Kirsty, a 20 year old Guitarist & Audio Student

The gentle strums of an acoustic guitar filled the halls of Kirsty’s home. As did the soft sniffles that accompanied the tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. This week just hadn’t been hers.

“Well they thought they were made for each other~”

Kirsty’s voice, melodic yet somber, sang as her bare feet gently tapped their toes to the strums all on their own. Her phone, laying on her bed, buzzed from receiving a text.

“~one thinking of one another...”

The buzzing became more rapid as several texts were received within a short time-span.

“Never thinking just for one second~”

The texts stopped. And instead came through a call, her phone rhythmically vibrating.

It was her boyfriend.

Despite this Kirsty remained seated on the ground, her back leaning against the wall and her feet still gently tapping absentmindedly.

“~she would take a different attraction.”

With a longing sigh Kirsty rested her guitar on the ground before leaning her head back, closing her eyes.

The call ceased.

Metallic wind-chimes hanging on Kirsty’s front porch replaced the absence of sound as gentle gusts of wind flowed through her open window. The wind felt like daggers piercing her face as the streaks left behind by her tears stung from the cold.

Kirsty stared at her feet,

“Tomorrow is another day....right?” She asked, as if the question was directed toward her feet.

They gave the slightest of twitches as if to respond to her. Kirsty however didn’t catch their movement.

She closed her eyes again. But the moment she did her phone started buzzing again, this time for a different reason.

It was an alarm set to remind her about the new jogging routine she formed. And emotionally distraught or not, she was adamant to commit to the new routine.

Her feet, as if knowing what was coming, shook slightly at the alarm.

Kirsty picked herself off the ground, wiping away her tears and disabling her phone’s alarm before making way for her wardrobe and sliding it open.

She quickly got changed into some comfy grey sweatpants, and a sweatshirt of the same colour. For extra measure she pulled out her light-purple jumper with a heart adorned across the middle of it as Autumn was known to get quite nippy early throughout the season. She also pulled out a pair of socks and her really old sneakers, the sight of which made her feet twitch a little more than they normally did as if they dreaded the idea of being confined to such old pieces of footwear.

Regardless Kirsty socked them up before shoving them unceremoniously into her sneakers.

“Ugh... I should really get something better for you two.”

Kirsty’s feet, as if agreeing with her, wriggled their toes. Still she paid them no mind and chalked it up to her anxiousness from today.

And for that reason she decided to make some changes to her usual jogging routine. Pulling up an app that displayed the area on her phone she saw the nearby town of Maddington not that far from her countryside home.

“That’s a good distance...”

Kirsty slid her wardrobe closed, looking herself over in the full-body mirror. Grabbing a hair-lackey she tied her long hair into a ponytail, leaving a handful strewn across her face and sides.

Once again Kirsty’s feet seemed be excited as they slightly wiggled their toes up and down in her shoes. But as always she didn’t notice their antics.

Pocketing her phone she walked out her room, down the stairs and out the front door. She paused momentarily, sweeping her gaze across the open fields that surrounded her home barring the lone road running across the plain. About a kilometre away was the tree-line, the road cutting though it and leading toward her new destination. And despite the sun being out in full **** Kirsty began her jog, making way for Maddington at a decent pace.

It took a bit of time for her to get close to the town surrounded by forest. It didn’t help that she, and more-so her feet, were not used to running the extra distance. And while said extra distance was helping keep things off Kirsty’s mind her feet were beginning to get sore from the lack of cushioning from her near worn-out sneakers. Pins and needles began coursing through their soles.

Glancing at her phone Kirsty saw she was nearing the town and decided she’d have a break in the town square where her map was leading her.

“...almost...hah~ almost there...” Kirsty puffed.

Almost as if they were spurred by her words Kirsty’s feet picket up slightly, and before she knew it the edge of the town came into sight.

