PUPPY HEAD SLIPPERS

by Nallely Dimas

The sweet, clean smell of fabric softener and laundry detergent woke me up. The soft aroma made its way into my room and made me open my eyes.  I laid there trying to go back to sleep with the fresh, comforting aroma still in the air. Where have I smelled that before? I thought. It smells familiar. Could it be from when I was little?  Something about the smell dawned in my mind and made me feel comfortable. After a while a memory came back to me, it was when I was smaller. My mom was washing something with the same detergent, but what? Then I recalled why.

When I was three years old I had a pair of slippers that were my favorite, these slippers have a very significant meaning, not only because they were my favorite, but also because, after all these years, I still have them. Of course, they're not as fresh and new as they were before; they're torn from the soles, and some of the stuffing is coming out like snow falling from a white cloud. The thing I liked the most about those slippers were the pink and white puppy heads they were formed, as they reminded me of two light and delicate clouds.

When I used to wear them, they were always warm like hot chocolate on a cold winter morning and soft like a furry white poodle; comforting my feet, smelling of fresh soap, caressing the floor with every step I took. They would always smell clean and freshly washed.  Every time I stepped in them, my steps would be quiet. When I touched them, back when they were newer, they were so comfortable, like a nice rest after a long day, that sometimes I would forget I had them on. Now when it snows, it always reminds me of those puppy headed slippers. They were pink and white, and furry as a rabbit. Slowly creeping, quietly giggling, gently, I would sneak up on my parents.

When my mom now washes them for my younger sister, warm memories come back of when my mom and I used to go to the Laundromat every week and she would put them inside the large washing machine. I would sometimes feel bad for the puppy heads that were sown on because I thought they were alive; I thought they would drown and I wouldn't see them again. I’ve never had a pet before and those slippers were the pets that I’d never had. Every time my mom took them out of the drying machine, the first thing I would look for in that huge pile of clothes were the slippers. My favorite part of the whole experience was at the end when I would hold and touch them, when they were warm and comforting.

Sometimes I feel childish remembering all that, but then I think about how they kept me warm and feel glad that my sister has them. It makes me feel happy that those slippers survived all those winters and all those washes, it also makes me happy that my little sister also has something that makes her feel safe just like I did when I wore them.