Shoes and card game

Author – Jman

This is not really a story but a game that uses cards and shoes.

For this game you will need two decks of playing cards with the jokers.

Have all the players sit on the floor in a circle and deal out all the cards.  It is okay for some players to have more cards than others.  Here are the rules

1.  The first player can lay down any card he has.  The next player must play the next card in the sequence.  For example if the first player plays a seven, the next player must play and eight then the next player a nine and so on.  The twos come after the aces.

2.  If a player cannot play the card that he is supposed to play, he must take off a shoe and put the shoe in the shoe pile in the middle of the circle and pick up the discarded cards and add them to his hand.  If a player does not have a shoe to take off, he is out of the game and his cards are out of play.

3.  At any point in the game a player can play a joker.  When a player plays a joker, he gets to pick up all the shoes in the shoe pile and they are his to keep, even if he goes out of the game.  However, a player cannot put shoes back on his feet.  Once the shoes are off, they are off.  Shoes taken from the pile cannot be used if a player needs to put a shoe into the pile.  Only shoes still on your feet can be placed in the pile to keep a player in the game.

4.  When a player plays a joker, takes off a shoe or goes out of the game.  The count is reset and the next player can play any card his chooses and play resumes as in rule one.

5.  The game ends when only one player is still in the game.  The last remaining player gets to keep the shoes still on his feet and gets all the shoes in the shoe pile.

6.  If a player plays the last card in his hand the game ends and that player gets everybody’s shoes.

Let me know what you think and if there are any rules that should be changed.

Santa Clause is coming to town

Author – Jonathan

My close friends know I love owning sneakers, especially the hot Hi-top Osiris Bronx and NYC83. It took me years to get about 100 pairs of my favorite kicks. I own 5 pairs of the lime green colorway and some of the most sought-after Osiris in a size 12 to 14. I am often asked if I can sell my kicks but every time, I try to sell them I ask for too high of a price and no one buys. I always ask Santa for more Osiris so I can keep expanding my collection. One cold Florida night a day prior to Christmas I was walking down the street. It must have been in the 40s and for Florida that is cold. I saw this homeless guy in his early 20s trying to fall asleep in a doorway to some closed business. I noticed him wearing a trashed pair of Osiris and I wanted them as I did not have that colorway. I waited for him to fall asleep and at 11 PM, I came back to steal them from him. Hey, never said I was a good guy. This pair had holes in the soles and in one toe box and they were really dirty. I was very sneaky in removing his left Osiris. This guy had a large hole on the bottom of his sock, I thought F$%^ it and took that off too. I then went for his other Osiris and his last sock had a hole in the toe area. He started moving as I removed his last article of clothing to keep him warm from his feet. The smell was intoxicating. I was very happy to have this pair. I went home not caring about this cold homeless guy. I even slept with his socks and shoes on my feet. They were a size 14 and fit great. The tag was gone but I knew that they were larger than my normal pair.
I left a plate of cookies and some milk out for Santa, said a prayer and went to bed. I woke up early expecting my gifts. What was weird was the fact that I woke up with the Osiris off my feet. I quickly looked for them but couldn’t find them. I figured I would look for them after opening up my gifts. I received the normal junk everyone does on Christmas, but I didn’t care. That day I planned on wearing my red and blue Osiris Bronx. I went into my room and I screamed….. All of my Osiris shoes were gone. I looked in the closet and none were found. I tore my mattress off the bed and looked everywhere. Totally destroyed my house looking for them. I started getting angry and smashed my hand into the glass oven door. With chairs overturned, living room a mess I decided to drink some Vodka straight from the bottle. Should I call the cops? What do I tell them? As I collapsed to the floor, I turned on the TV and the news came on. This newscaster was reporting how someone dropped off a bunch of men’s sneakers at a homeless shelter last night. The news reporter laughed as she said they must have had a sale going on because the shoes are all form the company Osiris Shoes. She started talking to one of the recipients of the shoes and I recognized him as the guy I stole the Osiris from. He was excited to receive these because some jackass stole his the night prior and even his socks and he was super cold all night. The camera panned down to show him wearing a pair of brand-new Osiris Lime Green in size 14 and on the side were my initials that I had engraved on the side when I bought them for $300. The newscaster closed her report thanking whoever the donater was. Her last sentence struck a nerve with me. This truly was a Christmas Miracle. Thank you, Santa. I stood up and threw the Vodka bottle at the TV in rage. I stormed into the kitchen and did not see the cookies or milk I had laid out. I went back into my room and smelled something awful coming from under my bed.
I saw those trashed Osiris that I stole the night prior with a note pinned onto it and the note read.
Dear Donater,
This is Santa Claus; you know the big guy from the North Pole, and I was watching you last night from my elf scope. It was very kind of you to take the guys socks and shoes because I know that you wanted him to have a brand-new pair of kicks. Like the Grinch, your heart grew three sizes while you slept, and I knew that you wanted to donate all of your shoes for the needy. I left you the Osiris that you stole because I figured that even you need a pair of shoes. However, I was quite full by the time I stopped at your house and couldn’t eat another bite. It was then that I received an emergency call from Mrs. Claus and I accidentally knocked over the plate of cookies and the glass of milk into your shoes. Sorry for any inconvenience and enjoy your new kicks. Hey, it’s better than coal, right?  Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas.
Sincerely,
Ol Saint Nick
P.S. Enjoy your expensive lesson to always be good because I will be watching.
I looked into the kicks and sure enough the milk soaked into the cookies making them mushy and smelly. I realized what an ass I had been, and I knew that I had to change. I started volunteering my time at shelters and helping the needy out. But for the next ten years, I could never forget what had happened because there was always a guy walking into a shelter with a former pair of my Osiris on his feet. Lesson here is to do the right thing and be good.   Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!!

