She couldn't hold her breath properly. Looking like an overexcited debutante, Ursula glanced at her own image before the walled mirror. And she gasped heavily. It was her first time to attend an Orgy. Her sorority sisters have arranged the superficial event as a final initiation before she could fully penetrate the organization.
"Wear these," Penelope ordered in a very authoritative voice and dropped the beige colored shoe box on Ursula's cramped bed sheet."See you at exactly 12 pm, no more no less."
Ursula nodded like a forlorn kitten. Anything Penelope released as a notification sounded like a legal law to be followed. She was the unbeatable Queen of the Kha Pi Khappa Sorority.
Ursula clearly recalled when she was five minutes late for a meeting at the sorority barn.And her punishment was automatically cleaning the horses' poo.
Ursula couldn't stay put in her room for quite sometime now. She was thinking of the best wardrobe to go with the golden stilettos. In reality, she has never seen such gorgeous heels all her life-sparkling with real gold sequins. Well, if she ran away with the stilettos and sold them to an innocent bystander, she'd be one hell of a rich woman.
"I wonder where they got these heels," Ursula mused to herself and examined the pair of stilettos closely.
There were succeeding knocks on her door. And Victor came in. Her boyfriend has always been her darling savior. He brought with him a shopping bag full of paraphernalia.
"This dress will look perfect for your stilettos!" he hailed merrily like a 12 year-old boy who just won his first football match.
Ursula hastily donned the red and black ball gown and was struck by the ardor it gave her. It made her feel like a very powerful ball hostess. It fit her perfectly.
And when she finally wore the golden stilettos, she caught the dissatisfied expression on Victor's bearded face.
"It doesn't match,,," he quipped shortly.
Ursula saw his point. Just then, Victor spread out a new pair of stilettos he grabbed from a discount store.
"Victor, where did you get those?" Ursula was half amused and half surprised.
"Doesn't matter babe." he embraced Ursula and quickly made love to her.
Ursula ran mightily to the grand ballroom. For a while, she forgot about time because she and her boyfriend had a lovemaking marathon. Before she knew it, it was already 11 pm!
At last, she reached the grand entrance. Her eyes scanned the guests. And there was Penelope-with her sharp stare.
Ursula bowed slightly before the Head Mistress of their sorority.
"WRONG STILETTOS!" Penelope snapped angrily.
Ursula tried to explain but to no avail.
Penelope did not like the red and gold stilettos one bit.
The next day, Ursula's mother rushed to the police station where she was questioned by a roomful of investigators. She has not even recovered yet from the nasty knowledge about her daughter's sudden death and here she was-being paraded before a litany of intruders.
"I told you over and over again. It was a sorority ball. It was her final rite." Mrs. Torrence sobbed.
"Was your daughter suicidal in a way?".
"She was doing great in her Interior Design internship. She had a wonderful boyfriend. And a jolly dog named Winter. She was a very normal and happy college student."
'Well," the head investigator surmised, "Who would have caused her to jump off from PASADENA BRIDGE?".
The said bridge has been infamously noted for suicide cases. Any passerby by the bridge would feel a demystifying sensation. One was even quoted as saying that he so wanted to jump off the bridge himself. The bridge reverberated of severe melancholy, of very deep sadness...of debilitating despair.
Victor happened to pass by again the discount store where he bargained for the red and gold stilettos. Two weeks passed by quickly. He was amazed that the store has closed down abruptly. And it didn't look as new as it was before. Its whole facade seemed to have changed overtime.
"Do you have any business with the store?" politely asked a town locale.
"Yes, I was wondering why it's closed now...I just bought an item not so long ago."
The stranger sneered. "You must have been the umpteenth victim."
"What do you imply?".
"That decrepit store has been standing on its ground since 1920. It has been empty ever since."
Victor couldn't hide his exasperation. He was speechless.
Then the stranger said seriously with a warning undertone, "THE WOMAN WHO USED TO OWN THE STORE COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 1920. SHE WAS WEARING RED AND GOLD STILETTOS WHEN SHE WAS FOUND ALONG THE COLORADO STREET BRIDGE."