The moment Kirsty stepped into the town she noticed a slight shift. Her feet felt a little reinvigorated though the pins and needles were getting stronger. Assuming it was just her feet getting tired she hastily jogged to the square. And upon making it to her destination she slowed to a walk, taking in the quaint and peaceful area.

Shops lined the edge of the square barring one side serving as both entrance and exit, several tables & benches dotted the area along side multiple potted plants, and in the centre sat a decently sized round water fountain with a small statue adorned on the top.

The place brought a smile to Kirsty’s lips.

Resting at the fountain Kirsty day on the flat rim, taking another glance of the square. Not many people were out despite it being roughly mid-day.

Suddenly Kirsty felt her feet cramp causing her to grit her teeth and groan in pain. She hurriedly tore her shoes off which alleviated a bit of pain from her feet but she was greeted to the sight of her toes writhing in pain way more than she’d ever seen them move before. She cupped both her feet which seemed to calm them down a bit. Curiosity got the best of her as she also stripped her socks off, their sweaty smell wafting out and hitting her in the face.

She recoiled back in disgust and closed her eyes,

“Definitely washing you two back home. Ugh...”

“Hey!”

Kirsty recoiled in shock looking around for the new voice. She spotted an approaching feminine figure from her left. While she was distracted her right foot twitched with a little more life as it’s toes strained toward the edge of the fountain. It managed to drag the rest of itself to the edge before lowering itself into the water with a gentle splash. Her left foot swiftly followed it’s sister.

“Is that one Kirsty, sitting on a fountain?” The voice called out.

Kirsty furrowed her brow, coming to a quick realisation,

“Lena?”

The figure, sporting a dark-blue polo and jeans laughed,

“Aye, that be me.”

Kirsty went to get up but did a double take when she realised her feet had found themselves in the fountain. Shaking her head she pulled her legs out, much to the displeasure of her feet. Fortunately for both parties the pins & needles faded into obscurity.

Getting up Kirsty embraced her friend as her feet tapped their toes, annoyed.

“How long has it been!?”

“Too long, lass.”

They both took a seat on the fountain rim as Kirsty propped her feet back up,

“I see you’ve been keeping yourself cool?” Lena pointed to Kirsty’s wet feet.

“Huh? Oh, I never- I didn’t put them in there...” Kirsty stuttered.

“Right...so they just wandered in there themselves, huh?” Lena smiled and snorted at her own words.

Kirsty thought about the notion of her feet acting all on their own and thought it to be ridiculous. That didn’t change her stance however,

“...yeah?”

Lena smirked and reached over gently pinching Kirsty’s toes,

“And I suppose the conversation went a little like..... ‘Oh Kirsty, we’re really tired! Can we please please PLEASE go for a dip?’ ....yeah?” Lena mocked Kirsty, making her toes wiggled up and down as if they were speaking.

At this point Kirsty noticed that her toes were trying to subtly push Lena’s fingers off themselves without her own input. As if they really didn’t like the fact that Lena was touching them. She rolled her eyes but smiled,

“Leave them alone! Not even thirty seconds in and you’ve managed to remind me of what our interactions were like back in high-school!” Kirsty giggled.

“Someone had to bully you and your little feet...” Lena let go of Kirsty’s toes, much to their relief.

“Don’t call them little! You’ll hurt their feelings!”

The duo laughed in unison.

“I’ve really missed you Lena...” Kirsty sighed.

“I mean.... I guess I’ve missed you?” Lena delivered with a deadpan tone.

Kirsty stared at Lena for a moment before gently kicking her,

“Oh shut up!”

They both laughed again,

“So this is where you’ve been hiding out all these years?”

“Yup, just this quaint little town.”

Kirsty continued to talk with Lena catching up on little tidbits of information about their old friends, work, and studying, until they both heard the bell strike noon.

“And that’s me, I need to be off and home in five minutes.” Lena got to her feet.

“Aw, alright. It was really nice seeing you after all this time, Lena!” Kirsty smiled and got to her feet, giving her friend a hug.

“See you again soon?”

“Count on it.”

