Sangeetha Kamath

                          RED SHOES  I still remember the happiest days of my life when Rivka all of five years was delighted beyond measure to take me home as her birthday gift. A pair of red leather shoes which she always wanted. She held me tenderly, close to her lil heart which spoke volumes. Rivka wore me to the park, playgrounds and picnics. **** Out of nowhere came that ill fated day, when I could hear horrendous screams and crowds of panic-stricken people were crammed into a truck. Rivka was howling and clinging to her mother. We arrived at a hellish place where I was brutally ripped off Rivka’s feet and thrown onto a pile of other shoes.  Rivka and the others were shoved into a windowless room and locked in. The chimneys of surrounding buildings belched out putrid smoke. I never saw her again. **** Years later, staring at the pristine room and men working in a calm manner made me relax in the cool confines after being scrubbed clean and polished by gentle hands.  The horrors I