Days And Nights (Book of Life and Maya and the Three One Shots)

No Surrender

Manolo and Joaquin meet for the very first time.

Manolo was walking through town one afternoon, thinking about the girl he met the other day.

She said they would see each other again, but she didn't exactly say where to go. He was just glad that he seemed to have made a new friend, and by the looks of it, he would make another.

As of right now, however, Manolo could do nothing but wander through town hoping to run into her again. 

He stopped in his tracks by the sound of laughter coming from the nearby street.

When he turned the corner, he saw two other kids around his age playing with wooden swords. One was a boy wearing a blue shirt and the other was the girl he met.

"Oh, hey! Maria!" Manolo called. 

Maria turned her head to Manolo, her face lighting up when she saw him, "Hey! I was looking for you!" She gestured to the boy with her, "This is who I was telling you about. The one who plays guitar."

"That's really cool, man." The boy said, "I'm Joaquin Mondragon."

"Manolo Sanchez." Manolo said. 

"Oh." Maria said, "Whoops. I'll be right back, guys. I forgot to do something at home."

Maria ran off for a moment, leaving the two boys alone.

"Wait a second, isn't your dad Carlos Sanchez?" Joaquin asked, "The bullfighter?"

"Yeah." Manolo replied, "What about your dad?"

"He's Captain Mondragon."

"Oh, yeah. The statue by the fountain. I don't know much about him, but he seemed like a great hero."

"You're telling me. I'd do anything to be just like him."

"I'm sure you will." An idea popped into Manolo's head. He held up the guitar he had with him as though it was a sword, "Ha ha!"

At first, Joaquin was a bit confused, but then immediately understood what was going on. He smiled and held up his sword, "You're on."

The two engaged in a small duel, which mostly consisted of the guitar and sword clattering together and the melodic laughter of the two young boys. 

The duel ended in a draw with Manolo and Joaquin falling to the ground laughing until their lungs hurt.

Just as they were calming down, Maria came back, "Hey, seems like you're getting along well. Hope you weren't having too much fun without me."

Manolo and Joaquin got up from the ground, picking up their makeshift weapons. 

The three children spent the rest of the afternoon dueling, running around town, telling each other their hopes and dreams.

From that day on, a strong friendship blossomed that would prevail even against the most powerful forces.