And with that Lena began walking away. But as she was walking off she called out to Kirsty for one last time,

“Say hi to Brad for me!”

Lena has turned back around before Kirsty could even react. At the mention of the name Kirsty’s feet scrunched their toes, a few of them even cracking menacingly.

“...yeah...” was all Kirsty could muster. A faint whisper.

The tears from before started to well up in her eyes again. But she blinked them away and wiped them back, checking to make sure her feet were dry before throwing her socks and sneakers back on them.

And just like that she was off. No more pins & needles, and her feet felt more alive than ever before. They carried her quickly back home without any hitches and once inside Kirsty made a beeline for her bedroom, kicking off her shoes and stripping the socks.

Funnily enough her feet didn’t smell like they did before,

“Huh... I guess you two got lucky.”

Kirsty’s toes twitched in response making her giggle. At least the week wasn’t ending on a completely bad note.

The rest of the day was pretty straight forward. Kirsty did all her chores, continued to develop her musical skill, and made herself dinner before finally ending up back in her room as the day had come full circle.

Now she sat on her bed, leaning against the backboard while playing music through her earphones. Her feet on the other hand were just as preoccupied. The left was dancing it’s toes to the faint projection of the music spilling of Kirsty’s earphones. And the right was struggling to get a layer of blanket that Kirsty had thrown over it. Her foot clawed at the cloth with it’s toes, ever so slightly pulling it off itself.

Her foot however wasn’t pleased with its slow and minimal progress. In it’s frustration it thrashed, managing to throw itself upward and in doing so kicked the blanket off itself.

Kirsty jumped as she inspected her right foot,

“Hello?”

Her right foot wiggled it’s toes in a wave-like fashion, proud of itself for getting out from under the covers.

“My feet must be recovering from the new route. I’ve been standing on them all day after all...” Kirsty surmised, returning her attention back to her music.

Her right foot immediately stretched it’s toes as if it were throwing up hands in disbelief before dragging itself next to its sister. There it began rubbing its big toe against the other foot, a feeling that Kirsty smiled at.

After a short while she closed her eyes, bobbing her head to the gentle beat of her music as she awaited a call from her parents. But while her phone received a notification it wasn’t a call.

Rather a text message.

Kirsty’s demeanour immediate changed to that of sadness. Removing her earphones she read the text out loud,

“Hey Kirsty, it’s mom. There’s gonna be another delay to our return home. Your father found this interesting town to explore and—“

Kirsty threw her phone next to her feet, closing her eyes as her tears returned for the third time today.

“...whatever~ not like I’ve ever had family that loves me...”

Kirsty’s feet turned toward each other before both of them turned their soles down at her discarded phone. They picked it up and held it with their toes, tapping away with their big toes and typing out a quick message.

When Kirsty opened her eyes she saw her right foot holding her phone between its big and second toe. Her sadness was replaced with a mix of surprise and confusion. She didn’t remember picking her phone up with her foot. And just when she was about to reach over and grab it, as if reading her mind her foot leaned itself toward her and shook side to side like it wanted her to grab it.

She obliged, reaching forward. Her foot immediately let go once her phone was in her hands.

“Okay~ thanks...?”

Kirsty stared at her foot for a moment longer, watching as it returned to facing its sole toward her other foot.

Not entirely sure what to think Kirsty switched her gaze to her phone and noticed a text that hadn’t been sent to her mom.

The text read “We love you Kirsty!”

Without giving it much thought Kirsty immediately erased the text and put her phone down. Her feet drooped their soles at Kirsty’s disregard of the text and they buried themselves under the covers.

Kirsty immediately did the same, draping the covers over herself before flicking her bedside light off.

“Tomorrow is another day...”

Soon after, Kirsty had fallen asleep save for two parts of her that wiggled at the opposite end of the bed. Her feet popped themselves out from under the covers, flexing their toes in the cool air before joining each other, huddling together throughout the night.

Little did Kirsty know that her new friends would be introducing themselves very soon...