"I think that's the school record for the farthest anyone has flung his shoe."

     I wasn't sure how he'd take it, until he said, "Wow! You think so?" Next thing I knew he took off his other shoe, put it on his kicking foot, and asked me, "Do you think I can break my own record?"

Before I could ask him what the heck he was talking about, he'd already flung his only remaining shoe up in the air as far as he could and watched it land. He was so fired up he could barely contain his excitement. "That was way up there! Try and beat that!" He was so proud as he put his shoe back on.

So without saying anything, I loosened my sneaker and launched it as far up as I could. I knew I had him beat, except it went too far forward and THUD! it hit Mike Mazzarella, who was about to run in the final race. Some of the girls watching him had seen what happened and started giggling.

Mazz was so mad that he took my shoe and threw it into the woods. The girls giggled even more and began heckling me. "Go find it, Blimpy!" . . . "Fetch the bone, Fido!" (Girls were mean back then. Now they mostly just ignored me.)

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