Soggysox Sam

This is a short story I wrote for elementary school-aged children about a young man who lives alone on the edge of a small town. Soggysox Sam teaches children the strategies people might use to avoid or handle challenges, and how our thinking can influence their effects.
Soggysox Sam

Not long ago in a small town called Willow Springs, there lived a very practical young man named Sam. Sam lived a simple life alone in a cottage exactly one mile from town. Every day he got up and walked to work in the town library helping people to check out their books. At lunch time Sam walked home on Creek View Drive and ate his lunch, and then he walked back to the library for the afternoon. Sam liked working at the library and he enjoyed talking with all of the people who came to the library, especially Miss Melanie. She came in every week to return old books and check out new ones. She was very smart and loved to read.

At the end of every work day Sam walked home again. When Sam was 10 years old, his mother had allowed him to begin walking to school by himself. Ever since then, Sam had walked the straightest and most direct route to and from town so as not to waste time. There were no sidewalks on Creek View Drive, so he walked on the road--which was barely more than a dirt path, really. Since Sam’s cottage was the only house out his way, very few cars ever went by.

One year, when Sam was 23 years old, the spring rains were especially heavy, and many puddles formed on Creek View Drive. One puddle in particular was so large that it stretched across the whole road. Sam was vexed! He couldn’t walk around the puddle to the left because there was a steep hill. He couldn’t walk around it to the right, because there was a sharp drop-off and he might fall. His only option was to walk right through the puddle, so that’s what he did.

The puddle was wide, but not very deep, so only Sam’s feet got wet. But all day as he worked at the library his shoes made soft squishing sounds with every step he took. How embarrassing! And when lovely Miss Melanie came to sign out a book, Sam had to stay behind the check out counter so she wouldn’t see his wet shoes. He wanted so much to talk to her, but he just couldn’t.

This huge puddle became a real nuisance to Sam, because he had to walk through it four times a day, and every time he did, his feet dragged the water along so that the puddle actually seemed to be getting larger. Somehow, the more he walked through it, the bigger it got.

Soggysox Sam complained about his problem to the town elders who visited the library, and of course they wanted to help. One of the elders, Old Doctor Edwards, gave Sam four magic pebbles to throw in the puddle. He said they would make it dry up. That day when he walked home for lunch Sam threw the tiny gray pebbles into the puddle, and it instantly began roiling and churning.

The muddy, brown puddle water shifted back and forth, forming waves that for a few seconds made it look just like a miniature ocean. A miniature tidal wave formed and tossed a large splash of water up and out of the puddle, forming a second, and then a third, and a fourth puddle. Sam could easily hop across these four smaller puddles and keep his feet dry. Those pebbles really were magic!

But the magic pebbles’ effects only lasted for the rest of the day, and when Sam returned the next morning the four puddles had become one again. Sam had no more magic pebbles, so he was back to where he started.

Another town elder, Old Senora Avestruz, told Sam that if he concentrated hard enough to ignore it, and waited long enough, the puddle would eventually dry up and go away. Sam resolved that he would do this, and soon found himself thinking so hard about not thinking about the puddle that he got a headache to go along with his soggy feet.

Old Professor Brown suggested that Sam study the puddle so he could find a way to get rid of it. So Sam took out all of the books in the library he could find about water and earth and rain and walking and studied every moment of his free time. But he still had a puddle to walk through four times a day. He felt like that puddle was taking over his life!

After many days of soggy socks and frustration, Sam finally had a chance to talk to Old Mrs. McDowell, who spent most of her time gardening in the town park. “What can I do about this puddle? He asked her. “The more I walk through it, the bigger it gets. I’m so tired of having wet feet I could cry.”

Old Mrs. McDowell advised him, “Sam, I am 93 years old. I’ve known your family since your great grandfather was in short pants, and he was just as stubborn as you are. There is one simple answer to your problem, Sam. Just walk to town a different way, for Pete’s sake.” And she turned to her petunias and placed one gently into the hole she’d dug.

“But Creek View Drive is the shortest way, the straightest, and the one I have always taken,” he muttered. “My father walked to town this way, and his father before him. There must be a way to dry up that puddle!”

“Suit yourself Sam, if you’re happy. But if it were me, I’d walk right through this park to get to the library from your house. The sweet scent of honeysuckle would follow you all day, instead of the feeling of muddy water between your toes.”

Sam knew Old Mrs. McDowell was much wiser than he, and he thought maybe if he considered his problem in a completely different way, things could be different. It may sound simple, but Sam closed his eyes, and instead of focusing on his clammy, wet feet, he thought to himself, “The park is a good way to get to town and back. I’ll try it.”

That afternoon when the library closed, Sam was tired and cranky from a long day of working with soggy socks. He was not sure at all about changing the way he walked home. He liked to do things a certain way, and didn’t want to do them any differently. He was really tempted to step out of the library and walk toward Creek View Drive.

On the front steps of the library he stopped and thought of Mrs. McDowell, so content and wise in her old age. He knew she could be right, and he should give her advice a try. So he headed toward the park.

The first thing Sam noticed about the park was the canopy the trees made over his head. It was like stepping into another world, and he could feel the stress of the day fading with each step he took. As he kept walking, he felt pride in his ability to try something new, and he felt a sense of optimism that he could do this after all. He could adjust to the new route and have dry socks every day. It was a huge relief! Even though it took a little more time to take this new route, it was a lovely walk, and he arrived at work happy and with dry feet!

Because his feet were nice and dry and he was feeling so chipper, the next day he asked Miss Melanie to have a picnic with him in the park, and she accepted the invitation. As the weeks passed, and spring turned into summer, he forgot a little more each day what it had been like to walk through that muddy old puddle. And he knew that if something else happened and he couldn’t walk through the park anymore, he could adjust and find another way to town.