First Pair of Shoes: Tell a Story to Me Contest

This dystopian story was written in response to a prompt offered by @calluna in her tell a story to me contest. The prompt, in part: " I would like a fictional story set in a world where this sort of ‘smart’ tech is so commonplace that society, police, laws etc have adapted to it." @calluna gave us the freedom to interpret this prompt in any way our imaginations took us. This is where my imagination took me.

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The pink and blue elephants cavorting in the mural did not reassure her. Nor did the plush rainbow-colored couches on which they had been invited to sit. A herd of unicorns could have traipsed through the front door and Maya would not have been calmed. Nothing could distract her from what was about to happen: Carla's first pair of shoes.

This child, Maya's only, and likely last--although that decision was not entirely hers--was bathed in a beam of sunlight that streamed through the store's plate glass window.

"Would the little girl like a glass of juice, perhaps?" The saleswoman chirped her words with practiced cheer.

"Oh, no, thank you. We brought her sippy cup with us. She's got her favorite drink in there".

Maya forced a smile but could not emulate the chirpy buoyancy of the shoe purveyor. Because that's what the woman was. A purveyor. The staging for her performance was perfect. It reminded Maya of a picture she had once seen, of a twentieth-century shoe store. But in today's store money would not change hands. Just autonomy.

"Carla," Maya called to her daughter, "come and sit next to Mommy. The nice lady has to measure your feet."

The chirpy clerk was approaching with a metallic slate, the iconic Universal Standard Shoe Size Coder. Once that slate was placed on Carla's foot, the microscopic implant in her foot would be activated and lifetime surveillance would begin. This surveillance would not end until Carla's feet had taken their last step.

Their first steps had been taken only weeks before. The clock began to tick the moment Carla's foot landed firmly on the floor. The sub-dermal chip, implanted a few hours after Carla's birth, was infallible. It could distinguish between a chance contact by an infant foot and the firm, weight-distributed stance of an ambulatory child. Notice was flashed on Maya's communicator within a day of that step. Carla had an appointment with the shoe "store".

"Mommy, that's cold." Carla recoiled from the shoe purveyor and the Shoe Size Coder as the metal plate touched her foot.

Was the child's response instinctive? Did Carla sense that the woman did not wish her well? Maya could speculate, silently, about these things but never share her thoughts with anyone.

"That's alright, dear. Just rub your foot to warm it up. Here, let Mommy do that."

Maya bent down and resisted the impulse to kiss her child's toes, an impulse she had indulged countless times throughout Carla's infancy. But here that gesture could be misinterpreted as reluctance. And that would get Maya's name on a list.....

Suddenly Carla bolted from her seat and cried out.

"Ouch!"

It had happened. No turning back now. Carla's chip had been activated. Everyone knew the moment of activation was marked by a charge, a discernible surge of energy that felt like a small spark. Sometimes a redness remained on the skin for a few hours, where the implant had made contact with the Coder.

"I'm sorry, Carla. I'm so sorry it hurt you."

Maya's heart was broken. She had known before she ever had a child that this day would come. She herself had been observed her whole life, but couldn't remember the moment when she had been measured. What she could recall was the moments when she had strayed, when a searing charge was delivered by her chip to her tibial nerve. The pain was excruciating.

The small charge Carla had just experienced was not even a shadow of what she would experience in the future, when she strayed from the accepted path.

"I don't want to put my foot back on there, Mommy. Don't make me. Please!"

Tears welled in Carla's eyes. Maya wanted to tear the instrument from the purveyor's hands. If only there was a way to escape. But there wasn't.

"Mommy's so sorry. We have to do this. Afterwards, we'll go to Opa's and swim. We'll have ice cream and cookies. Opa is waiting. Let's finish, quickly."

"Mommy, please!"

The purveyor grabbed Carla's foot and firmly placed it on the Coder. This time no shock, because the chip had already been activated.

"See, little girl, nothing to worry about here. Just one more minute and we'll fit you up with a proper pair of shoes."

Carla was mollified but pulled away from her mother, who had failed to protect her.

When they left the store Carla was wearing her new shoes. These would be her only pair, for all occasions. They would not be changed for another until she outgrew them. Then mother and daughter would return to the "store" for refitting.

Maya didn't want to think about that. She and Carla walked down the street to their car. The click of their heels on the sidewalk tapped out an audible point and counterpoint. Light glinted off the shiny black surface of their shoes. Except for size, these were identical, as were all the shoes evident on the very well-ordered thoroughfare.

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Hi @calluna:
I am posting under my second account, which I opened in order to facilitate my use of functions off the platform, such as dpoll. This is my first post as @agmoore2.