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Long Walk Home

Dear Diary:

It was a beautiful October afternoon, and I was walking from 50th Street and Fifth Avenue to my apartment on 80th Street and First Avenue. Although it was still warm out, I had put my sandals away for the first time in months and was wearing closed-toe shoes.

Somewhere along Fifth Avenue, I began to feel my shoes rubbing against my feet. By the time I got to 79th Street, I couldn’t take another step. I decided to stop walking and take the crosstown bus instead.

As I waited for the bus, I pulled my feet out of my shoes slightly, crushing them in the back in the process.

Just then, a woman walked toward me. She was very nicely, and expensively, put together. Her clothes and shoes were stylish, and she had a Hermès bag.