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Excursion

After the bank, their next stop was a sports shop. Aurora said his old sneakers were too deplorable for him to keep using.

The first shop they visited was a sports shop in the mall across the street from the bank. Aurora pointed out several pairs to Adam, all of which he denied vehemently.

"I don't see what's wrong about these shoes."

"You're going to get me beat up and robbed."

"No one's going to beat you up over a pair of shoes."

Yes, they will," Adam said confidently.

"Has this happened before?"

"Not to me."

"Right, and who's to say it will happen now?"

"Because the shoes you keep picking are expensive."

"Well, you've been looking and haven't shown interest in any."

"Because I haven't found one I like yet. Don't think I'll find it in here," he mused.

They drove around to several other shops with no luck, partly because all the stores Aurora recommended mostly stocked pricey shoes. Seeing their dilemma and Adam's frustration at shopping with Aurora, Michael recommended a shop at Leroy's Hillside Mall, a mall on the lower end of the city.

"Is it safe to be here?" Aurora asked as they drove down the bumpy street dotted with old and abandoned buildings and cars.

"It's fine. This is one of the safer parts this side of town." Michael reassured. "I come here once a month to help out a few of the seniors."

Michael pulled up to a large building set into a hill at the end of the street. The building was in need of renovation. A wall of heat hit Adam and Aurora the moment they stepped inside. There were no escalators or elevators between the two floors, and the fixtures were rusted and antique-looking.

"I don't think we should go in." Aurora said, turning up her nose.

Adam shook his head and walked ahead of her.

"Adam!"

They walked past a few closed stores that looked like they were long out of business, but the items remained on the shelves. The first open store they encountered was a bookstore with a faded sign that read, Lady B's Books. A quick glimpse through the display windows revealed books with faded covers covered in a dense layer of dust. An elderly man sat on a stool at the store's entrance with a paper fan, idly fanning away the heat. Adam asked him for directions to the shoe shop.

"Welcome." The man smiled.

"Hey mister, we're trying to find Lucky's Shoe Bazaar."

"If you keep walking, it's the last store on your left."

"Thanks."

"Further still?!" His mother remarked.

Adam fought back a laugh. It was the first time he'd seen Aurora so flustered and out of her wits.

The store looked more like a repair shop than a shoe store. The only shoes on display sat on a shelf mounted to the plywood partition behind the counter. The large wooden counter ran from one end of the shop to the other, separating customers from staff. Long-forgotten hits blasted from an old antenna radio on the far end of the counter. A rusty wall fan screeched as it rotated, pushing frustratingly hot air around the small room.

"Hello?" Adam called loudly.

"Give me a minute," came a voice from behind the partition.

The partition had a curtained passage. The curtain was pulled back, revealing a work counter with shoes, clamps, and tools. Aurora did not hide her distaste.

"I don't think you'll find a pair of shoes in this place, let alone a new pair."

Adam looked at the shoes on the shelf. There were a number of high heels of varying styles and sizes. For a moment, he thought Michael had pranked them, sending them to the wrong store, but a lone dress shoe on the bottom shelf eased him.

"What do you need?"

A middle-aged man stepped from behind the partition, wiping his hands with a stained cloth that looked like it had been cut from some article of clothing. The man had more grey than black hair and a big, rounded stomach that announced his arrival. He had a scowl on his face as he examined the pair.