A Tragic Love Story by Allie Gregory

         

          Tonight is one of the bad nights. Most days are good. Most days I don't have to worry, because in the day, I'm never alone. But the night is never certain. The night could go either way, so it seems, and I am therefore left all day to wonder just what kind of night it will be. Many nights I find myself relieved, overjoyed even, but not tonight. As I said, tonight is a bad night. And I've never felt more alone.
          I wait silently in the darkness, lamenting my lonesome state. I am angry with the human girl, upset with her. But I am not angry and I am not upset because she left me on the floor of the bedroom -- it's carpet, exactly what I am used to. I'm not even angry or upset because she left me lying on my side -- its not the most comfortable position, but I'm resilient and I can handle it. I am only angry because I'm left here without her. I am upset because I miss her, and don't know what to do without her. She's my life, my everything. My best friend. And she's gone.

          We were kicked off this evening in the usual manner. Side by side to start, the human girl removed me first, then her. We were no longer directly beside one another, but we were close, close enough that I could feel her presence and I could see her beauty. It feels vain to call her beautiful, because she is the mirror image of myself, and yet, I just know I pale in comparison to her. Her dark navy fabric is blemished, with dirt and a long pencil mark that she can't remember how she got. Her white sole is scuffed and worn, but in every way she is perfect. Her flaws suit her in a manner I find absolutely superb. We don't always get along, of course. She is right and I am left, so obviously we clash politically. But I would have it no other way. So I watched on in absolute insatiable horror as the little human runs in and kicks her... and she rolls... and she disappears under the bed. I spent the next few hours hoping, praying really, that when the human girl went to bed, she would find her under the bed, and put the two of us away in the closet. But she didn't. She climbed into bed, dragging up the bed skirt just enough in the process that I could see her under there, all alone.
          So now I lay here by myself, and I want nothing more than to call out to her. We spend day after day, chasing each other down hallways -- I'm in front, she's in front, I'm in front -- and it's only at night in the closet when we finally get to be really truly together. Like I said, tonight is a very bad night. I wait. And I wait. And I hope that the sun will come soon, because the sooner the human girl has to get up, the sooner she finds her under the bed, and the sooner we can be reunited. I need her. By myself, I'm just a left shoe without  right shoe, and how then could I ever feel complete? She's my sole mate... I just hope the night passes quickly.