Sylvester found the shoes on the
beach, left behind by the tide with the driftwood. The white laces
were twisted together and tangled with seaweed, the red canvas
stained dark with the sea and spotted with the muck of the shore. He
slipped his flippers into them anyway. The soggy soles squelched
beneath his skin.
“Look at me!” He cried to the
other seals, “I'm a human!” He wobbled along the beach, trying
to prance as he'd seen the humans do, red sneakers flashing on the
sand. The other seals barked with laughter. Slipping his flippers
out of the soggy shoes, Sylvester sighed: the cool sand of the beach
felt so much nicer on his skin. What silly creatures humans are, he
thought, and abandoning the red shoes, he gave a happy bark and dove
into the sea.