The black leather gleamed.

It had taken a lot of scrubbing and polishing to restore them to this state. The nest of spiders in the toe of the right shoe was a nasty surprise.

They slipped onto the withered feet with ease.

‘Why the old shoes?’ the undertaker’s assistant asked.

‘Family request. Apparently they were his lucky shoes.’

‘Wonder what made them lucky?’

The undertaker shrugged. ‘British Army issue, First World War.’

‘Could’ve taken better care of them.’

‘Perhaps he couldn’t face what he managed to survive.’

Task completed the coffin was closed over ready for the funeral tomorrow.

Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).

To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.