“Ah … aah … CHOO!” The explosive sneeze rattled cobbler Kanish’s entire frame. His heavy iron scissors jerked violently, cutting a jagged line right through the soft silver leather. Kanish gasped at the blunder, an expensive leather ruined and the Mantra family were waiting for their order by sunset.
The Mantras were a powerful clan of the Magical community and he didn’t want to antagonize them. He frantically tried to fix his mistake by stitching the jagged cut together and hiding it beneath a folded flap of leather.
To the untrained eye, it looked like a charming design, but to his magical clientele, the patchwork repair would look crude.
Sighing he set aside the flawed shoes and cut a fresh piece of leather. By sunset a brand new set of shoes were ready to be handed over to the delivery boy.
The botched shoes however couldn’t be wasted. He took a sheet of paper and wrote, ‘FOR SALE, BABY SHOES, NEW.’ What if someone discovered the flaw… he wrote again on a new sheet of paper,
‘FOR SALE, BABY SHOES, NEVER WORN.’
Then picking up the shoes he went to the grocer shop in the town.
The grocer, Chander was so enamoured of the shoes that he bought the shoes himself. “For my grandson.” He announced proudly. Money changed hands and Kanish went home happily jingling the coins in his pocket.
It was only the next day when he started cleaning up his workshop table, that a freezing dread gripped his heart. On his workbench, the ancient irreplaceable bottle of ARIEL, the magic potion that makes things defy gravity and walk in the air, lay tipped to the side. He remembered his violent sneezing. Just like he messed up the cutting, he must have knocked the bottle over spilling the magic potion directly into the open seams of the botched shoes before he stitched them up.
He muttered some choice phrases before grabbing his umbrella and rushing out. He stopped at Chander’s shop.
“Listen, please give me back the shoes I sold you yesterday. I will give you extra gold coins if you want.”
Chander blinked twice.
“But I already had it delivered to my son yesterday afternoon.”
Kanish banged his head against the wall and moaned. Chander came running to him.
“What’s the matter?”
“Those shoes are enchanted.”
“What!!! Don’t you know the rule? Not to sell magic to humans… I will complain to the Ministry of Magic.”
“Do whatever you want but first let’s get the shoes.”
Chander quickly shut his shop and together they caught a cab and reached his son’s house.
As Chander banged on the door, Kanish peered through the window … his worst fears were confirmed. Chander’s grandson, Munna was sitting on the floor and his mother had just finished tying up the laces of the silver shoes.
“NOOOO…”
“WAIT …”
Both of them rushed through the door pushing aside the servant who opened it.
But the knots were tied and the shoes gave a musical “DING”
The parents jumped in alarm, but before anyone could speak, the magic activated.
Little Munna gave a gurgle of laughter as his feet suddenly flew to the air, tapping on the living room wall, making him stand perpendicular to the floor.
“What’s happening to my Munna?!” The mother screamed.
“I can explain, I am the cobbler!” Kanish shouted as he lunged forward to grab the child.
The shoes sensing threat instantly marched Munna up the wall onto the ceiling. As Munna hung upside down, giggling hysterically, his grandfather Chander took a broom and tried to gently hook the laces. But the shoes were smart. They leaped on top of a shelf.
The father yelled “Catch him” diving towards the shelf in terror.
The shoes executed a midair backflip and carried Munna right out of the open window into the yard. Everyone sprinted after him yelling and screaming.
Munna was running across the yard clapping his tiny hands in glee. But the moment the four of them landed, the shoes took Munna above a huge mango tree.
Kanish knew he had to neutralise the potion’s magic. He climbed onto the compound wall. As Munna came coasting through the air, riding on a breeze, Kanish leaped and caught Munna gently around the waist and landed on his feet outside the compound wall.
The shoes threw a magical tantrum kicking him on his face and chest. But he managed to throw a handful of the anti magic powder directly on the silver leather, holding on to the squirming toddler.
The shoes let out a faint whistle and the silver glow faded. Munna stopped squirming and gurgled happily as Kanish gently unlaced the shoes. They were now slightly scuffed and dusty.
By now Munna’s parents and grandfather arrived. The mother snatched Munna from his arms as Chander and his son glared at him menacingly.
Kanish apologised profusely and returned twice the gold coins he got for the shoes. Thus pacified, they let him off with a warning to complain to the Ministry of Magic if he enchants any footwear in the future. They also declined his offer for a beautiful and perfectly normal pair of shoes.
As he returned home, his purse considerably lighter, Kanish vowed never to keep potion bottles near his workbench ever again!
