All Natural

     “Can I help you?” I zeroed in on the new customer the second he stepped through the door. He was hard to miss with his long dreds and tie-dye shirt. He looked very out of place in our upscale shoe store, but I wasn’t one to judge.

     “Um, yeah,” he said. “I’d like to buy some shoes.”

     “Well, you came to the right place.” I said. “What kind of shoes would you like?”

     He looked around the room. “I only wear vegan shoes. Do you have any?”

     “Right this way.” I led him to our special vegan section at the very back of the store. “We don’t get many requests for our vegan shoes these days.”

     He seemed disappointed to hear that, but his face lit up when he saw our collection. Admittedly, the vegan shoes were very nice, and reasonably priced.

     “Wow,” he said after trying on his first pair. “These shoes feel great! It’s like someone’s hands are caressing my feet.”

     “I’m glad you like them,” I said. “Most people hate our vegan styles.”

     “Really? Why?”

      “I’m not sure. I think they don’t like the materials we use. There have been a lot of protests about how our vegan leathers are created and we probably won’t be able to keep making them for long.”

      “Oh,” he said, looking at the shoes. “Do they use a lot of dangerous chemicals?”

     I shook my head. “Nope. All of our products are 100% natural.”

      “Hmm,” he said. “Then what are your vegan shoes made from?”

      “Why, vegans, of course.”

     What an idiot.

I have to give kudos to Elf Cindy at Soft Star for contributing to this story. MK

VDXJCD9Q5E4S