Sal Salvador was once a jovial shoe. He was raised by his parents, Alex and Alex Salvador (yes, one is a male and one is a female) with all the sole they could muster. They nurtured him and they gave him his own identity. Sal's parents didn't treat him like just some silly old shoe. Sal meant something to them.
One day, Mr. and Mrs. Salvador wanted to take on a new challenge: They wanted to adopt a young orphan cleat and raise him to one day be worn by an NFL player. Mr. and Mrs. Salvador made their way to the Shoe Orphanage, where for hours upon hours, they discussed and designated each singular shoe, and had mega monologues one after the other about which cleat could take the heat.
In the end, they chose a cleat that happened to share the same color scheme as young Sal, white and red. His orphan name was Default, but he was reborn under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. Salvador, and soon, he was christened Pip Pippington. It is worth noting that Pip is British, so that's how that original and not at all stereotypical name choice came about.
That same day, Mr. and Mrs. Salvador took Pip home, and immediately decided that Sal was worthless and did not deserve to be their son. They were blinded by the spellbinding allure of Pip and his sweet British accent. Sal had no accent, and thus, he was deemed expendable.
Sal was never given shoe baths, or shinings, by his parents again after that day. Pip was pampered like there no tomorrow. Even at the young age, Sal knew what was going on, and his laces drooped down to the ground, causing Sal to trip every time he walked, which ended with Sal landing on his shoe pelvis. Pip started to get an ego from all of the Salvador's love, and began to step on Sal's shoe face with his spiky exterior.
One day, Mr. and Mrs. Salvador decided to take Pip to the Shoe Carnival since he was a good British cleat. Sal came along anyway because apparently he doesn't exist now and his parents would've noticed him coming along anyway.
As the giant shoe floats began to glide down 123 Shoe Street, Pip watched in awe with his British corneas, while Sal's shoelaces continue to arch in a neverending pout. At one point, Sal runs after one of the floats in a last chance effort to leave this new life, and to start ashoe-uhhh...anew. Pip runs after him because without Sal in his life, he has nobody to be a punk shoe to.
Pip's parents cry out to him, but Pip is determined to be a bully forever more. Sal and Pip never see their parents again. Sal jumps onto a Reebok the size of a tank, and Pip follows. The giant shoe leads the two dysfunctional brothers to an abandoned factory, where the boys take shelter, because even though they hate each other, blood runs thicker than the gum on the bottom of a shoe. Even though shoes don't contain blood. Unless a foot is bleeding. Ahh.
About a week into their refuge at the factory, Sal became smart enough to realize that if Pip was a neanderthal to him, he could be a neanderthal to Pip. Except Sal didn't drag his fists across the ground, but rather, his laces.
Sal began to take walks quite often to get away from his abusive brother. As he took these strolls, he met many other shoes. Shoes who were in the same position as him: Treated as afterthoughts, while their shoe siblings were not.
After completing his first walk, Pip asked where Sal had went to. Sal was going to spill the beans about going for walks, which would result in him getting beaten up, because walking meant Sal would be gaining strength, and Pip did not want that, for with enough strength, he knew that one day, Sal would stand up to him, and make him step in dog doody.
Sal, however, knew that Pip was not persistent, and would not ask again if Sal did not tell. So Sal did not tell. He told Pip "it's a secret", and Pip did not ask, as Sal had predicted. Sal would do this every day, after every walk he would take, and he would goad the other depressed shoes he had met into doing the same, because these shoes were weaker than their counterparts, and keeping secrets from them was the only way they could feel mightier.
One day, Pip warned Sal that tomorrow he be hanging out with some ghetto shoe friends at the court. This gave Sal a great idea. He would travel around the shoe city, letting all of his new solemates (shoe friends) know that the next day would be the grand opening of "The Secretive Shoe Synagogue." Keep in mind that Sal isn't Jewish, but he thought it sounded uber cool.
The idea of the Secretive Synagogue was that all of these unwanted shoes could come together and tell the secrets they were keeping from their shoe siblings. It was a riveting experience compared to when they were hanging out with their brothers and sisters.
Unfortunately, Pip came back home right in the middle of the first meeting. He yelled at all of Sal's friends and kicked them, literally, out of the factory. He then chewed Sal out for keeping this huge secret away from him.
Snapping at his friends was the final straw. Sal had been through enough. He found a saw in a room above the stairs of the factory, and proceeded to chop off all of his spiked protrusions, thus, making Pip nothing more than an ordinary shoe. Pip and Sal were now equal. Pip had no reason to act more important than Sal anymore.
From that day forth, Pip treated Sal like all brothers should: With respect and intense admiration. He stopped hanging around with his ghetto solemates, who were clearly a bad influence on him, and he did everything with Sal. He would even sit in at the Synagogue, which now had weekly meetings. Finally, Sal was happy, and his laces no longer trailed against the ground as he walked.
Pip would never be worn by an NFL player, but one day, many years later, Pip and Sal were captured by the humans, and sent to a Walmart in Union, Missouri, where they were bought by a young man named Freddie. Freddie wore his shoes with pride, as he believed that every shoe has a story to tell, and he could feel an over 2 page long story typed on Google Docs emanating from this white and red hybrid pair of shoes.
Life as a shoe may be difficult at times, but at least you can brag that you're going through it...with your solemate.
Cheesily Enough, The End.