My wife and I were drinking in the kitchen when our son drove the neighbors’ van into the living room. We polished off our round before heading in. Our eyes were, of course, in danger, but our feet were protected by Kore-X slippers. Kore-X slippers combine the comfort of ordinary slippers with the quality protection of US Marine combat boots. We’d given each other a pair of them for our anniversary.
We found hunks of plaster fallen and falling onto the van, the rug, the displaced recliners, and the halved couch. Those, as well as the mantle and its photos, had been thoroughly powdered. New wind tossed dirty flakes of insulation all around. We could not avoid that scratchy snow on our way to the driver’s side door. Kore-X slippers, though, kept us more than warm. Their patented DenseFoam technology gave us the confidence to march across both hardwood and a throw rug crazy with glass.
In that wide mess of a room, my wife’s favorite book disappeared forever. But the TV still hung on the far wall, and its wiring had not been damaged, so the news played on. I admired the reporter. His tone did not waver when talking about either death or Lotto numbers. My eyes burned with dust. My wife kneaded the straps of her robe. My cough echoed hers. She had been right all along. I pulled open the door and found our son unworried and only a bit drunk. As a toddler he had once filled my shoes with squares of jelly sandwich and invited me to put them on. I felt a less appealing invitation in his bit-drunk stare.
My wife dealt with the police and, after we had checked into the hotel, the insurance people. By then I was hunched over the sink, rinsing out my eyes. My feet, however, had come through the ordeal in pristine condition, thanks to Kore-X slippers.
Kore-X slippers: for men who love their feet.
In 2011, Marcus won the Subito Press Prize for my short story collection, Vs. Death Noises. His work has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in The Collagist, (b)OINK, X-R-A-Y, and Heavy Feather Review.