoyed it.
You can’t beat a good cupboard…
So very true Old! In my case I need several places and they’d always be full.
As a matter of fact robbie, I think I won’t.
x
You too Robyn? What’s up with that? I can’t help myself and end up with a rhinestone sweatshirt I wouldn’t be caught dead in.
Keeping it Sabra!
Oh good Jae, I’m glad you think so.
Thank you Mary, heading over to read yours now.
Hi Stan, it’s a keeper.
I would love to see what else you have in the cupboard–especially since I know we both wear the same shoe size!
Lol Jeannine, beige (artificial) rabbit lined Pocahontas boots on four inch heels of any interest?
Thank you so much Felicity.
oh, yes, keep the shoe cupboard! On TV’s HG channel, people (mostly women) want extra storage for their shoes. You have your own built in. The week’s words suggested themes to your friends. That’s what it does to me, often without understanding how the story comes to be written. I especially like your phrase about the color shining on the edges.
Everyone puts off cleaning the closet, just shut the door and no one will notice. Our closets hold so very many secrets. I’d never heard of a shoe cupboard before, but there was a time in my life when I could have filled it to overflowing with a great deal of ease. Thanks for the memories,
Elizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/on-the-inside/
Veronica, I enjoyed this and related to it as well. You have written some excellent lines here, and the wordle words are hidden quite well. I once bought the ugliest pair of purple shoes, and a friend of mine immediately said “You had PMS when you bought these, didn’t you?” Ha! How could she have known, lol.
Pamela
Lol Pamela, you should see my Pocahontas boots! Thank you so much for reading.
Hi Elizabeth, thank you so much for reading.
I love the “just shut the door” philosophy.
Hi Nonnie, Thank you so much for reading. I’m off to visit you now.
Beautiful write. I read the shoe cupboard as a metaphor for your emotions which worked very well. (also, I’m a little envious of the 100 yr old house with a shoe cupboard.)
Oh the things we do to our feet in the name of….I don’t know, beauty? sexy? PMS?
Had a friend who talked me into a pair of pumps because she said that they had “f**k me” heels and it made me laugh so hard I had to get them. Made me laugh every time I wore them too–even though they killed my feet.
Ha, ha, ha, Sara that’s naughty!