Ergo, the Ogre

It’s that time again, boys & girls: Fandango’s Story Starter! This week, our first line is As soon as she stepped into the room she realized that…

As soon as she walked into the room, she realized it. Every pair of eyes shifted their focus from what they had been looking at to Phoebe’s feet.

Her shoes didn’t match. Not even close.

One was a brand-new black patent leather pump, while the other was an old, scuffed red pump.

Not again! Phoebe felt her face growing hot and her mouth felt as if it were filled with sand.

No good ever came from getting dressed in the dark, but Phoebe did it anyway—her small contribution to energy conservation.

She tried to think quickly: What would J.Lo do? (assuming such a ridiculous thing could happen to someone like her.)

Suddenly, it came to her. Phoebe simply slipped her shoes off and set them in a corner out of the way.

To her amazement, the toes on her left foot were a perfectly lacquered shade of lavender. The toenails on her right foot were naked and in their usual crusty-looking state. Phoebe’s guess was that she must’ve gotten distracted by something (no telling what) and forgotten to finish.

At this point, she was beyond mortified and saw no way out of the embarrassment. No matter what she did would be viewed as funny, stupid, or wrong.

So, she smiled what she hoped was a relaxed smile, as if everything was going as planned, and padded barefoot to the open bar.

“What can I get you, Miss?” the hunky bartender asked, trying to keep a straight face. “Aside from a matching pair of shoes and some nail polish remover?”

Phoebe couldn’t help but smile. “At least my dress isn’t on backward, right?” she joked.

The bartender cocked an eyebrow and cleared his throat. “Well….”

Phoebe looked down to discover the tag was sticking out from what was supposed to be the vee in the back of her dress.