All Comments on 'Charlie's Shoes'

Another good one... keep them coming - more 5 stars

Too many overused tropes in my opinion. It was ok at best. Didn't like the characters and how they approached marriage and people. Ah well. Can't like everything.

Nit pick - "two small triangles of cloth barely covering her breasts" - In a skimp bikini, covering her breasts isn't even in the ballpark! I think it should be barely covering her nipples!

I would have tried harder with Sally. Admit that I was stupid, that she was right and I needed to grow up, and that I HAD grown up.

Another nit pick - I believe that in Brazil it's "Sao Paulo", not San Paulo..

HE'S lucky she doesn't have a sister? SHE'S lucky she doesn't!

Why is it called "Charlies Shoes?" The only reference to shoes was Henry's shoes!

In high school I remember asking two of my closest friends would you rather marry a 7 that was intelligent, sweet, your best friend, or a 10? Both said without any hesitation the seven. Interestingly enough one is married to a surgeon, the other a psychologist, both solid 7's looks wise, very pretty, really nice personalities, great wives and even better mothers.

The one married to the pscyhologist for the last ten years has a woman that works for him who is definitely a ten. Absolutely gorgeous girl with a gorgeous body. She's actually a very sweet girl and doesn't seem anything like Ginny. This girl has been totally in love with my best friend for these last ten years. She's made it plain to him many times that she is in love with him, flirts like crazy with him, has asked him to be with her, etc. And it's not just attraction on her part. I've been around the two of them and the girl is gaga in love with him. Maybe, maybe he would have been tempted to or at least considered leaving his wife for her if he didn't have children (although he says even then there is no chance). But with him having children it's not even something he would even possibly consider. He has told her there is no way he would be a part time father. That he cannot imagine not seeing his kids every night.

Here is to all the 7's that make great wives.

I just want to thank you guys for the many interesting stories you have written and published in Literotica. It takes time and commitment to write them, and authors are often unappreciated for their efforts. I won't make suggestions or recommendations for the Literotica crowd is notorious for making those very freely. Again thanks and keep writing I love your stuff.

Another good old boy tale with the fairy tale ending. Well played. Now can we get the alternative ending? Like this was the happy ending - ending "A". Lets see ending "B". Wherein he's grown up, doesn't pursue Sally - 'the one that got away" - and finds some new, hot woman that can pull on the boots, fish and look like a "10" in an LA hot nightspot. Sally can become a spinster school teacher polishing her Dad's shotgun with no man in her life. Henry can die in a blazing shootout with bandits in Brazil. Ginny can marry a billionaire or become a porn star. Happy, happy, joy, joy is fun. And entertaining. But sometimes the shit needs to hit the fan, everybody gets messy and nobody is happy. The LW way. Thanks for the story.

5 stars

Vaguely reminded me of my second wife. A very beautiful girl of 23 already divorced herself and just returned to St.Louis from Germany. Her first husband was in the USAF stationed in Germany. She fell into a kind of swingers group - orgies and drugs - in mid-1970's Germany and "fell in love" with an American civilian there who was selling high end Philips disco Hi-Fi equipment and living that lifestyle. He wasn't the least bit interested in marrying her though - a smarter guy than me! And she flew back to the USA with her ex-husband when he got transferred back.

Her mother introduced us because we worked together. We had sex on our second date and I helped her repair her bruised ego by falling in love with her and then marrying her. I told myself not to, really - but did it anyway. She cheated on me within a year and we got divorced.

Do you always need to nitpick every other authors' minor mistakes?

Did you ever consider this makes you seem like one of those kids in grade school who have to point out every other child's error in order to make up for low self-esteem or to become the teacher's pet?

I'm not saying this to imply this is who you are - but it does make one wonder - why do you do it?.

I respect you for at least being an author on this site, much better than so many of the other commentators who bash a story but never leave one of their own.

But - can you read a story for the sake of enjoyment - or do you need to prove your superiority by lessening another person's contribution?

BTW - the author explained "Charlie's Shoes" was taken from the Billy Walker song. Sort of how HDN uses Beatles' titles for inspiration, I guess.

You're right, it's Sao Paulo, Brazil; I'll have to spank my editor tonight for missing that one. (Can I say that anymore? Kinda like listening to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" last Christmas.)

