Henri Charming wasn’t a prince, despite what his name implied. And yet somehow, he found himself wandering the streets with a single heel in his hand. Though its color and make was far from fairy-tale crystal, its red velvet nonetheless held the identity of his true love.

In all honesty, he couldn’t remember much of the night before, but he did remember a blonde with red highlights and a dazzling smile. His heart still ached at the thought of her, and he’d been trying to everything he could to get at least her name.

Unfortunately, the best he got after an hour of trying at the club was that she drove a yellow convertible, which really wasn’t helping much. Despite the fact that this was a small town, he’d been trying to find her for almost an hour with no end in sight.

Just when he was starting to lose hope, the man caught sight of what could only be the car in question pulling into a house just ahead of himself. He jogged up to it with a hammering heart, wondering if this really could be the right place; if it could be his true love.

Sure enough, a familiar hairstyle greeted his eyes as the woman emerged from her car, yawning tiredly and sipping on a fruit smoothie. She must have heard his footfalls, because she turned and regaled him with a dazzling smile; the same sort of smile that made his heart leap into his throat.

Henri walked up to her with nervous chuckled, holding out the shoe in his hand. “Um… I don’t suppose that this is yours?” He offered, wondering how to follow that. Would he ask her to lunch? To a movie? Just cut to the chase and ask her to marry him?

She smiled even wider and wrapped both arms around him in a tight hug, driving every thought from his head and leaving only a warm pleasure behind. “Thank you!” She chirped, her breath tantalizingly hot on his cheek. “Mn, that’s really nice of you; would you mind coming inside so I can thank you?”

Henri’s mouth dried up and he gulped anxiously, looking to the woman with an eager hope. “Why, no I wouldn’t!” He chirped delightedly. This was moving so much faster than he’d thought! He held her other heel nervously in his hand as he followed her into her house, wondering what to say.

The door closed behind him and he swallowed anxiously, looking at the woman with a smile. It faded as he realized he didn’t so much as know her name, and he gulped anxiously. What kind of story would this be to tell their future children-not that he wanted them soon but it’d be nice and he was staring.

“Um. Hello?” The woman waved, a small smile on her face. “Not sure if you remember me or not, but I’m Cindy.”

“Um… I’m Henri.” He replied, his tongue feeling awfully thick in his mouth. “It’s really great to see you again.”

“I know.” Replied the woman, chuckling. “Thanks for bringing both my heels back.” She gently picked the shoe from his hands with a small smile, her eyes twinkling with something that he couldn’t quite identify.

“Um… Sorry, I could only find one of them.” Henri said with a nervous gulp and a smile, looking to her worriedly.

“Whatever do you mean?” Cindy grinned, that sparkle shining even brighter in her eyes. Then she brought her right hand forward and tapped him on his nose.

Henri’s whole body stiffened, and he fell awkwardly backwards, his feet remaining on the ground. His arms snapped to his sides and his back hit the floor; leaving him lying like some sort of yogi. Just as the thought passed through his mind, he began to raise his rear from the floor, lying in an uncomfortable pose that strained his muscles.

“What’s going on?” The man asked, unable to keep an element of fear from his voice. His body was no longer his own; and the woman of his dreams seemed to be the cause.

“Well, you only brought me the one shoe; so I’m making you its match.” Cindy grinned, kneeling down beside the man and stroking his cheek. As she did, a strange and warm feeling began to run through his body.

The clothing on the man’s body was sinking back into his flesh and leaving it a strange red color, the same color as the leather on the heel he’d returned. In seconds all of Clark’s skin took on that same shade of scarlet, and he finally began to panic.

“Hold on, what? You can’t be serious, can you?” Asked the man, hoping beyond all else that he was somehow just dreaming this.

The woman’s response was to simply pull off her shoes, looking at him with a smile. She slipped the heel he’d returned over her left foot and placed her right foot delicately on his chest. To his shock and horror alike, her foot actually sank into his body; as though she was resculpting his form.

“Oh my God, you… You can’t do this to me! I’m a person, not some shoe!” Henri whimpered, hating how good her delicate foot felt against his chest. His arms sank into his sides and his knees merged together to become a single fused stiletto. Worse, his entire back began to feel hard; a strange and numbing sensation depriving him of the ability of the ground beneath him.

