Ramona and the Red Shoes - 2

The Magic Man lifted his hands and shook his long beard to try to curb her enthusiasm.

"Not so fast, my little snap-crackle-and-pop." he said. "These shoes will give you self-confidence, yes. They will give you confidence to do things you've never done before. But they will only work for the next 12 hours. At the end of that time, the heels will shrink and they will become boring, little, un-chic, un-fabulous flats. So you must make sure that at the end of the 12 hours, you are ready to sprout your own wings of self-confidence."

"Can do!" said Ramona, strutting around in front of the department-store mirror.

The Magic Man shook his head forlornly.

"Oy vey. This will never work."

Ramona tripped away on clouds of velvet red.

"No elevators for me today!" she said, and quick as a wink, she hiked up her pin-stripe skirt, hopped onto the banister of the escalator, and slid down all 11 floors.

"What a strikingly confident young woman!" said the pretzel vendor.

"What a self-possessed female!" cried the Rolex watch-seller.

"What a riveting pair of red shoes!" shrieked the saleslady at Saks.