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

It Must've Been The Rain

Maria tells a story to distract her and Manolo from the rain.

After Manolo and Maria were married, it didn't rain for a couple of weeks. It got to the point where some people thought there was a drought. It didn't rain until the end of the month. The storm lasted the whole day. The winds were strong and the rain was heavy. No one dared to step outside. 

Manolo and Maria were uneasy about the weather as it brought them back to the moment they thought the other had died.

Maria saw her husband staring blankly out at the rain. She didn't know what happened after she died, and she'd rather not know, but she knew Manolo was reliving that moment. She took his hand and pulled him away from the window to the couch, "Come on. Stop torturing yourself." 

As soon as they sat down, Manolo wrapped her in a tight hug, which almost caught her off guard. "I never hated the rain so much." He whispered. 

Maria nodded, "Me too." They sat in silence for a while, listening to the pouring rain. Maria knew hearing only the rain wasn't helping either of them. She thought of something to fill the silence, but all that came to mind was a dull story. With nothing else to talk about, she said, "Have you ever heard of the story with the cursed shoes?"

Manolo looked at her, confused at the random topic, "I don't think I have." He said, "Why?"

"No reason."

"What's it about?"

"An orphaned girl gets adopted by an aristocratic woman. The woman gave her these red shoes, which she refused to take off, even to church. An old woman warned her to not wear them to church, but the little girl didn't listen. When she didn't take the shoes off, they forced her to dance so much that she cut her feet off. She died of relief at the end or something." Maria rolled her eyes as she finished.

"Oh, yeah. I think I've heard that story before."

"I read it in one of my mother's books. It's pretty dull, if you ask me."

Manolo looked at her, "Well, how would you fix it?"

Maria thought about it and said, "It'd be a completely different story."

"Go ahead."

"Well… there was a woman who loved to dance. But she was alone. No one to call her own, no one to turn to. One night, she heard a voice coming from the woods. She just had to follow it. All she found was a pair of beautiful red shoes."

"Where did they come from?" Manolo asked.

Maria smiled and looked up at him, "I was hoping you'd ask." She repositioned herself so that she could better look at him, "The shoes were calling her name. 'Cassandra… Cassandra…' She put them on and immediately began to dance, more beautifully than she ever had before. The only problem was that she couldn't stop."

Thunder loudly boomed across the sky, scaring the young couple. They instinctively held onto each other. 

"You, uh… were saying?" Manolo asked, in a shaky voice, "Cassandra couldn't stop dancing?"

"Yeah, um…" Maria said, moving to look at him, "She couldn't stop dancing, no matter how hard she tried. But she didn't want to take the shoes off. Suddenly, she was dancing with someone else. She couldn't see their face because of the hood they wore. But for the first time, she didn't feel alone. She almost forgot about her longing to stop dancing. But then, her partner spoke."

"What did they say?" 

"They said, 'I can help you, Cassandra. I can offer you a choice with the shoes I gave you. If you keep them, I'll dance with you forever. If you return them, you have to stop dancing forever.'"

"Oh, no." Manolo smiled in intrigue.

"Cassandra didn't want to choose. She didn't want to be alone again, but she wanted to dance of her own free will. So she came up with an idea. She said, 'Of course I'll dance with you.' But as she convinced them, she ripped off their hood. Underneath was a face covered in blood with white lights for eyes. Cassandra took the shoes and ran as fast as she could. No matter how fast she ran, the bloody stranger was right behind her. The sounds of their ear piercing cries could be heard for miles." 

They were having fun with the story. Manolo was on the edge of his seat and Maria was much more animated than when she started.

"But then… all it took was a split second… she looked behind her… and the bloody stranger got her!" Maria tackled Manolo, making him yelp in surprise. The two flopped on the couch laughing.

"What happened to her?" Manolo asked once he calmed down. 

"No one knows." Maria said, "All they found were the red shoes. They say she still wanders that forest, looking for her shoes so that she could forever dance."

"And the bloody stranger?" Manolo kissed her neck, "What do you think happened to them?"

Maria giggled, "They're probably still out there. They might be looking for Cassandra too."

"And if they get her again?"

"Only one way to find out." Maria jumped off the couch and ran, Manolo giving chase into their room. 

They had barely acknowledged the rain for the rest of the night.