Sock it to Me (Open)

[Robert Cook]

Bobby was on his day off and decided it was far too quiet around his house. He had considered doing a bit of yard work or something, but the weather was calling for rain. So he figured a trip to the mall would give him something to do. Besides, he could use a couple new pairs of socks. A lot of his were starting to get holes in the toes.

He was standing in front of a display of socks at the moment, finding it hard to pick and choose. Those it might be odd for a man in his fifties to be debating between a pair of bright blue socks with vinyl records or a pair of neon green ones with yellow stripes, Bobby didn't think so. He loved fun, colorful socks. Most of his clothing was pretty basic, nothing that screamed for attention or looked way out of his age range. But his socks were a different story. He hadn't owned a pair of white socks since his mother had stopped shopping for him. 

Having trouble deciding, Bobby turned to a customer standing near him. "Excuse me," he said, smiling a bit sheepishly for bothering them. "Which to you think?"

[Jen Mitchellson]

Jen was staring at a pair of black socks with a fond smile. They had reminded her of her dad, of course, always wearing lame, old respectable mister socks. Mister Mayor. Sure, she still had some issues about her beloved daddy, blaming him for her lack of childhood and, all things considered, her inability to do anything for herself. Hey! It was easier to blame her parents about every single thing that was wrong with her than to own it and change. Who liked that anyway? Changing meant she'd have to be responsible for once and who'd want that. Besides, it didn't mean she hated her dad. It just meant there were issues there, but having been away from home for so long made her nostalgic, and this pair of socks were just adding to the feeling. She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, the socks placed near her nose. Clean and new.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone call her and she blinked in surprise. There was a man who looked nothing like her dad. She still smiled, since it was what was expected, and shrugged slightly. What had he asked?

"Depends." She said with a grin, "Are you a ten year old in disguise or right in the middle of your middle life crisis?" Had that been rude? Most people didn't understand Jen's humour, not that it was that easy to do so.