Have you ever had your toes noticed? No? Well, I hadn’t either until today. My day started like any other normal summer day. Wake up at eleven, eat, and watch Youtube. Today, I decided to paint my toes bright blue, but I’d regret it later. Once I finished, my mom burst into my room and told me we were going to get groceries. I groaned at the thought of actually having to be social and leave the house. Reluctantly, I got ready and we left for the store. 

No! That was the usual answer we get when we ask to get anything junk related, but this time we decided to buy our own food. Another decision I would later regret. At the moment all my brother and I were thinking about was getting our food. I got my usual groceries: avocados, lemons, limes, yogurt, granola, green juice, and fancy ramen. My brother just got five different kinds of donuts. 

Once we got everything we wanted, we agreed I would pay for everything and he’d pay me back afterwards. Everything was bagged up, and I was about to pay, when he started talking,  he was an older man with a white beard that kinda reminded me of Santa, but more creepy. The man was wearing a lumberjack shirt with work boots and looked like one of those know it alls. 

“I like your toes.” Startled, I turned to see who had just yelled that. When I saw him standing right behind me, staring right at me. This is when I realized the old man was the one yelling, and he was yelling at me. 

“Uh, thank you,” I mumbled awkwardly, and turned around. Well that was odd. As soon as I thought this, the man continued to talk. How could it be possible to continue a conversation after saying that?

“I have a friend that lives in China. Did you know people there have foot fetishes.” What the hell did he say to me? I turned and looked at him with shock, then turned to see if the cashier was just as shocked and she had a look of horror on her face. 

“Oh.” That’s all I could get out. He looked a little offended, but what did he want me to say? Unfortunately, he decided to continue. Could this man not see the horror on my face?

“They take the gasha girls, or is it geisha girls,” he asked me like I should know. 

“I’m not sure.” Would it be rude to tell him to go away? 

“Well anyway they take their feet and crush them, then bind them to make the feet deformed and tiny.” What the actual hell. What kinda person talks to a stranger about crushing people’s feet? At that point I could hear both my brother and the cashier laughing their butts off, and I could tell neither were going to help me get out of this. 

“That’s nice,” and that’s when I turned around and started paying, ignoring anything else he was saying to me. Once we were out of the store I burst into laughter, I laughed so hard I could feel tears starting to form. We laughed all the way to the car, where mom was waiting for us.  

Her blonde hair was down now, and she looked stressed from her grocery run. She looked confused and annoyed when she saw us walking up. 

“Why are you laughing?” she asked us with a confused expression. 

“An old guy liked Leasah’s toes,” my brother yelled, while still laughing. 

“What do you mean her toes got noticed.” I told my mom everything that had happened. 

“Who the hell says that to someone,” my mom asked in between her laughs. 

“A major creep that’s who. Like what did that old man want me to say to him. Thanks for creeping me out.” Isaiah suddenly went quiet and gestured for me to be quiet. “What’s your problem? You were just laughing too.” He shook his head at me. “Yes you were, you thought he was a creep too.” 

“Turn around,” my brother said quietly. There the old man stood, staring at me.