The Toll charge

Author – Shoeless Guy

I had met up with my old school mate Steve for a quick Xmas drink after work. I asked him if he recognised a guy in a suit at the bar, “How could I forget him” said Steve. It was Olly, he was three years older than us. He was also bigger than us back in school when he was our tormentor. He spotted us and came over with another guy in a suit, they both had been drinking heavily.
“You guys have grown in the last 10 years” he said.
“Yeah, try stealing our lunch money now Olly” I said. He laughed trying to dismiss it infront of his work colleague Marcus.
Each day after getting off the school bus he would stop us crossing a bridge that we needed to use to get to our village.
“You need to pay the toll” he demanded and took what was left of our lunch money. One day we had nothing to give him.
“Your shoes” he said laughing “Take them off” he demanded. We told him we couldn’t walk without our shoes but he insisted
“Give me your shoes boys or swim across the river below” he said.
“Let this be a punishment for not having my money” he said as he ran away with our school shoes, leaving us to walk the mile back to the village in our socked feet.
Our grey school socks where trashed by the time we arrived at my house but our shoes where on the doorstep with a note ‘Double money tomorrow or I’ll take your shoes again’. We obeyed but every so often he would still take our shoes just to remind us who was in charge.
Marcus found it amusing as Olly shared our misfortune with him, he kept looking at our trainers, probably visualising us without them.
“Glad you found it amusing” said Steve. Olly told him to chill as it was years ago and just high school fun. His colleague Marcus laughed again “Walking in your socks is no big deal, at least you got your shoes back” he said.
I overhead Olly trying to book a taxi, unsuccessfully. “You can never get a taxi at xmas time” I said and offered them both a lift. He still lived in the village and Marcus lived near me. We all got in my car and headed out of town.
I stopped the car before the bridge “You can walk from here” I said to Olly. “There’s still a mile to go” he said. I told him the fresh air would do him good after all the drinking, Marcus said it would be unsafe for Olly to walk home in the dark alone. I said that he could accompany him and told them both to get out of the car.
The cars headlamps illuminated the bridge as they began walking towards it.
“Hold on Olly” I said. “You need to pay the toll”. Olly laughed “Haha very funny boys”.
Steve said “Payment please”. Olly sighed and said he didn’t carry cash. Steve smiled and said “You know we don’t want money” as he looked at the black leather brogues on Ollys feet. Marcus inadvertently laughed, I looked at him and said “You have to pay too”, he stared at his expensive tan leather dress shoes and said “No way man”. I reminded him what he had said in pub ‘walking in your socks is no big deal’.
Steve shouted “Shoes please boys, hurry up or we may have to charge extra for waiting and take those nice suits too”
They where too inebriated to stand and remove their footwear so sat on the floor to take off their shoes. The cold air exaggerated the warmth from inside the freshly removed shoes as I picked them up off the ground.
“Nice doing business boys and merry Christmas” said Steve as we got back in the car and watch them gingerly walk across the bridge in their black socked feet.