"Charlie's Shoes" is the name of the C&W oldie that gave us inspiration. It was in the intro.

Nicely paced story with credible character development. Five stars from me.

Thank you!

By one or 2 of my favorite authors. Keep em coming. I always look forward to your stories

I never saw anything less than a 4+ from you two. Just a amazing story teller,writer.

One of your better stories. 5*

Just another great one from B&K. Getting to be expected when you see one of their stories posted. A good example of the old the grass is always greener saying. Except it's only greener until you get close to it. Great story of redemption and finding yourself. Loved it.

Kinda knew how it'd work out before I started reading but it was interesting enough that I stayed with it.

R.

The last paragraph on page 2, about Rosie kicking the 6th grader's ass is one of the best bits of descriptive writing I have ever read on Literotica. I live in S. Texas and know a couple of families with similar but not quite as extensive backgrounds. I've only been here 56 years so I'm a newcomer to them.

GREAT GREAT GFRRREAT.

A little different with the male needing a second chance this time. Well written like always. Nice story. 5 stars.

but who is Charlie? (Charlie's Shoes) - I thought he was wearing Henry's shoes.

after all the attempts to re-install and start their lifes, TK U MLJ LV NV

Well, what about the 4s who make great wives?

Your statement about 7s and 10s is like the old “Ginger or MaryAnn” debate, in which most guys picked MaryAnn — I certainly did — but there are a lot of very average looking women, and overweight women, and obese women out there who would make wonderful wives, but somehow we don’t see too many stories about them.

Let me start by saying that I have an Id. You son't like my comments? Skip them?

I confess, I'm a nit picker. I at least label when I think I'm nit picking! I like to think that my nit picking helps when I'm giving a read on a story.

Mea culpa on missing the attribution of "Charlie's Shoes."

Maryann without question! The thought of plundering her sweet body fueled many juvenile fantasies!

I didn't actually find Ginger as attractive.

Oh, BTW. The story was good too! Thanks B&K!

Well, the story made me think about that conversation with my friends. In this story Ginny was a 10 and Sally a 7, maybe 8? I normally don't put numbers on women, but for conversation sake it makes it easier. So the 7 in the story, Sally, ended up making a better wife material than Ginny the 10. So stuck with that.

There are many factors that go into what makes a good wife, best friend, strong character, humor, etc, etc, and of course physical attraction. The question I asked my friends was essentially asking would you totally get taken in by the glitter of the gold that is the woman who is physically a 10 or would you have enough sense to look beyond that and look at the full package.

Btw, it's not that a woman that's a 10 needs be narcisstic, selfish, bitchy, etc. But in life the more opportunity someone has the less likely they are to put up with shit. If you're a highly educated employee with lots of employment opportunities elsewhere you're not going to put up with issues at your current employer as much as someone with significantly less employment opportunities elsewhere. The same thing with a marriage partner. If you have people constantly letting you know that they're interested in you, you're much less likely to put up with significant deficiencies in your relationship than one with a lot less opportunities elsewhere. Sometimes it's as simple as narcissism. More often I believe it's simply the availability of alternative opportunities.

But here is the thing to your point though RR. As far as a better life partner for the protaganist Sally was the 10, and Ginny was a 7 or lower. Ginny may have been a 10 for short term dating and Sally the 7. The same as the 4 you mentioned. If the wife is a bit overweight, but cute, has a great personality, makes a great partner, has your back most of the time, is strong in the face of adversity, is a loving mom, etc, etc, then is she a 4 or is she actually a 7 or higher as a life partner? Maybe in one category she is a 4, but if she is a great wife, obviously many other categories bring up her score. Sophia Loren in just a face picture I don't think most men would give her better than a 7. But with her personality, charisma, sexiness, humor and charm she was considered one of the sexiest women of her time.

