Shoeless Joe Jester

Went to my friend Rob’s house the other day, not expecting to have an encounter with a dimensional vortex. Oh well, guess there’s a first time for everything.

Anyway, there we were, me, Rob, and a number of our compadres, hanging out at the aforementioned dwelling, just generally wasting time in the typical high-school fashion. Eventually, one of us saw the fencing sword in the corner of the room (don’t ask, Rob’s a bit odd), and in the typical teenage fashion, picked it up and began swinging it wildly. Following the norm even more, this launched into a large battle involving sticks, hands, and stuff along those lines. Nobody getting hurt, but a spectacle nonetheless.

I, being the only person without a beating stick handy, was singled out, and persued through the house, out the back door. Sure, they thought they had me cornered, but they didn’t take into account my brilliant tactical mind. Seeing a discarded Super Soaker X3 from Rob and I’s glory days of elementary school, I found a secluded spot, filled up the gun, waited for my attackers to come around the corner, and soaked the living shit out of em.

No. Not soaked. Super Soaked.

Soon, however, they countered with an even more ingenious plan.

They locked me out of the house.

After that, a bitter guerilla war was launched, me versus the rest of em, where they were trying to disarm me, and I was trying to get back into the house. During one of many campaigns, I was almost captured when one of my friends tackled me. However, I managed to escape. Only problem? They had my shoe.

Taking it back to their fortress of evil, they threatened to do all sorts of cruel, nasty stuff to it. But hey, this was war. I trusted that my shoe would give no more than its name, rank, and serial number, and carried on. Eventually, I launched an assault worthy of D-Day, and managed to gain access to the house, thus winning the war.

But victory was not without its price. Later, when I had to go home, I realized that, wait a second, I still didn’t have a shoe, and, wait a second, no one remembered where they put my shoe. A search ensued, for literally a half hour, which came up negative in the shoe department, and caused me to be quite late. Finally, my father called, a bit irritated, and told me that, shoe or not, I was getting my ass home.

So, away I walked, one shoe on, down the pavement, trying to avoid the looks of passing people.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my life is really weird.

That’s one thing I miss about my golden teenage years. My friends and I hardly ever get into stuff like that these days. Man, I love that stuff.

For example, there was the time my mom, sister, and I got in a marshmallow fight that ranged all over the house . . . When we moved 8 months later, we were still finding the occasional marshmallow behind a piece of furniture.

I miss those days.

Yeah, I miss my shoe. :slight_smile:

God that sounds fun!!!

Sometimes my husband and I wait outside for visitors (when we’re already expecting guests) and super soak them. Or we aim from the upstairs windows right into the driveway. It’s best if their hands are full. Isn’t life grand??

Zette
Proving once again that it’s never too late to have a happy childhood!

I’m bumping this insanely old thread (one of my first ever!) to say that, after one and a half years and a new pair of shoes, my missing footwear finally turned up in Rob’s house. Somehow it had managed to work its way up to his coat closet, under a pile of umbrellas and such.
He says that his mom probably put it there, but I maintain that it was trying to escape, and return to its rightful owner.
It’s too small for me now, though. Tis a shame, I liked that shoe.

[nitpick]
You still had one shoe, so technically you weren’t shoeless, just less than optimally shod. I’d have to say you were more of a diddle-diddle-dumpling, my son John sort. Don’t they teach the classics anymore?
[/nitpick]

Did you check the freezer? Cuz that’s where I always look when I lose a shoe.

Wait a minute, I don’t own any shoes!

So Jester went home wearing only one shoe? I don’t suppose you have any relatives there named Pelias, do you? Is your real name Jason?

You want weird? You really want weird? You can’t handle weird! Piker.

OK, if you think you’re up to it, talk to Zappo. He’s a lawyer, your parents can trust a lawyer. Right?

Trust him how? I ain’t sayin’. There could be a Flan of Peace in it for you. (I think I have seven, there might be a spare.) And Little Debbie snack cakes. We might make you sing, but you’re young, you’ll recover.
-Rue. (corrupting the Nation’s Youth whenever possible)

Rue, I am eternally regretful that I can’t come to the DopetoyourDoor. Still, thank you for the official RueDeDay invite, it is much appreciated. (Do I wanna know what’s in a Flan of Peace?)

As for Crunchy and Shibb, I must admit that, due to the deterioration of America’s school system, you both completely lost me on the references. Care to explain?

My reference was to Jason of “Jason and the Argonauts” fame, searching for the Golden Fleece and all that. Jason was the rightful heir to the throne of Iolcus but was sent away by his mother when Pelias (some say he is Jason’s cousins, most say his uncle) killed Jason’s father and usurped the throne. Pelias was afraid of losing the throne and was warned by an oracle to “beware a stranger who wears one sandal.”

Sure enough, Jason, now a grown man, returned to claim his birthright. Jason had lost a sandal crossing a stream earlier that day. Pelias, not wanting to give up the thrown to a one-sandaled stranger, sent Jason to find the Golden Fleece, sure that Jason would die during the quest.
Here’s the whole story.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily a classic to be taught in school, but I know I had a chunk of my curriculum dedicated to learning the Greek myths and literature. But even still, haven’t you ever seen the movie?

Classic Simulpost!

And of course, when I referred to the classics, I was being facetious. Sad to think that a guy named for a praline is more learned than I.

Actually, I’ve read the story before. Just didn’t remember too much about it, except for the brief stint of time when Hercules goes with them, until he goes off to free the man whose name I forget who was chained to the rock.

I’m pretty sure I’m thinking of the right story, but I forgot about the sandal thing. Chalk one up for bad memories, I s’pose.

Hercules did travel with the Argonauts for a short time, but he left after the battle with the Bronze Man to find his armor bearer. He freed Prometheus (the God who gave men fire and was punished by being chained to a rock while a giant vulture ate his liver daily) after the Golden Fleece adventure had ended IIRC.

The 1963 movie is fun to watch (and has great stop-motion animation effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen), but there is also a 2000 made-for-TV version that isn’t too shabby either (but much longer) and has Dennis Hopper as Pelias.