Brand-New Nikes

The Midnight Article"These Brand-New Nikes Were Made for Running" was written by u/Metalsaand posted to r/MidnightPaper.

The text for the Article was as follows:

THESE BRAND-NEW NIKES WERE MADE FOR RUNNING

With all the chaos that’s happening in the world right now putting so much stress on our shoulders, we here at The Midnight Paper thought to bring you a more wholesome story today. A story of perseverance that shows that if you want something bad enough you can get it.

Tell us, dear reader, have you ever wanted something really, really badly. So badly you feel like you can’t live without it. Well that was the case for Michael Donovan, a 16-year-old boy whose hobbies included playing guitar, hanging out with his friends and track and field at his high school, his favorite being the 200 m sprint.

You can only imagine his excitement as the date for the sprint was getting closer. There was only one problem, his shoes. He’d had this one and only pair of sneakers for almost three years now and he’d wear them everywhere, including to practice, making them almost unwearable after all those years. Studying his shoes closer Michael realized he couldn’t possibly compete with those; he could barely walk in them. While he wouldn’t call himself a sneaker head, Michael did have a passion for them so at the time he’d been eyeing this brand-new pair of Nikes that had just come out. But they were, of course, extremely expensive. You see, readers, the reason Michael had had that same pair of shoes for three years is because his family couldn’t afford new ones, but seeing as he could no longer use the old pair Michael tried his luck and asked his parents for his dream sneaker. Unfortunately for our dear Michael his parents immediately refused his request, but, after seeing the state of his current shoes, offered a compromise, a less expensive pair from a not so well-known brand. Michael was heartbroken. He begged and pleaded but to no avail. He tried his best threatening to quit track, even going so far as to say he would run away from home but his parents would not budge.

Utterly defeated, Michael agreed to the plan sat out by his parents. That day they went together to the mall to look for sneakers. Browsing around the store his parents found a pair that was within their budget, but Michael could not get his eyes of his chosen pair. Going to look at the shoes his parents had chosen for him he noticed something, the price was exactly half of that of his favorite Nikes. And that’s when he decided to make a deal. In that moment Michael proposed that his parents paid for half and he himself would acquire the rest of the money. After a bit of convincing his parents ultimately agreed and Michael was overcome with joy.

With new found strength Michael began working making money however he could mowing lawns, washing his neighbor’s cars, babysitting, tutoring, even in subjects he wasn’t all that good at. He did everything he could and all in his old shoes. After a month of this he’d finally got it, the money he needed to make his wish come true.

And so, the day of the race came and our favorite high school athlete was ready. With his brand-new Nike shoes on his feet he felt invincible. As he was getting ready everyone around him admired his new sneakers, getting more compliments on them than he’d ever received before.

But no more of that now, he had to concentrate. Finally on the track Michael felt comfortable, he felt at home and more importantly he felt like he could win this.

As the race started Michael started picking up speed and soon, he left all the other boys behind him, preforming better than he’d ever done before. He knew it. These shoes were the ticket for his success. As he was nearing the finish line, he started imagining in his head being congratulated by everyone for his win and possibly even for setting a new school record. And soon, with the help of his new sneakers, he was going to make all that reality. As he crossed first that finish line all that was in his heart pride and joy, pride at his accomplishments and pure joy at the thought of all the hard work he put into this finally paying off.

But he didn’t stop there, dear readers. In fact, he kept going, kept running. It’s like he couldn’t stop, making almost an entire lap of the track. At first the audience simply thought that the boy was celebrating, but that quickly changed when Michael kept on running and running until he had left school grounds completely. Some audience members report to have heard the boy scream, choking back tears “I can’t stop. I can’t stop! Please someone help me I can’t stop! I can’t make them stop!”.

It’s been two weeks since the incident and no one has heard from the boy since. Even after many teary-eyed TV appearances made by the mother begging for her boy to come home, Michael has yet to make himself known once more. Some eye witnesses report seeing a boy, around high school age, fitting Michael’s description running out of town, screaming the most agonizing of screams. All who saw that were so shocked to see such a terrifying sight before their very eyes by the time they realized what was happening the boy had already left their field of vision.

Who knows what crazy, wonderful adventures our athlete is off to now. We are happy to see that he is making the most of his gift and he is surely enjoying it as much as we’d hoped he would. Such a wonderful story to remind us that hard work and determination will eventually get you what you want.

We here at The Midnight Paper sincerely hope that all of you, dear readers, get your deepest and darkest desires as well.

And until next time, dear readers, we advise that you’re careful what you wish for.

Description:

The "Brand-New Nikes" are Object-Type Oddities with the anomalous quality of making anyone who wears them unable to stop running. It appears that this quality comes into effect after an individual wearing these shoes runs. The shoes will then improve the individuals performance at the cost of never being able to stop.

Origin:

The Article implies that anyone can encounter an object similar to these Nikes ("careful what you wish for"). If this is true, then these Nikes aren't the only objects of this type. There is possibly another Oddity, one more powerful and more dangerous than the sport shoes, who is responsible for creating them. Indeed, the shoes seemed to be made specifically to lure Michael Donovan into buying them, as they appeared to be the same kind of shoes he so desperately wanted, at a heavily discounted price.

The entity responsible for creating the shoes and placing them in Michael's vicinity is unmentioned in the article, but its presence can be inferred. The shoes might be powerful enough to appear in Michael's presence of their volition, but the Article seems to imply that anyone who wishes desperately for an object that they cannot afford is easy prey for whatever is creating these objects. As the shoes are already being worn by Donovan, an unknown Oddity that is creating lesser, Object-Type Oddities tailor-made for each new victim is the most likely scenario.

Aftermath:

It is unknown exactly what became of Michael Donovan. The Article's last words about him make it seem like he is still running, possibly into uncharted territory, off on "new adventures." It's possible that the Nikes' anomalous qualities include keeping whoever is wearing them alive, past all threshold of human exhaustion and without requiring food or water.