As the first episode of the Philippines Graphic Literary Workshop (PGLW) slowly came to its conclusion on February 28, we knew that we had one more thing that we can offer our bright young fellows: a starting platform for their creative endeavors. Here, we present one of their final outputs from the workshop. We also asked them to provide an artwork that they think best represents their stories. Read on.
No one knows the secret. Why does the beach always end up with a shore full of shoes?
Not just shoes. Half pairs— with either the left or the right one missing. Like the single, huge waves the island is known for. Obviously, there are thieves in the area who have excessive fondness for shoes and footwear. The residents call them the Shoe Thieves. From their liking alone, residents say that they are far from the typical ones– alongside with their tactics, too. They will steal a pair first, until the person gives up, and gets tired of seeking for their shoe.
For most days, the bright, mild, sunny days are contrasted with the guarded spirit of the residents. There are handmade placards, all saying the same thing: Take care of your belongings. Roaming thieves around. There are even Bible verses about the punishment for the act of stealing, hoping this would stop the thieves from taking away their beloved footwear.
However, they remain clueless. They soothe themselves by making sense of the thieves’ motive in taking nothing but their half pair of shoes. Maybe the thieves are planning to sell them, or maybe they’re just discovering an obsession with shoe collections. The residents’ shoes, contrary to the seeming glamour the thieves have for them, are quite simple. These are shoes to protect themselves from the heat of the sand, especially as El Niño approaches fast. These shoes serve its purpose to protect the residents’ toes and heels from burning and hurting themselves from the sharp sea shells hidden beneath the fine, brown sand.
These simple shoes are also of those women who glean to the shore while the coast resides on its lowest tide. The shells are more visible during this time, and it is easier to catch sea shells barefoot. The women often leave their shoes by the coast, just inches enough to make sure that it will not be carried away as the tide goes back to usual when they finally come ashore after hours of gleaning shells. However, their shoes have been their worry ever since the shoe thieves started to strike, leaving them with no choice but to keep their shoes inside the pail where they put their harvest. It has become troublesome for them to keep the slippers intact, as they both need to use their hands to feel the texture of shells used for cooking, and those for ornamental and aesthetic purposes. The shells for cooking have a smoother and finer texture, while those that are picked for accessory-making are weirdly-shaped, with rougher texture and spiky look. As the pail gets heavy on a morning full of catch, the women have no choice but to return to the shore. Now, approaching the shore carrying a pail full of harvest becomes heavier as they slowly carry themselves to the shore with a prayer: Please let our slippers be complete, so that all of us can take the entire pay for our family. Amen.
Some of the residents’ shoes are fancy, too. One time, after a kasalang bayan, most of the newlyweds spent the sunset together after tying the knot. The brides were quick to remove their tired heels after standing at the ceremony, waiting to speak, ‘I do.’ Dipping their feet in the water, they felt the warmth as the sun soaked half of its yolk into the sea, slowly disappearing with every flow of wind and water. Washing the worries away, the brides did not bother to look after their shoes; for them, the only thing that matters was the fact that after this sunset, they get to spend the rest of their days with another pair of eyes watching after them.
Maybe that’s why the Shoe Thieves are drawn to them. Finding beauty in rare items gives them the same euphoric feeling of calling something unique as your own. With the growing desire of the Shoe Thieves, the residents also continue to long for their lost pair. They could not leave their houses anymore without the fear of walking barefoot back home, their feet tired and hurt from the burning sand, and later on asphalt after an entire day of being exposed to the sun. Walking to and from the beach becomes a fearful quest– more than surviving, they have to make sure that their pairs are still together. Their catch is usually just enough for their family’s daily food, not for another set of shoes.
Fortunately, there are people lucky enough to keep both pairs of their shoes. These are the children who use their slippers even when swimming to the depths of the water. These are the shoes the little kids use as a makeshift salbabida– they try to use them to stay afloat as the waves try to carry them back and forth the water. For them, their slippers are foot cushions when they are used on land, and fins on water. Some are bright yellow soles with navy blue rubbers to support toe-grip, some have dark red cushions paired with green rubbers. Once, there was a child who almost drowned in the sea. Good thing, a kind-hearted fisherman saw an unusual slipper floating while fishing. Since the fisherman knows how children never let their slippers wander without them, the little kid was saved. He was saved, seen holding on a single pair of slippers, identical to the one seen afloat just a few moments ago.
