Zoe's Feet

• Zoe Gleeson, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2008

It all started when Dad was tickling Zoes’ feet. He bent down and smelt something awful. She thought – it’s my feet! And that’s how it comes to the story of Zoe’s feet - the smelliest feet in the world !

Back at Zoe’s house everybody in her family was outside. She thought - its because my feet make the house stink. They smell like…garlic , a one year old banana skin and anything bad or smelly you could think of. But the worst thing of all was that Zoe would never wash her feet even though weeks and months went past! What’s the point, she thought. She would also never wear shoes. Maybe she tried to put shoes on her feet one time and they jumped off because of the smell.


Zoe would often walk off somewhere and nobody knew where she was going. They did not know that she was going to the same place every time - the tip.

But the thing people did not know was that she was really embarrassed about her feet. She thought they smelt so bad and that was why she always went to the tip where her feet blended in with the surroundings.

One morning she was really down in the dumps. When she finally got dressed it was the afternoon. She went outside (with no shoes on of course). She splashed in every puddle she could see.

One Monday she was walking to school . She was so miserable that she walked really slowly. When she got to school she was not allowed in. Oh no, she thought. Even the teachers can smell my little stinkers now! That is why they won’t let me in. She didn’t even think it might be just because she needed to go to the office to get a late slip.

So off she went to the tip. She sat and stared at her feet. Even she wrinkled up her nose at the wiffiness. She ran home.

Then one morning she felt different . She got up and thought that maybe she should stop having smelly feet. She was getting tired of people treating her badly. She thought and thought. She finally said - I will wash my feet and make my feet smell like roses.

So she got the bucket and put some soap and water in it . She counted to three and she let her awful feet plop into the bucket and soaked her feet. When those tootsies were squeaky clean, Zoe dried them and walked them down the street.

But do you know what? All of her friends said – Hey, what is that awful flowery smell? Somebody has put on their Nana’s perfume. Then she realized, that was the first time anyone had ever said anything about a smell when she was around. She thought – they must never have thought I smelled. It was just me. I am never going to worry about silly stuff again.