Start safe, stay home, stay shoeless

Author – Shoeless guy

With the end of another lockdown I decided to write some fictional covid related stories. Here’s the first.
Stay home, stay safe, stay shoeless.
With everywhere closed due to lockdown I grabbed my camera and went out to take some night shots. It was dusk and to get the whole frame of an illuminated bridge in the shot I needed to walk some distance along the riverbank. It had been raining earlier and the ground was very soft underfoot, my new white Reebok classic trainers where getting dirty.
I heard voices approach, it was now quite dark and I became nervous as a light was shone in my face.
“Who have we here?” said a voice as I became surrounded by three lads who demanded my money and phone, they then noticed my camera and wanted that too. “Give it here”  demanded the tallest of them as he began to ask what size, I nervously interupted him telling him the camera specifications. 
“Not the camera, soft lad, your shoes, what size are they”. He shone his phone light at my feet. I told him they where a 9.5.
“Great, my size, take them off” he demanded. As I took them off I got wierdly excited as my socked feet sunk into the mud.
They walked away laughing taking all my stuff. But they returned, worried of being stripped of my clothes, walking home shoeless was bearable but not in my underwear or worse, I began to run but my socked feet just slid in the mud and they quickly caught up with me.
I was relieved that they just wanted a photo of themselves using my camera. Afterwards they demanded to see photos, posing with my stolen shoes and phone.
‘Image upload complete’ appeared on the screen, I explained that they’ve been uploaded to ‘the cloud’. They demanded that I delete them. “I need my phone to do so” I said.
“All done” I said before they demanded my phone again.  I smiled as I told them that I wouldn’t be that stupid as to delete images of their faces, what they are wearing including the Nikes on their feet. “Nice clear photos to send to the police” I said.
They looked at each other worryingly before threatening to beat me up. I told them I had sent my location and the photos to my mates and they’re on their way. My bluff had worked and they gave me back my stuff.
I didn’t want my muddy feet to ruin the inside of my trainers so I demanded the shoes from the guy with the same shoe size. He was wearing white Air Force 1 trainers. “Give me your shoes” I  said. He looked at his mates for guidance but they just looked at his feet, he reluctantly took them. I got excited again as I felt the warmth from his feet inside his trainers. He wasn’t pleased as he stood in his grey socks in the mud as I had trashed his trainers with my muddy feet. I looked at his mates and said it would only be fair to take their shoes too, “Fuck off” said one of them. Another mention of the police had him kicking off his trainers, his mate followed and soon they too where standing in the mud in their black socks.
“How you going to carry three pairs of muddy trainers and your camera” said one of them smiling confidently thinking he’d be getting his shoes back. He was right it would be a struggle, I looked at him, then at his joggers. “Take them off” I demanded.
Another mention of the police had the smile wiped of his face as he pulled his joggers off. As he stood embarrassingly in his boxers I told him to put his black Nike AirMax trainers  in one leg of his joggers and his mates blue/red Nikes in the other leg. After he also put my white Reeboks in too, one in each leg,  I told him to tie the waist string as if he was sealing a sack. He handed me his shoe filled joggers and I placed them around my neck like a life jacket. I smiled “Problem solved” I said as I watched the three robbers standing shoeless in the mud.
One of them begged me to return his shoes as he had no others to wear. I told him to take the opportunity of being shoeless to self isolate like he should of been during the pandemic. I joked “Stay home, stay safe, stay shoeless”.
I told them to go before I changed my mind and call the police, I got excited again watching them walk off in their socked feet knowing I was wearing a pair of their shoes whilst carrying the others.
I couldn’t wait to get home to enjoy the results of my walk along the river, the bridge photography could wait for another time.

Unfair trade

Author – Jim

It had been planned – on line – that I was to do a trade of my Timberland boots which were size 9 UK for a pair of Vans skate shoes of the same size with a guy called Steve that I met on line. We had arranged to meet at a rest area by the side of the A17 in Lincolnshire which was only a couple of miles from my home so quite handy, it was normally a busy place so I was cool with the idea. Steve said he wanted to look at the Timberlands and try them on so I unlaced them and passed them to him, he took off his Vans putting them on the bench beside him while he tried on the boots. He walked up and down a bit in them while I sat there in my socked feet, I was wearing a pair of purple and yellow patterned socks, wondering why he had not passed me the Vans. Suddenly sprinted off in my boots leaving me sitting there in my socks, I got up and looked around but could not see Steve anywhere, I looked everywhere even in the small toilet block but it seemed I had been duped. I went round the table and picked up the Vans I had been left with, there were holes in both soles and the elastic at the side was split, generally they were wrecked I began the long walk home in the Vans though I might as well have been in my socks, not looking forward to the last bit of the journey as it involved a half mile walk down a farm track which I knew to be stony rutted and muddy and as expected the vans were lost in the mud in a few moments.

Twice taxed

Author – Ant and Nate

We were heading home on the train after a great night out and we expected to be home by 1-30 am. The train made some strange noises and stopped. The driver walked back down the train telling everyone to get out as the train had broken down. We were only a few miles from home so walking wasn’t a problem, although we were in a part of the city we did not know we knew the general direction we were supposed to head in. between the streets we could see the brighter lights of the central area which is where we were headed. As we turned a corner 3 lads a year or two younger than us but rough looking blocked our way, one said time to pay your tax fancy boys, you are in the wrong part of the city, phones please boys, we handed over our phones silently little realising that doing so was a mistake as it made us look weak, trainers boys everyone gets taxed for their trainers, I pulled off my size 7 Adidas trainers, leaving me standing in the rain in my white socks, Nate was slower but he handed over his size 12 Vans and his grey no-show socks did not look fit for walking far. One of the lads said, in a very whining voice – aww we cant let them walk home in socks we should have them as well.  It was a bit late to start arguing so we handed over the socks as well and set off walking barefoot in the rain and in truth not happy at all