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It
was one of those cold, rainy days in Spunky Flat and I got bored sitting around
the house staring out the window. I had heard that one of the Wallace girls had
been bitten by some kind of snake and was laid up in bed for a few days. I asked
my mom if I could hike the few hundred yards to their house and visit. She said
it was alright but insisted that I wear my dad's high-top rubber boots. The soil
on our farm was a heavy gumbo. After only a few steps the mud would pile up under
our feet until we would have to kick it off to continue our journey. I don't remember
it myself but my brother said that after a rain we used to have to go out and
clean the mud off the chickens feet so they could walk.
Anyway, I put
on the rubber boots and strolled up the lane to the Walllace's house. When I stepped
up on their porch I took the boots off and left them near the outer edge. Someone
saw me coming and opened the door to greet me. It felt real good to enter their
toasty warm house after my short walk in near freezing weather. I can't remember
which of the sisters had the snake bite but I believe it was the oldest or the
three. She held her injured leg outside the covers and pointed to the place where
the reptile had bitten her. The limb looked almost twice it ordinary size and
it had a deep purple color. As I sat and listened to her account of how the whole
thing happened one of the younger sisters let out a scream of horror as she looked
out the window onto the front porch. "Eddie, your boots just moved across the
porch all by themselves" . I quickly ran to the window to see. Sure enough the
rubber boots were about two feet closer to the front door than where I had left
them.
Now, try to picture the atmosphere inside the house. As I already
stated, it was a dismal day and even though it was only mid-afternoon it was almost
as dark as night outside. Chills ran up my spine as I stared at the self-propelled
footwear. I muttered something and sat back down in my chair, trying to regain
my composure. There was a kind of a pall cast over the gathering. We tried to
make small talk and pretend it didn't happen but it wasn't working very well.
A few minutes later as I was talking to the younger sister I saw that same look
of fright on her face. She jumped up and pointed toward the porch. "It's happening
again". I was afraid to even look but my curiosity got the best of me.
The boots were now almost to the front door. As frightened as I was, I was determined
to stand there and stare at them to see if they moved again. They didn't budge.
I was scared to the point that I was tempted to walk barefoot back to the house
rather than put on those possessed boots. After several minutes with nothing happening,
I figured the phenomenon was over. I had no sooner sat back down when there was
a terrific kicking sound and we all rushed out to find the boots right up against
the door.
I guess I was about ten years old and I was very susceptible
to any kind of scary stuff like this. Just as I was about to break into tears
everyone, including the snakebitten sister, started laughing hysterically. Then
they revealed how the phantom boots had apparently moved on their own. When I
entered the house their brother was in one of the back rooms. Without my noticing
it, one of the sisters had sneaked back and conspired with him to pull the "walking
boots" caper. Even after their explanation it took my a while to calm down and
to trust those boots long enough to wear them through the mud back to my house.
The Wallaces could have told everybody about the haunted boots but thank
goodness they kept their little joke between them and me. I was always thankful
to them for that. | | |