I've met women 8's or better physically and approach them and when they've talked and I found out they were uneducated, could barely talk about anything beyond fashion or gossip, I quickly lost interest and they were no longer 8's or better. Years ago I had a very sexy masseuse giving me a massage (no not Asian giving "massages", a white girl and a professional massage). The whole time she was trying to chat me up and I was just trying to relax and enjoy the massage, and I kept on not answering or gave short replies. During the massage out of nowhere she threw out something that I can only assume that she did because she thought it would gain my interest, that she was bisexual (which it definitely did) and I ended up asking for her phone number. On the phone call to her to set up a date for whatever fucking reason she decided to go into a monologue about a conversation she had with a coworker (and it literally went he said, she said, he said, she said for like 10 minutes where I couldn't get a fucking word in) that I was losing my mind. I literally wanted to throw my cell phone at the wall. She was sucking all the energy out of me. I had no energy to try to end the conversation civilly at that point, even if she let me get a word in. So I simply hung up. She immediately called back and I immediately clicked on the red button, and that was the end of it. Physically she may have been an 8 (maybe even a little bonus points for being bisexual), but after that monologue from her that showed her lack of education and intelligence she became at best a 3.

I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this comment, but I don't believe an obese woman would make a great wife, at least not to me. Let's put aside the physical attractiveness factor. There is a reason that someone is obese, and most often it's because they don't know how to eat healthy, or choose not to eat healthy and get at least some excercise. Being involved in a relationship with someone like that not only would that rub off on you, but since women more often are the cooks that means you and your children will be eating unhealthy as well. Also, eating out she will pick out restaurants that serve unhealthy food. I would want my children to have a mother who teaches them healthy eating habits, is active and ready to play with them, take them on hikes, etc.

It's very important who you surround yourself with. I would not want the mother of my children to be a smoker, obese, a negative person, uneducated, impatient, etc, etc. I've dated a lot of women, but I've never dated one smoker (social smoker who smokes ONE cigarette while clubbing is different). Now, if my wife becomes obese because of a medical condition that's a totally different thing, but not one because of bad habits, improper eating and lack of activity. And I've learned a very long time ago you don't get into a relationship with someone hoping they will be different or you can teach them to be different than they are now. In general foundational terms they should already be pretty much the package you need them to be.

Nice details, decent work but you could have avoided typical happy end cliche (with multiple children) by having "Sally" connect with "Henry" and leave the main hero with nothing. That would have been "less loving" but more deserving.

Although I have to admit "Penelope" myths are a sort of magnet for men.

Mister follow along behind your stiffy in utter shallowness. Surely she could do better than that. But there ya go, love and all.

I can't say that I understand giving up a good wife for a sex goddess, but some men are stupid and slow to learn.

One thing hit home in a very serious way: "...you can't say "McNamara" without having someone spit on the ground." He did admit in his later years that when he realized Vietnam was a mistake, he lacked the courage to tell Johnson. The war and his own cowardice cost McNamara his son. That makes the fool in this story look like a truly wise man.

Dexter Price is the real winner here. Doesn't make problems and keeps his nose out of peoples business. Bet he gets laid more than we think. There's always Sally the waitress and Ginger the bartender.Hey, who says the reader can't use his/his or imagination on these stories. Harumph!

so does a guy finally win in one of these stories ? He has a girl, finds a slut, does the slut, dumps the slut, get the girl back? So how does he lose?

And remember also, back in the Nineties when McNamara's N Viet counterpart came to the US for a meeting w him, that the very first point of contention, the very first point to which McNamara did in fact concede was that the Gulf Of Tonkin incident was fabricated.

You know that certain militarist brass will dream up a pretext - they will approve of this murderous game. But it was the Media of those years that secretly agreed to push this FAKED incident to get the (or give the pretext for the) President to write the blank check for the horrible meat grinder that was the Vietnam war.

Media are truly THE problem.

That this Anonymous fellow is the biggest dumbass that ever lived.

Who's Charlie?

In the introduction we explained; the story was inspired by Billy Walker's old C&W song, "Charlie's Shoes" about a man coveting another man's wife.

Thanks for the great read.

Once you wake up and stop acting like a child, you come to realise that it's the love and trust of people with integrity, shared together, that makes life worth living. This story just illustrated that fact plainly.

It actually doesn't matter if they are blood-related... when you find people of such calibre, they become Family.

All of the betrayal, all of the selfish, conceited acts done in the name of alternative lifestyle choices... claimed in the name of 'finding yourself', or acts that people try to minimise by saying something like 'it was only sex', pale when shown in comparison to lives lived in grace, beauty and honour.

The truth sets everybody free, even those who do wrong... truth being different to consequences, of course.

