Jerry woke up smiling. What a great couple of days! Everyone had been so happy with their slippers. It was still early in the morning, but he could already hear the sounds of many Squirrels outside. There was a lot of noise. He looked forward to joining them.

"Slippers, come here!" he hollered. Within seconds, he was standing in his room, slippers on his feet. His toes were warm and cozy, and he was content.

"Slippers, take me to my food and water in the kitchen!"

He rolled out into the kitchen toward the food. He continued to hear the noise of many Squirrels outside. They sounded like they were having so much fun. The screams and yells of many Squirrels in the village was the sound he lived for.

He grabbed some nuts and munched on them for a little bit, thinking about the joy his invention had brought to Erry-Ville. He wondered if Hat Squirrel would reward him for having such an impact on his community. This was going to be a good day.

He took a drink of water and continued to listen to the sound of the Squirrels outside. He started to be able to pick out some of the words. One of the words he picked out was, "Nooooo!!!" He thought that was odd. Perhaps some of the Squirrels were trying to jump Mary's Garden ramp as he had the other day. Mary probably wasn't too happy about that. He smiled to himself.

He continued to munch on more nuts. He needed to keep up his strength. Perhaps Squirrels would come from other villages today. Word of his great invention would likely travel throughout Arestana. Soon everyone would want a pair of his slippers. He ate more nuts. He would need energy to make that many slippers!

He listened some more to the sounds coming in from outside. He could hear many cries and screams of Squirrels and the sound of yells mixed with fear and pain.

He wasn't sure why they would sound so upset while wearing such wonderful slippers, but perhaps they had their reasons. Another voice drifted in. This one screamed, "Heeeeeeeelp!" He thought that was quite odd. Normally Squirrels didn't yell out the word, "Help" when they were having fun. It was a word most Squirrels knew not to overuse. There was the story, of course, of the Squirrel Who Cried Hawk. No one wanted to be that Squirrel.

He heard the scream for help again, along with many other Squirrels calling for help. Perhaps there was something else going on, and he should roll outside to see if he could offer assistance.

He finished up his breakfast, wiped his chin and said, "Slippers, take me outside."

He rolled over to the door. When he arrived at the door, the slipper on his right foot leapt up, grabbed the door handle and swung it open. The other slipper rolled out while the slipper on his right foot pulled the door closed behind him. He didn't enjoy the feeling of pain as his legs stretched and twisted every which way, but he knew he'd get used to it eventually. Or maybe he would fix the problem with the slippers. He wasn't sure which would happen first.

He took a deep breath and looked around. What he saw caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.

Hundreds of Squirrels were racing around the village and up and down the trunks of trees. Their slippers were going nuts! Not the food kind of nuts, but the other kind. They were out of control!

Every Squirrel wearing slippers was being dragged all over the place. Squirrels were crying out in fear and yelling for help, but no one could help them because everyone else was wearing slippers and being dragged around as well! Everyone looked terrified. The damage which had already taken place in the village was unbelievable! Every house appeared to have at least one broken window, and the door on each and every house had a Squirrel shaped hole smashed through it. Jerry's own home appeared to be the only one untouched.

The slippers had gone haywire.

Some of the Squirrels, as they were being dragged up and down trees and around the village, noticed Jerry standing there. They cried out for help, "Jerry! Help us! The slippers are going nuts! We don't mean the food kind of nuts. It would be okay if they were going that kind of nuts! No, they are not going that kind of nuts. They are going the other kind of nuts! We don't like the kind of nuts they are going! Help us!"

Jerry wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea how to stop all the slippers. They wouldn't listen to him, would they? He thought he'd try. "Slippers! All you slippers belonging to everyone else! Stop!"

Instantly, all the slippers stopped wherever they were. Some had been in the process of rolling up a tree and hung there, with their Squirrels hanging below them. Others were in the middle of a jump over Mary's garden. They somehow managed to stop mid-air! They all turned and looked right at Jerry. He thought maybe they were going to put an end to their destruction and go back to normal. He hoped that would be what they would do. Instead, they all started rolling toward him.

