Jane Matti

In Someone Else's Shoes Jane Matti

Francesca is a 14-year-old girl growing up in Spanish Harlem in the 1950's. Although Francesca lives in poverty, she is able to escape the drudgery of her day-to-day existence through dance. You see, Francesca is a dancer. She is free when she dances. Her spirit soars when she dances. It is the act of dancing that makes her a dancer but it is the love and passion she feels when she dances that makes her great. Although Francesca knows in her heart and soul that she is a great dancer, no one else seems to know it. In fact, in dance class, when everyone is spinning to the left, Francesca is spinning to the right or worse, she is spinning out of control. Then an extraordinary thing happens. As one of the premier dancers was walking off the dance floor, the strap on her shoe broke. She took off her beautiful dance shoes and continued to walk bare foot across the floor. When she got to the nearest garbage pail, she tossed them in. Francesca couldn't believe her eyes. How could someone discard something so beautiful without even giving it a second thought?Francesca become obsessed with the idea of retrieving those shoes. Somehow, she got it into her head that if she could retrieve those shoes, she would be able to dance as well as the as the dancer who discarded them. She knew what she was thinking was crazy, but she couldn't get the thought out of her head. So, Francesca waited until no one was looking and I fished those beautiful dance shoes out of the garbage. Then she quickly placed them in her dance bag. She couldn't wait to get home to examine her price. In the dim light of her bedroom, the shoes appeared to glow. The shoes seem to take on a life of their own! Francesca was convinced these shoes had magical powers.