A lonely leather shoe

A lonely leather shoe was discarded on the vast grassland. It longed to find its twin brother—the other leather shoe—and waited for his appearance every moment. The flowers on the grassland withered, the green grass turned yellow, and as the autumn wind howled across the field, the shoe asked, “Grandpa Autumn Wind, have you seen my brother?”

The autumn wind shook its head and said, “No, I haven’t seen him.”
Time flew by quickly; snowflakes began to drift down from the sky, and winter arrived. The leather shoe watched as Winter Girl wore her beautiful white wedding dress but not a pair of shoes. It asked her, “Sister Winter Girl, could you help me find my brother? Then you can wear a pair of shoes too.”
Winter Girl replied with a smile, “I don’t like wearing shoes; I prefer this long, flowing dress. With it, I can dance freely in the swirling snow. Shoes would only be a hindrance.”
Helpless, the shoe was buried in the snow, waiting for spring to come. When Spring Girl arrived, the shoe finally smiled and asked her for help in finding its brother. However, days passed by without any clues. The shoe felt very disappointed. It remembered how it used to argue with its brother over the smallest things—even which foot should step first. The lonely shoe always thought it was more beautiful and capable than its brother and deserved the owner’s favor. As a result, they often argued and failed to live in harmony. Eventually, the owner got tired of them and entrusted them to the summer typhoon. The typhoon then passed them on to the tornado, which, in a fit of rage, threw the shoes into the sky. When they fell back down, the shoe was separated from its brother and ended up on this barren grassland.
Lonely and unattended, the shoe found that the grass here wasn’t beautiful, and few shepherds came by. It felt even more desolate, thinking no one cared about it anymore. How lonely and bored it must have been! Thinking of all this, the shoe began to cry. At first, it just shed tears, then sobbed uncontrollably, and soon it was wailing loudly.
One summer morning, with white clouds floating in the blue sky, a gentle hand picked up the lonely shoe. The despondent shoe opened its eyes to see that Dragonfly Knight had arrived. The knight said, “Don’t cry, lonely shoe. I’ll take you to your hometown to find your brother.”
The shoe stopped crying and wiped its tears away, asking, “Brother Knight, do you know where my hometown is?”
“Of course,” the knight replied, “It’s in Yunshuiyuan Community on the north bank of the Qiantang River. Your brother has been waiting for you there for a long time. Trust me; just follow me, and we’ll be reunited with your brother.”
The shoe was overjoyed and flew off with the knight. The dragonfly turned into a mighty eagle, carrying the shoe high into the sky, where they crossed the clouds and soared freely. In no time, they crossed North China and arrived in Zhejiang, reaching the north bank of the Qiantang River. There, the shoe met its brother, and together they embraced each other, vowing never to be separated.
From then on, the two shoes worked together harmoniously, serving their owner well and never arguing again. It’s said that only those who have experienced the cold of winter understand the preciousness of spring’s warmth and flowers. Just like those shoes, which had gone through life and death, they learned the importance of harmony and the value of brotherly love.
Zhang Haixin, a sixth-grade student at Hangzhou Wenhai Primary School, has always loved reading and writing. His mentor is Teacher Zhao Min.