Cindy seemed to notice his panic, the woman’s smile only increasing on his face. “Whatever do you mean by that? You were a person before you were a shoe, after all.” She said, pressing her foot harder into his chest with a chuckle.

Henri huffed as he felt himself changing more; the increased pressure of her foot sending the limb further into him. The rest of his body began to shrink around her too, and he let out a tremulous whimper as his face crept closer to her toes. “W-what are you talking about?” He asked, his voice sounding impossibly small.

“What do you think I’m talking about?” She replied, a smirk on her face. “You’re not really a person, you know; you’re just a heel.”

Henri’s eyes widened as he looked to her in shock. “N-no, you’re lying! I’m not a heel; I know I’m not!”

At that, a look of pride surged into Cindy’s eyes, and she beamed from ear to ear. “Then tell me one memory you have before waking up with your matching heel in hand.”

Henri rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, ready to tell her about his time in college; but try as he might, he couldn’t think of anything; not even his roommate. His pulse only quickened against the bottom of her foot as his body dissolved more into the shape of a heel, the man looking up to her with fear. “O-oh my God, you’re erasing my memories!”

Cindy scoffed, digging her foot a little deeper into Henri and bringing his chin to cup around her toes. She flexed them as she spoke again, fixing him with a stern look. “I most certainly am not! You simply never had the memories to begin with! Or did you think it was just a coincidence that you reenacted the fairy tale you’re named after?”

For the first time, doubt crept into Henri’s mind, and he whimpered as he felt his chin fuse into the toebox of her new heel. “I… I…” He stammered, unable to form words as his face sank into the fabric, leaving him with only eyes and a mouth. Despite that, he could still hear perfectly fine, and the young man listened intently as Cindy began to speak again.

“You only tasted human life for a short while thanks to a spell I’ve made to make sure you always find your way back home. I don’t know why this is always so hard for you to remember…”

“Always?” He gulped, though the action had no real effect on his fabric body. By now he was just a heel in all save mind, a mind which raced at her words. “Has this happened before?”

Cindy chewed on her lip slightly as she blushed. “Well… I might have lost you a couple… Dozen”, she whispered, “times. But yes, it’s happened before; and the sooner you slip into the pleasure of being a heel, the sooner we can get back on with our lives.”

Henri tried to think of how to respond to that. Pleasure? How could it be pleasurable to be a heel? The thought made him insanely curious, and for a moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his mouth.

The action sent a wave of calming bliss run through his mind, and the man moaned as he truly began to feel her foot in him; feel her weight on his body. Much to his surprise, it was good to taste the slight sweat of her skin against his insole; to feel her toes curl with anticipation. He let his eyes forever close as his lips curl into a smile. “This is… It’s nice.”

Cindy cooed, and Henri felt one of her hands trail against his skin. Not being able to see her somehow made his situation almost arousing; though he no longer possessed the body to express how he felt. Still, she must have picked up something from the look on his face, for she laughed melodiously. “That’s what you always say. I’m glad to have you back.”

Henri paused at that; at how odds her words sounded. Yet he couldn’t deny just how much pleasure he was feeling from her warm foot in his body, and he settled around her snugly, a perfect fit for her. “I… I’m glad to be back.” He replied at length, letting a smile drift across his lips before they fused together.

He didn’t mind; heels didn’t need to be able to speak. And, if she was telling the truth as he suspected, then he was indeed a heel. Of course, that meant he didn’t need a name either; and so he simply forgot about that. It was surprisingly easy; and the heel forgot its gender soon after.

It was just a heel; Cindy’s right heel. It loved feeling her warm foot inside itself; loved feeling the weight of her body shift as she slowly began to walk around the room, as though she was testing it. The heel knew that it was perfect; and didn’t fear any negative response from its owner.

With that thought, it quietly lapsed into the hazy and warm content that was being a shoe. It felt a warm and delectable pleasure from its existence, and that was enough to lull its mind into the most blissful; most contented sleep.

At least, until its owner lost it again.