Tread Patterns

I walked to the front entrance where the large outdoor shoes rest in a tidy row. The rubber soles were turned slightly upward on the metal rack. Pausing to examine them, I found deep, ribbed grooves that looked just like miniature road tire tracks. Wedged tightly inside one deep tread was a dried, curled pod from outside. I reached up, gently gripping the ridged rubber, and worked the tiny brown seed pod free with my cloth fingers to inspect its textured surface.