New Shoes

Intro

Long ago, in the center of Mexico, was the large and lavish city of San Angel. The city was peaceful as it was always protected by three magical ancient medals that were suspended high above the city at the top of the highest building. Protected from Mictlan and his murderous bandits. The city was run by an insomniac mayor and his right hand man, Xibalba. 

In the city was Manolo Sanchez, a humble cobbler. He inherited his father's shoe shop shortly after his death. While he didn't have many clients, he was a hard worker, sometimes falling asleep at his desk and injuring himself.

Just on the outskirts of town was a thief named Joaquin. At first glance, he didn't look like a thief, which he took full advantage of. He stole anything and everything, especially if it was gold or anything else of high value. He was the strong silent type, so he always did his best to steal when no one was looking and as stealthily as possible.

“Alright.” Joaquin thought, walking into town, “Let's see what this place has to offer.”  

Being in a bustling city made it easier for him to steal since barely anyone was paying attention to him.

He walked around the city for a while, shoving random things into his pockets before stumbling onto a shoe shop that seemed to be closed for the day. “Hm. This place looks super old. But maybe there's something laying around worth a few bucks.”

Joaquin walked inside and blinked in surprise, “Yeesh. Who lives like this? It's like a tornado flew around here.”

The shop hadn't been organized in a while with many fabrics, shoes, papers and other supplies all over the place. Regardless, Joaquin walked around looking for anything he thought was worth taking. 

There wasn't anything that looked valuable enough for him, so Joaquin decided to leave. As he turned to leave, he tripped and face planted the floor. Manolo had fallen asleep at his desk again and had fallen to the floor.

“What the-? He's sleeping on the floor? This guy's a mess.” Joaquin tried to get up, but Manolo rolled over, pinning him down, “Whoa. Wow, he's a lot stronger than he looks.” He tried to push Manolo off, but he wouldn't budge. He didn't realize a pocket watch he stole had gotten tangled with Manolo’s belt.

As he kept trying to push Manolo off, he started to wake up. Manolo slowly opened his eyes to find himself close to a strange man. 

Both men were startled, Manolo by there being a strange man in his shop and Joaquin by the shop owner being awake. Joaquin quickly pushed off Manolo and made a run for it out the door, only to drag Manolo along with him.

Unfortunately, the mayor's right hand man was just walking by during this kerfuffle. Joaquin and Manolo tumbled into Xibalba, knocking all of them to the ground. 

Some people stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. Joaquin got rid of the pocket watch to escape before anyone could stop him. 

Xibalba got up, glaring at Manolo, “How dare you?” He snarled, grabbing a confused and frightened Manolo by the shirt, “Do you have any idea who I am?!” He forced Manolo’s arms behind his back and pushed him forward, “I'm sure the mayor would like to have a word with you before your final moments.”

...

The mayor had a daughter, Maria. She was very close to her father and her nanny, Anna, and tried her best to be involved with her people. She was looking out her window that had a view of the city when she noticed Xibalba walking towards the mansion. 

“Ugh. What does he want now?” She said to herself. She noticed he had someone else with him. And by the looks of it, it was against their will. This couldn't be good.

She ran inside and to her father's office where he was nodding off over his work, “Papa. Wake up.” She gently shook his shoulders as he slowly woke up.

Just then, Xibalba burst through the door, “Señor Posada.” He said, “Just the man I wanted to see.”

“Oh… Xibalba.” Mayor Posada said, “What brings you here?”

Maria didn't listen to her father or Xibalba like she normally would. She was staring at the man Xibalba brought with him. 

His clothes were old and tattered and his hair was somewhat messy with a big curl. But she couldn't stop staring at him. She was almost fascinated by him. He was an attractive man, but there was something else about him.

Manolo looked at the young woman who was no doubt the mayor's daughter. He's never seen anyone so beautiful. For a second, he wasn't too afraid of being in the mayor's presence. They tilted their heads as they took each other's features in.

“I would like special permission to punish this abhorrent man.” Xibalba said, “The death penalty.” 

“Well, if… if you really think so…” The mayor slurred, nodding off again. 

Maria snapped her attention back to the conversation, “W-Wait, what? Xibalba, if you remember, the death penalty hasn't been carried out in over twenty years. What has he done to deserve such a punishment?”

“He brutally attacked me on the street, my dear.” Xibalba said.

“Really?” 

“No, no.” Manolo sheepishly said, “Señor, I promise it was all a big misunderstanding. I'm just a humble cobbler. It was all an accident-”

“We both know exactly what happened.” Xibalba shoved Manolo to the floor, “Mayor Posada, it was indeed a vicious attack. We can't let such a-” Xibalba stepped on a large spool of thread that had fallen out of Manolo’s pocket. He lost his balance and fell on his back. 

Maria giggled as Manolo frantically shoved his things back into his pockets, “Forgive me, Señor.” Manolo said, “I didn't mean-”

“I've had just about enough of you, you little-” Xibalba was about to grab Manolo again.

“Wait!” Maria said. Everyone stared at her. She put enough pressure on her boot heel for it to snap, “I… It just so happens, I need a cobbler.” She took off her boot to show her damaged heel, “So, if you kill him, I'd be left with a broken shoe.”

Manolo looked at her with wide eyes. It felt almost too convenient that she happened to have a broken shoe on hand. Regardless, he was grateful for the intervention. 

Xibalba looked at Maria in disbelief. What was this girl doing? Did she actually think no one saw her deliberately break her shoe? Is she really willing to save this worthless cobbler? 

The mayor blinked and looked at his daughter, “Oh, uh, yes. Young man, you will stay with us until, uh… until you fix my daughter's shoe. I'll pay you for your services, of course.”

“Y-Yes, of course.” Manolo said, “Thank you, so much, Señor.” He timidly got up and followed Maria out of the office.

Xibalba glared at both of them as they left. He would let Maria get away with this one this time.

Maria gave Manolo her shoe, “So, is it hard to fix?”

He looked at the broken heel, “No, not at all. I'll just need to get a few things from my shop and I should fix this in no time at all.”

“That's great to hear. I'll have someone get the things you need so you don't have to travel all the way back. What's your name?”

Manolo looked into her eyes again and was breathless. She had the biggest doe eyes he's ever seen. He felt like he could drown in them if he could. Remembering she had asked him his name, he shyly said, “M-Manolo Sanchez, señorita Posada.”

“That's a lovely name.” She smiled and tucked a hair behind her ear, “And please, call me Maria.” 

Somewhere in town, Joaquin had seen the three golden medals suspended over the city. He's never seen anything quite as beautiful. And valuable, “Holy cow…”