You know, I’ve had a lot of people tell me “Oh, I wish I had your imagination!” and I really do appreciate it — on most days. But to be honest, it really isn’t always the picnic you’d think it would be. The weirdest things can set it off — and not always in the best direction.

Like this lone shoe I saw in the middle of the road yesterday.

Now I’m never really surprised when I see a solitary slipper on the road. That’s a pretty common sight, and I think we can all figure out how it got there. 

But a single sneaker? With tied laces?  TOTALLY BAFFLING!

And let me tell you, this sneaker was not some ragged old throwaway. It was a perfectly good kids’ sneaker in mint condition. So naturally, I started wondering how on earth it got there…

Did some bully dangle or THROW it out of a car or schoolbus to torment some poor defenseless little effeminate nerdlet…

…who couldn’t even tell his overbearing mother what really happened for fear of the consequences???

Or did the shoe fall out of a hole in the bag of some poor struggling Mom… who’d just blown her whole salary buying her only son his first ever decent pair of rubbershoes because he made it to the basketball team against all odds???

So many scenarios… and before I knew it, I was drowning in my own tears.

So.. BAH! Stupid imagination. I hate it sometimes.

If anyone has a theory (a happier one, please) as to how that sneaker got there, I’d really like to hear it right about now.