Ankle-Length Christmas Socks

I had about a hundred options, and very little actual time to choose an option. So when my eyes perused the sock aisle, only the particularly flashy options caught my eye. A basic pack of white no-show socks. Some durable socks obviously intended for long-lasting comfort. Even a pair of thigh high zebra striped socks caught my eye for a moment, before I quickly tossed THAT idea aside on account of how ridiculous I thought I'd look wearing them and nothing else for a brief minute or two. But eventually, my eyes were locked in on some holiday clearance socks. A pair of red, ankle length socks with the grinch's smug grin plastered all over them. Sure, they were ugly. Hideous even. In hindsight, I should've went for the pack of no-show socks or the thigh highs, but I do have a guilty pleasure for ugly Christmas socks, so they ended up being the first choice for my outfit. I reasoned that nobody would even see them shortly, given I would soon choose a full outfit, which would likely include some blue jeans at some point, and a new pair of sneakers for my morning and evening jogs.

So I promptly picked the horridly ugly socks off the shelves and began putting them on by sitting on a nearby chair. Once they were on, and I was standing again, I was quickly reminded why Christmas socks were my footwear of choice at home. Despite the hilarity of the ugly, they almost always proved to be warm, fuzzy and comfortable all at the same time. I sighed with relief for a second, before hastily gathering myself and working towards the next section. As much as I wanted to grab a pair of jeans, a shirt, or even a towel for cover, I had my eyes locked on the shoe section. I didn't want to ruin the socks by walking around the floor in them with no shoes on, so I decided that I just HAD to pick out some shoes first. I know how it sounds, but the socks and their wellbeing were absolutely the only reason I postponed my other portions of the outfit. I promise.

The shoe selection went much easier, since I'd had my eyes locked on the red running shoes near the front of the store for weeks, but hadn't approached my boss about it. Sliding them on took seconds, partially on account of my haste to get away from the window. It was still extremely dark out, but I knew better than to waste time in my current predicament. Things always went wrong when I ended up naked or close to it in public spaces. I'd already become a bit of an anonymous local celebrity due to my acts of polite manners just so happening to be necessary when I was either fully or mostly undressed. My face had been concealed from every shot of me so far, on account of my speed blurring any picture with anything less than a professional grade camera. But I was just one happenstance camera away from my identity being connected to the "Nudist Hero" on TV and newspaper columns.

With my shoes picked out, I decided to browse for a pair of jeans. Luckily THIS section was near the back wall, away from the window. Immediately, when I took that step towards the jeans section, the power to the building flickered once, before falling silent completely. The only sound I could hear as I froze in place in the mostly pitch black darkness, was the sound of rain slamming against the metallic roofing, a single distant thunder boom that seemed to echo off of the sky, and my own wavering breaths