We were in the running shoe store

Looking at running shoes

The man beside me told the salesman, “I need the flats,”

He turned to me and said, “I have to run on rock,”

I held my new cushiony shoes in their box

“I gotta have padding,” I told him

A bell jingled and a woman walked in

Brooke Leittner, a champion

The man and I stood at the front of the store, waiting

While the salesman went back and forth to the supply room

I tried on my new cushions, the man tried on his flats

The salesman came out with many boxes of shoes

Every color: orange, pink, black, blue

Brooke looked through

The other shopper started slipping flats into his duffle bag

The salesman was preoccupied

While that male shopper slipped outside – in his hand was the swag

The salesman came back and realized all the flats were off the shelf

He looked out the door, thought he saw an elf

Then he looked at Brooke and said, “Please help me, I can’t lose those shoes,”

Brooke turned to me and said, “I’ll need you,”

She nodded her head toward the door

“Take the boulevard to 8-4-4”

She went right, I went left

In five minutes we were at the cleft

We spotted the thief descending a rocky slope

He was running on the rocks

I had on my cushiony shoes

Brooke was in her socks

She closed in on the thief

I sprinted down the rocky decline

Just in time

Brooke tackled the shoe thief

He tossed his duffle bag in the air

I sprang up off a rock as I sprinted

Barely catching the bag before it hit the roaring river

The thief lamented

We returned the shoes to the store

The thief to the police

The salesman was grateful

He gave Brooke and I shoes for free

“Thanks for helping me,” he said

Brooke invited me to train with her

We became good friends who sharpened each other

We both got faster

Jogging on gravel, pavement, sand

Used our speed to go after bad guys and bling

But mostly we just ran for the joy of running