And Tilly was no longer so sure about the magic in her magical Rainbow Shoes, but she still liked them, even though they weren’t so very different any more.

But one day, sometime later, the Rainbow Shoes started to pinch and nip and squeeze.

“Ouch,” yelled Tilly. “My shoes hurt and squeeze!”

“Ah,” laughed Mom. “You have been growing fast, it must be all that skipping and trampolining. New shoes!”

The shoe shop lady didn’t smile; she recognised difficult, different Tilly. But then she remembered that she had sold ten pairs of the flop Rainbow Shoes to Tilly’s friends and suddenly her smile nearly split her face.

“I’ve got some new denim shoes with lovely pink coloured straps, the very latest …”

Tilly had to agree that those shoes looked very smart. But she thought for a minute and asked, “Have you got some shoes in your cellar where there is only one pair left?”

The Shoe Lady looked puzzled. “I’ve got just one pair of red sneakers with white laces in your size, a bit ordinary and from last year.”

“Oh,” smiled Tilly. “I think I like ordinary now, and red sounds just my colour!”

And to make her ordinary sneakers a bit more special, she stuck blue and yellow stars on them, until all her friends started sticking stars on their sneakers, too!

*****