Your protagonist was just blessed that his foolish path didn't destroy all of his chances with the real, 11/10 beauty in his life... Sally.

Enjoyed this one immensely. 5 stars

Way down the list!

2starrs

Whilst this story had an happy ending,which was obvious from the start,it is the wrong ending.Sally deserved a better husband than the shallow apology for a man she married.

I've read a few of your stories and haven't found one that I didn't enjoy. This was another good one to put in my favorites.

Absolutely loved it

You don't seem to like to have perfect people in your stories, as many other authors do. This LW genre seems to attract people who have exceedingly virtuous men and despicable women. The men end up with exceedingly virtuous women after their first wives betray them and the unfaithful get fat and poor. This pair of authors, probably due to the man/woman balance, find good and bad in all their characters, just like in real life (amazing!!). It's hard to criticize characters like that. You two seems to specialize in happy endings even if there's a circuitous path to it. it's OK with me. 4*

who the fuck is Charlie?

As we stated in the intro, Billy Walker's Country & Western song, 'Charlies Shoes' about a man coveting his friend's wife is the inspiration for this tale.

Here is one well-crafted line that really resonated with me: "I left the courthouse and looked around; it was a bright Texas morning, the sunshine lit up the white courthouse, on either side of the steps were flowers planted by the Ladies' Committee to Beautify Fort Travis." I know that feeling. For whatever reason, good or bad, you become hyperaware and see and sense everything more sharply. It often follows a bad experience. That was really a sharp line!

Good writing. Another fine story. Dwayne's very fortunate the good right girl was still around. This might have been a little too easy for our hero. Beyond his breakup there really wasn't much to cause him consternation, everything just fell into place. Nice positive ending.

Still on my journey of reacquainted myself with B&K stories. Don’t know why I hadn’t read them all by now, because they match what I like, mostly: learning, reconciliation, second chances, not gratuitous BTB stuff. Glad the protagonist here grew up and ended up okay. Usually you don’t get a second chance- once you spoil the romance, the feelings usually atrophy away. If they didn’t, we’d all be miserable wrecks along the romance highway. Once again, a very enjoyable story, as I’ve come to expect from these authors.

I have to scratch my head when I see comments like this when it's specifically mentioned in a prologue, my ass when I see the question asked by more than one person in more than one comment. Ever look at something on Amazon, trying to figure out what's the best product for your situation? You look at the reviews, I always start with the most recent then look at the questions to see if someone asked about something specific that's on my mind. What do I see? The same questions umpteen times and usually something that's listed in the product description! Fuck me, I responded to an email request from Lowe's about a customer's question. The answer was right in the product description and I politely (?) responded, I didn't even swear about the dumb shit's question in my answer. Lowe's sent me an email back that my answer didn't meet their standards. So my response to them was..., well now, I'll just say they haven't contacted me again.

I hadn't given any thought to mentioning Robert McNamara's name around here, even if he was one of Lee's bright boys in the engineering department at Ford but I think I'll pass. Two things one does not want to do in SA is go down to the Alamo and do anything to desecrate it or enter any sports bar and yell out that Kawhi Leonard is your hero. Unless you have a death wish, if you do, be my guest. They've been working on plans to restore the site as close as possible to it's original condition at the time of the battle and there have been death threats over that! Phil Collins was a major collector of artifacts and memorabilia on things Alamo and just recently donated his entire collection for display on site. A classy thing for the man to do.

I have to ask since I realize this is fiction. Hiking down to the bottom of the Canyon while 5 months pregnant? Really, not being snotty here, just did that happen? I stood at the rim in several places and looked at what they explained was a river and that black thread that's supposed to be a bridge and... There is no scope, no scale to use looking down there. It's what, something like 100 yards less than a mile deep. They pull people out of there nearly daily by helicopter during the hot season there because they've collapsed, it's hotter at the bottom that up above. Look at any of the trails going down, in person, in photos or satellite, those things are narrower than my first wife's ass. So if she did I'm impressed no end.

Sarah Shahi was a Cowboy's cheerleader who by the way happens to be a real Iranian princess, just a bit of trivia.

Glad to see that B&K can be switch hitters. The smartest people in This story were women, pretty much like real life, right Bill? But the dummy did wise up before the end. Maybe Ginny's new guy will figure out there's a difference between getting screwed and getting laid, but then who cares?

