BROWN SHOES ARE FOR BOYS by Jamie Hinson-Rieger

In the land of Pezzod, which is not so different from our own land, and in a time not so long ago, these were the rules for the children at school: be kind, study hard, don’t chew gum, share, and most important of all, boys must wear brown shoes, and girls must wear red shoes. Those were the rules, and everyone followed the rules.

Timmy didn’t like brown shoes. They made him feel blue inside. He had always wanted to try a pair of red shoes, and so one day he did. They looked so good on him and made him so happy inside that he thought, I’ll wear these to school and surely no one will mind.

Well, somebody did mind. Everybody seemed to mind! The other kids laughed. The adults frowned. Timmy’s teacher sent him to the principal’s office. The principal sent him home.

“Boys wear brown shoes, and girls wear red shoes, and those are the rules,” the principal said.

“Red shoes make me happy,” said Timmy.

“What are you,” said the principal, “some kind of troublemaker?”

“I’m not trying to be a troublemaker,” Timmy explained to his parents at home. “Brown shoes don’t feel like me. Red shoes feel like me. They make me happy inside. I just want to be me.”

Timmy’s parents told him, “You wear whatever shoes to school you want, and we’ll support you.”

The next day, Timmy went back to school with his red shoes on. Some of the other kids teased him, but mostly they were amazed. The adults frowned. The teacher sent him right back to the principal.

“If we let you wear red shoes,” said the principal, “then every boy might want to wear red shoes.”

“What would be wrong with that?” asked Timmy.

The principal frowned and sent Timmy home.

The next day, Timmy went back to school with his red shoes on. The adults frowned. A few of the children teased him a little, but also, there was another boy wearing red shoes. His name was Tommy.

“I’ve always wanted to wear red shoes,” Tommy said to Timmy, when they both ended up in the principal’s office together. “But I didn’t have the guts to try until I saw you wearing them.”

The principal sent them home.

The next day, Timmy went back to school wearing his red shoes. Tommy was wearing his red shoes. Some of the children teased them. The adults frowned. But also, Tammy was wearing a pair of brown shoes.

“I always wanted to,” said Tammy. “And why not?”

“Brown shoes are for boys, and red shoes are for girls,” the principal patiently explained.

“I just want to be me,” said Timmy.

The principal sent all three of them home. The other kids, who watched them leave, began to say to themselves, “This isn’t fair.”

The next day, Timmy and Tommy wore their red shoes, and Tammy and Teresa wore brown shoes. The adults frowned. The children cheered. When the principal sent the four children home, an astounding thing happened. All the other children left with them. They walked out of the school right behind them.

“If they can’t be here, we’re not going to be here,” said the children.

Nothing like this had ever happened before.

The teachers and the principal held an emergency meeting in their empty school. Boys wearing red shoes and girls wearing brown shoes. Was such a thing even possible?

That evening, the school contacted the parents. From now on, children could wear red or brown shoes, as they liked. “Please come back to school,” they said.

The next morning, Timmy was so happy to be at school in his red shoes. “I just want to be me,” he smiled.

“I just want to be me,” said Tammy in her brown shoes.

“I just want to be me!” said Terrence. They were wearing a pair of bright purple sandals.

And as to what happened after that, I will let you and your friends finish the story together.