Caroline loved her new knee socks. One of her fans had recently sent them to her as a Halloween gift, and since it was Halloween, it seemed like the perfect occasion to wear them. What she loved about them was that she could wear them at work. They were made of very sheer black nylon. They were so soft that they felt like silk against her legs and feet. And when she wore them with her pants suit, to everyone else it was as if she was wearing pantyhose or trouser socks.

She did have one problem with them. They were so smooth and slippery that she simply could not keep her pumps on her feet when she wore them. Today, as she walked to her office, she felt her heels slip out of her shoes with each step.

It s getting worse, she thought to herself. She stopped suddenly and lifted her left foot to check her shoe. Her heel was involuntarily exposed as soon as it lifted from the floor. She pushed her shoe back on with her thumb and fore finger and noticed that her shoes indeed looked a little too big for her feet. They fit fine yesterday.

Passing it off to shoe stretching she continued to the stairs. At first, she was very careful not to step out of her shoes. Having succeeded to make it halfway without incident, she grew more confident and proceeded up the steps more rapidly. She soon grew careless and allowed her right heel to slip out of its shoe. Without warning it was completely off her foot, and all she felt was the cold stair through her very thin sock. Damn shoes! She thought to herself. Without looking behind her, she reached her stocking foot back and felt for her shoe. She found nothing. She turned to look and noticed that her shoe was nowhere in site. What the hell?

She carefully maneuvered down the steps awkwardly in her one loose shoe. Her errant shoe was nowhere in sight. She searched the base of the steps and all along the hall she had walked. There was no one around, and there was no sign of her shoe. How could it have just disappeared? Baffled, she very carefully continued up the steps. Each time she lifted her left foot, she clenched her toes and refused to allow her other shoe to slip. As if in reaction to this, she felt a hand grab the heel of her shoe. She gasped in terror, and curled her toes futilely to keep the thief from slipping it off her foot. The smooth slipperiness of the thin sock betrayed her, and she easily lost the battle. The shoe slipped away and she stood there frozen for moment, her foot still in the air, too frightened to look back. The moment seemed to last hours, and she began to tremble. Suddenly she felt a finger tickle the sole of her left foot. She shrieked in terror and quickly pulled her foot away. She spun around and saw nothing no one no hand no shoe nothing.

In terror, she ran up the stairs in her stocking feet, abandoning her shoes to whatever fate had become them. On the way to her desk she saw no one. The whole floor was empty. Oh my God! This is too creepy! Calm down Caroline, calm down. She forced herself to breathe more slowly, and collapsed on her chair to catch her breath. She picked up her phone to call her boss and find out what the hell was going on today. As the phone began to ring, she finally began to relax. Without thinking, she stretched her legs out under her desk and started wiggling her toes impatiently through her sheer socks.

As if beckoned by her toes, she felt fingers aggressively tickle the arches of her stocking feet. She shrieked and giggled at the same time. She instantly dropped the phone and pulled her feet away. She sat there for a moment, hugging her knees in terror, too afraid to look under her desk. Who s there? she asked nervously. There was no answer. Eventually, her anticipation got the better of her, and she dared a peak under her desk. All too predictably, she saw nothing except her sneakers. She had forgotten that she left them under her desk yesterday. She gratefully slipped them on her feet and tied them tightly. At least now my invisible tickler won t have easy access.

With more confidence now, she put her feet back down on the floor, and picked up her phone. It was still ringing. She hung up the phone and got up. Cautiously she left her office and walked down the hall to her boss s door. It was locked. She knocked. There was no answer. She tried the other offices, and got the same results. This is too weird. She peered down the stairs again, and again saw nothing. Her pumps were still gone.

She walked back to her desk in dismay to try her phone again. She tried several numbers. As she was dialing, she felt someone tugging at her shoe laces.

No! she said and quickly looked down at her feet. Her sneakers were still tied, but they felt a little looser than before. She pulled her feet closer to her and kept them firmly on the floor. She continued to dial the number, and felt the fingers frantically try and undo her sneakers. She quickly looked down again to catch it in the action. All she saw was that her sneakers were now untied. Stop it! she yelled to thin air.

She lifted her left foot to retie her sneaker. She kept her right foot firmly flat on the floor; she was not going to let the thief steal her sneakers too. As she tied her shoe, she suddenly felt, again, the hands start working at her right sneaker. In frustration, she stopped what she was doing, and looked angrily at her right foot. The shoe lace had completely disappeared. The invisible thief had taken her pumps, and now it had taken her right shoelace.

I have to get out of here! she said to herself in terror and frustration. She quickly stood up and made for the door. Her right heel was now slipping out of her sneaker with each step even more easily than they had been slipping out of her pumps. Her left sneaker was dragging the untied lace ends behind her.

As she scurried down the stairs, she felt the hand grab her dragging laces. She slipped and fell right on her bottom on one of the steps. She screamed in fear at first, but was soon relieved to be unhurt. Fortunately she had only slipped down one step. She was now sitting on the step with her knees together but her shins spread apart with her toes pointed inward. The only thing sore was her butt, and her sneakers were still loosely on her feet. But she soon noticed that her left shoe lace was gone. Both her sneakers were now completely unlaced. Futilely she looked back to see if it was behind her.

As she did, she felt something tap her just below her right knee. Reflexively, she kicked out her right leg; her loose sneaker flew off without resistance and her stocking foot landed in a hand. She felt her sole get tickled again, but as soon as she turned to look, the tickler disappeared again. She thought she caught a glimpse of a white shape before it disappeared. It had to be a ghost. That was all she could take. Clenching her toes to keep her loose sneaker, she ran out of the building as fast as she could. She managed to keep it on until she reached the door. She felt someone s foot step on the back of her shoe. At that point se didn t care anymore. She stepped out of her remaining shoe and ran outside in her Halloween socks. .