There have been some awesome sunrises and sunsets in Texas with all of the African dust that came our way. Thanks again for the story, local references adds a lot of enjoyment. Signed: BTW

Ok... This one was good...

Btw... Mcnamara himself regretted the vietnam fiasco... And spent his tenure at the world bank trying to make amends by trying to help the poor...

-jaye-

As I continue to go down your stories alphabetically, I'm thinking you two like outdoors stuff? LOL

Just got back from visiting GCNP & did a day-hike on the Bright Angel Trail, made it to the 3 Mile Resthouse (my 18 y\o son - who is a hiking beast - made it to the Indian Garden which is pretty much the halfway point to the Colorado River on this trail) and back to the rim in just under 6 hours.

That 3 mile hike was literally straight DOWN on some pretty uneven narrow trails and hiking BOTH ways took a LOT of effort. Now I'm sure Sally was in exceptional shape, but doing that hike being 5 months pregnant would be almost a miracle.

Still a 5 * story

To painkllrr, re: hiking GCNP

We just assumed everyone would understand they spent the night camping near the river. Only gonzo hikers like your son could make it down and back the same day (and Bill barely made it up the second day, but that's when he was a pack-a-day smoker).

Anyway - glad you enjoyed the story, thanks for your comment and the rating.

The really great stories are the ones that you can read a few times and enjoy over and over again.

What an interesting tale, it was well written and had great characters. The ending was great and I was glad to see that Dwayne finally grew up and settled down with Sally for that happily ever after.

Well done, 5 stars

Great story. Thanks.

Not a bad story but, except for Brazil which is rather vague, there is nothing new here. I am sort of a sucker for original and interesting plot and this story does not have it. It presents a commonplace relationship story. If I were writing it I would have it ended with a heartbreak and with Sally moving on as a more painful lesson on the consequences of immaturity. It would be more realistic as I personally do not know of any women that would be willing to reconnect after being dumped. I guess one needs to be deeply in love or completely insecure to allow that. The whole story indicates that "Sally"'s character is not insecure and the main hero does not exhibit anything (other than good looks) worth of being loved.

Average story and nothing more than that.

re: dark2donut2 below

I've been reading your comments left on this and other stories and how you tell authors how their stories should have been written. So I decided to read your stories and now I understand why you feel a need to rewrite and bash other authors.

Your stories are fascinating!

Keep up the great work!

Another good one, no BTB but good. You guys make a great pair in writing, keep up the great work.

I just read a LitRot story where everyone (except Ginny) acted like responsible adults. Weird.

Good story, well written.

Don't accept Sally just changed her mind to move in with him,just like that.Not having turned him down the last time asked.

Great! Should be Sao Paulo.

Liked it and 5 stars. Only thing is I was surprised at Sally reconnecting with him after he dumped her for a Barbie doll.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What a dumb ass fool to dump a solid woman for a barbie.

MC was an idiot child to drop Sally for Ginny. Male version of the Martian Slut Ray? Glad he and Sally worked it out. Lost 3 years.

Second read- great story. Love to see folks get second chances. People CAN change, and for the better; usually after getting the Bejesus slapped out of them.

Several here commented on the difficulty of the Grand Canyon hike- I was there once, hiked down maybe a mile, turned around and came back up. 'Bout died.....

I loved this story....and now want to know Dexter Price's story!

Super job on this story. Good character development.... Also some really good self awareness dialogue. Thanks for sharing... Side note...Have read several of your stories and love them all.

Well written! You and the missus make an awesome team. Thanks

C&W: cryin', dyin'. or goin' somewhere music.

Thank you. Us estranged Texicans appreciate a good story like this one.

Very good

Thanksfor an interesting and fun read. Well done!

Amazing.

This story is a perfect vehicle for delivering quite a few of the current judeo-liberal values.

commenter is whining about judeo-liberal values ?? excuse me but wtf is he or she ranting about ?? women always say we think with our little heads anyway . apparently some women think with what's between their legs too .

I'm not a writer, but it seems like one of the hardest things to learn how to do (or maybe it is just a gift) is to write a really good last sentence or two in a story. These authors do that very well.

Made me smile