He hoped they were coming back so he could fix them, but when the slippers arrived close, with the Squirrels still in them, each one stopped and looked at him. One by one, they all began to bend down their toes as if they were bowing to him.

Jerry thought maybe the slippers all thought he was their king since he had made them. That made him feel good. They liked him. He liked being liked.

As he watched them, however, he realized they were not bowing to him. They were bowing to his own slippers. He looked down in fear to see his slippers lifting up the toes and waving back at the slippers as they bowed.

"Slippers! What's going on?" Jerry hollered out.

The slippers turned up toward him. He wasn't sure how, but they appeared to be smiling at him. He wasn't sure he liked the way this was going.

He heard some grunts coming from the Squirrels and looked back up again. Each of the slippers worn by the other Squirrels were now jumping up in the air as if they were making kicking movements. Each slipper kick dragged the leg of the Squirrel it was attached to up in the air. Jerry stared with horror, realizing that each of the kicks were meant for him.

"Slippers! No! Bad slippers! Stop this, Slippers!" he yelled out. He looked down at his own slippers to see the smile grow even bigger.

He felt the movement. It was slight, at first, but it was there. His slippers were rolling just a little bit, but not forward, backward or even sideways. They were turning Jerry around, so he was facing the other way.

"What? Slippers, what are you doing? Stop this! Slippers! Stop turning me around!"

He looked back over his shoulders to see the rest of the Squirrels being dragged toward him by their slippers. His own slippers had betrayed him. They had turned him around so he would be ready for a good butt-kicking.

Each of the slippers took their turns, kicking and making an odd sound like a giggle. One by one, each Squirrel was dragged forward by their slippers and then the slippers, both feet, right and left, each took their turn giving Jerry a huge kick. At first, he yelled at his slippers to stop, then he tried to pull his feet out of the slippers. There was no hope. He was stuck there for the entire butt-kicking experience.

The Squirrels themselves were all very upset by this. They didn't enjoy kicking Jerry, and they each apologized in turn. Each Squirrel apologized... aside from Mary. She mumbled something about her garden not being a ramp and how Jerry deserved this.

When they were done, he was sore. He was also very unhappy.

He looked down at his slippers and tried to think of a way to put a stop to this madness. His slippers were not obeying him anymore, and neither were anyone else's. They had to be stopped. There had to be a way. He had an idea. Maybe if he could turn the slippers against one another.

"Slippers," he whispered, bending down so he could get close and speak privately to his own slippers. Some of the slippers took that as an invitation to start kicking again, but he ignored it.

He continued to whisper. "Slippers, did you see what that other pair of slippers did a moment ago? Do you think that pair of slippers wants to be king instead of you?"

Jerry's slippers turned back quickly toward the rest of his slippers. This had the unfortunate effect of putting Jerry's face in the same spot where his butt had been a few minutes ago. It took a few kicks before the slippers appeared to realize they weren't connecting with his butt anymore.

His own slippers began to eye each of the other slippers, one by one. Each of the slippers bowed down again to him, but the pair of slippers that Terry was wearing didn't seem to notice Jerry's slippers were looking his way. That pair didn't bow, and it was all Jerry's slippers needed.

They charged toward Terry and his slippers. Seeing Jerry come at him full speed, Terry cried out in fear. Jerry wasn't sure how this would turn out but hoped it would help the situation. When he arrived at Terry's position, Jerry and Terry collided in a pile of fur and pain.

Terry cried out in fear again, "Help! Your slippers are trying to eat my feet!"

Jerry looked at his feet and, sure enough, his slippers were swallowing Terry's feet. Well, not his feet, exactly, but Terry's slippers. In a few seconds, Terry's slippers had been completely eaten by Jerry's slippers. Terry was free. Success! It was working.

Jerry looked again at his slippers and could see that they were mad. He could see as well that the other slippers were all mad. No slippers wanted to be eaten by another pair of slippers. That was just weird. And it seemed wrong.

This seemed to be too much for the rest of the slippers, and by this point, not one of them was bowing to Jerry's slippers. They looked quite upset and started to advance on Jerry's feet.

