The Red Moccasins: A Story

"The Red Moccasins: A Story" by Morrison Heady is a tale from the early 1900s that combines history and made-up stories, taking place in the Kentucky backwoods. It follows Sprigg, a young, spoiled boy whose wish for red moccasins pulls him into a series of events that put his personality and choices to the test. Sprigg lives with his parents, Jervis and Elster Whitney, in a simple log cabin, where he is their only child who gets everything he wants. When Sprigg sees a picture of an Indian boy wearing eye-catching red moccasins, he becomes fixated on getting a pair for himself. He convinces his father to travel back to their previous house to get them, but once Sprigg gets the moccasins, his conceit makes him run away from home. This impulsive act starts him on a journey where he deals with many problems, including the dawning realization that he’s lost in the wild, which makes him face the results of what he did and his wish to be back home with his family.