Attempts to catch the Shoe Thieves at large looms even on the most peaceful mornings. Elderly people stay by the coasts, hoping to catch the Shoe Thieves. They leave their shoes at night and come back before the sun rises. Old people believe that the massive theft of shoes remains a puzzling retribution for the residents, so they offer their best pair of shoes as an apology. There is even an old woman who came to the shore one night, offering her two pairs of most beloved shoes– her wedding shoes, and the ones she wore for her husband’s funeral. She whispers to the waves and lets the air carry the message: Please take these shoes instead, I do not use them now. I only look at them to admire. When you take them, please show it to my husband. See, I took care of them well until I couldn’t walk on them anymore!
Surprisingly, no one takes the shoes offered by the elderly people. So, it has come to the residents’ conclusion that they do not attack at night, neither they are gods who take shoes for a peace offering. They have now become convinced that these works are done by humans who get the satisfaction of making people give up instead of merely stealing shoes. Now, the residents, like the Shoe Thieves, refuse to give up their shoes. They have realized that in order to take back their belongings, their will should be stronger than the thieves’ desire to strip them of their determination.
As days pass, every now and then, residents can only sigh in desperation and end their day with such gloomy faces every time they discover that one of their pair of shoes is missing again.
Despite this, the residents continue to wear the other pair of shoes with such honor. Even when some visitors say, “What a weird household! Do you only have a pair for every pair of shoes you have?” Residents just shrug it off and reply, “The sand makes us walk unevenly, even with even shoes, so it doesn’t matter.”
But deep down, for the residents, the other pair of shoes still matters to them. After all, they paid full price for the pair.
So, instead of leaving, they keep their remaining pair of shoes, no matter how useless they are, as people may think. Both of them are clinging onto hope– hope that one gets tired of relentless taking and seeking, on the other hand. As the small town meets everyone and everyone tells their story about their shoes, the news of clinging onto their remaining pair of shoes is at first taken with a grain of salt. Caution turns to certainty, and hesitation turns to determination: from now on, they are going to take their shoes back.
Until the last resident decides to pick up their only remaining pair of shoes and refuses to get tired of seeking, and fall for the thieves’ wishes, there will be no change in their town. The sand will still mysteriously take away their shoes and leave its imprints as if it had eaten them whole, washing away the identity of these thieves every high and low tide coming in full circles each day.
One day, the Shoe Thieves got tired of waiting for the residents to leave their shoes. Their curious, wandering eyes are still waiting on careless feet, prying the shoes left unnoticed in a vast sea of memories. However, the alert, determined minds of the residents are sharper, and better– keeping their shoes within their reach, knowing their shoes will never slip out of their grasp once more.
The Shoe Thieves slowly gave in to the residents’ wishes. After all, they are not gods to decide the eternal punishment of people on every desire and whim. They decided to end their quest– may it be to sell, or to collect, no one knows the secret. As long as the other pair of shoes finds its way back to the shore where it was lost, nothing will matter anymore.
Now, the lost shoes found their way back to the shore– slowly and softly, as every low tide brings the lost pair. Every morning, the residents check if the other pair is washed away to the shore. They pick it up and reconnect with the other one they have been holding onto. Celebrating with every wave washing ashore, the only ebbing secret is what the shoe thieves got to keep.
RENALYN FIGUEROA is in her third year in the Bachelor of Arts in Language and Literature program at the University of the Philippines-Baguio. Growing up in a city, exploring the literary traditions in Cordillera became her interest since she started pursuing tertiary education in Baguio. Her niche in literature revolves around genres of magical realism, fantasy, and murder mystery. She is also a student-journalist, which inspired her to write stories about people’s lives, aiming to document their experiences. Her background in journalism motivated her to be more active in forwarding calls, such as women’s and children’s rights.