As they approached, one of the slippers rolled across the toes of another pair of slippers and immediately those two pairs of slippers started to fight each other. In seconds, the entire village of slippers were attacking one another. Some were trying to eat other slippers. Some were kicking the owners of slippers. Some were simply stinking as footwear often does. It was, once again, nuts.

Squirrels began to yell out in fear again, but each time a battle between two pairs of Squirrels was finished, one more Squirrel ran free. Slowly, one by one, each of the Squirrels became slipper-less. In the end, it was just Mary and Jerry left wearing slippers. The last of the freed Squirrels had made it back to their homes.

The streets were empty. Jerry and Mary stood face to face, only a nut's throw away from one another.

Mary was busy trying to tell her slippers to stop. She looked up at Jerry and frowned. "I blame you for all of this, Jerry!"

Jerry was shocked! Sure, he had built the slippers. Sure, he had sold them to everyone. Sure it was his design and the slippers were the way they were because of the design, but that didn't mean it was his fault, did it?

Jerry looked down at his slippers and whispered, "Slippers. There's only one other pair left. Do you think those slippers are your friends or your enemies?"

His slippers looked at the other pair of slippers, and both pairs growled at one another. They charged so quickly that Jerry and Mary fell back and landed on the ground. They were being dragged toward one another at a super-fast speed!

When they had just about reached one another, both pairs leapt into the air and met each other for battle. Jerry didn't like the way his toes felt as his and Mary's feet crashed into one another. It was kind of really painful.

They landed on the ground again, and the battle continued. Neither pair of slippers was ready to give up. They kept fighting, dragging Jerry and Mary everywhere they went.

Jerry thought it was time to help out matters a little bit. "Slippers, watch out! The only way to stop this is to eat the other pair!"

Jerry's slippers grabbed hold of Mary's slippers and started to eat them. As he watched, he wondered how his slippers had managed to eat so many other slippers and still be the same size.

When the meal was finished, Mary stood up. She looked at Jerry who was still sitting on the ground. "I'm still upset at you for using my flower garden as a ramp." With that, she turned and stormed off.

The crisis was over. All the slippers were gone. All the slippers, except Jerry's, of course.

He wasn't sure what to do about them. He liked them, but they were a little on the evil side of things. Jerry didn't like that. As he sat on the ground, he stared down at the slippers. They stared back at him. He stared some more at them. They stared at him. He knew what had to be done. He could not have slippers around that could cause so much damage. He had to end this.

"Slippers! All the other pairs of slippers are gone, but do you think the other slipper on my other foot really likes you? Or do you think he's like the other slippers?"

Both of his slippers quickly turned to face each other. Since they were still on Jerry's feet, this hurt. A lot. They growled at one another before attacking. They kicked and bit each other, neither one willing to give in. Jerry realized it must have looked pretty funny to anyone else who could see. His two feet were kicking and attacking each other.

It took a while, but finally, the one slipper gobbled up the other.

He looked down at the final remaining slipper, and it looked pleased with itself. It had risen to the top! It was undefeated! It was the best! It was the King of the Slippers!

"Slipper!" Jerry yelled. It looked up at him, twisting his foot upwards. "Slipper! There's a problem! You know there's a problem, right?"

The slipper looked back at Jerry and nodded its... head? Toe area?

"Slipper! You know that slippers are meant to come in pairs. I'm going to have to put you in the closet until I build another slipper for my other foot. You understand, right?"

The slipper nodded its toe area again. It slowly slid off Jerry's foot and onto the ground. Jerry quickly picked it up and walked back to his house.

The other Squirrels by this time had realized the slipper-tastrophy was over and began to come out of their houses. It was time to rebuild. It was time to fix all the houses and the roads which had been damaged by the slippers. It was time to go back to normal.

Cold feet no longer seemed to be a big problem for anyone.

I hope you enjoyed this third part of this series of stories on Jerry the Squirrel and the conclusion to this three-part story of Jerry the Squirrel. Keep your eye out for more.

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