Disclaimer- I do not own the Newsies. The song is owned by Yellowcard.
Slick POV
He didn't really know me. I had only been at the lodging house for three days and I was lucky Spot had even let me in. It was full, but he had found somewhere to put me. People said he was cruel, but he didn't have a choice. It was beat or be beaten and Spot wasn't beaten. In all truthfulness, he hated seeing kids on the street. It made him sick. It seems that terror follows in my wake because on that third day, the lodging house caught fire...
Spot POV
I watched the building burn from down the street. I didn't know what it was at first...then it registered. That's my lodging house! I dropped my papers and ran toward it. Shots stood outside with a group of boys. "Shots! Who's still in dere?" I snapped.
"Da new kid...Slick."
I froze. Slick was eight years old. The same age I was when I ran away. He reminded me of my brother. I had to get him out. I had to think. Someone, somewhere loved that kid. No one loved me like that. He was worth more than I ever would be. I dove through the door, coughing on the smoke. It caught in my lungs and gagged me.
I stumbled up the steps. "Slick?! Where are ya?" A child's whimper answered me. He was in the office. I grabbed the door knob without thinking and felt my hand stick to its hot surface. I pulled. The skin on the palm of my hand was completely torn off. Wincing, I pressed my shoulder against the door and fell through. "Slick?!"
I grabbed him and began to carry him down the stairs. He clung to me like I meant something and it made me realize that now, I was worth something to someone. We were in the middle of the stairwell when I felt the floor give way. I slipped through the floorboards and tossed Slick down the steps. "Run!" He gave me one sad look before turning to the door.
"Think about the love inside the strength of heart.
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark.
Climbing higher through the fire, time was running out.
Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive,
But you still came back for me.
You were strong and you believed."
Slick POV
I collapsed near Shots, coughing and sputtering like I had fallen in water. Smoke poured from my lungs as he shook me. "Slick! Where's Spot?"
I gazed at the building as the roof fell through. "He didn't make it out?"
Shots gripped my shoulders. "He's...dead..."
I began shaking. Spot had saved my life only to lose his. "No!"
Penny, one of the few girls in the lodging house, pulled me into a hug. "It'll be okay. Its awright."
"Everything is gonna be alright.
Everything is gonna be alright.
Everything is gonna be alright.
Be strong. Believe.
Be strong. Believe."
Now when I look back on that day, fifteen years ago, I think about how I never got to thank him for that. He wasn't scared of death. There was no fear in his ice blue eyes. He let his life go, to save mine. He had friends too. A girl, a brother, a sister...and he still came back for an eight-year-old boy he didn't know.
"Think about the chance I never had to say,
Thank you for giving up your life that day.
Never fearing, only hearing voices calling out.
Let it all go, the life that you know, just to bring it down alive
And you still came back for me.
You were strong and you believed."
I lived with the newsies for another month after that but they never really excepted me. I was strong, as Penny had told me to be. I'm glad I got to grow up but at the same time it drives me crazy thinking that I'm responsible for Spot Conlon's death. I want to make what he did worthwhile. No one will ever understand how lucky and happy I am to be alive.
"Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.
(Again today, we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, to help us make sense of our despair)
Wanna hold my wife when I get home
Wanna tell the kids they'll never know how much I love to see them smile
Wanna make a change or two right now
Wanna live a life like you somehow
Wanna make your sacrifice worthwhile."
Not a day goes by when I don't think about people like Spot. People that have given themselves up for the sake of another. A surprising hero...one that came out of the dark and saved the life of a child he didn't know. He must have had a heart he never let anyone see because it took so much strength to do that. To die for me...and I thank him for it everyday. Everyday when I see my wife and children...things he should have and I shouldn't...
"Think about the love inside the strength of heart.
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark.
Think about the chance I never had to say.
Thank you for giving up your life that day.
(The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.)"
Slick POV
He didn't really know me. I had only been at the lodging house for three days and I was lucky Spot had even let me in. It was full, but he had found somewhere to put me. People said he was cruel, but he didn't have a choice. It was beat or be beaten and Spot wasn't beaten. In all truthfulness, he hated seeing kids on the street. It made him sick. It seems that terror follows in my wake because on that third day, the lodging house caught fire...
Spot POV
I watched the building burn from down the street. I didn't know what it was at first...then it registered. That's my lodging house! I dropped my papers and ran toward it. Shots stood outside with a group of boys. "Shots! Who's still in dere?" I snapped.
"Da new kid...Slick."
I froze. Slick was eight years old. The same age I was when I ran away. He reminded me of my brother. I had to get him out. I had to think. Someone, somewhere loved that kid. No one loved me like that. He was worth more than I ever would be. I dove through the door, coughing on the smoke. It caught in my lungs and gagged me.
I stumbled up the steps. "Slick?! Where are ya?" A child's whimper answered me. He was in the office. I grabbed the door knob without thinking and felt my hand stick to its hot surface. I pulled. The skin on the palm of my hand was completely torn off. Wincing, I pressed my shoulder against the door and fell through. "Slick?!"
I grabbed him and began to carry him down the stairs. He clung to me like I meant something and it made me realize that now, I was worth something to someone. We were in the middle of the stairwell when I felt the floor give way. I slipped through the floorboards and tossed Slick down the steps. "Run!" He gave me one sad look before turning to the door.
"Think about the love inside the strength of heart.
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark.
Climbing higher through the fire, time was running out.
Never knowing you weren't going to be coming down alive,
But you still came back for me.
You were strong and you believed."
Slick POV
I collapsed near Shots, coughing and sputtering like I had fallen in water. Smoke poured from my lungs as he shook me. "Slick! Where's Spot?"
I gazed at the building as the roof fell through. "He didn't make it out?"
Shots gripped my shoulders. "He's...dead..."
I began shaking. Spot had saved my life only to lose his. "No!"
Penny, one of the few girls in the lodging house, pulled me into a hug. "It'll be okay. Its awright."
"Everything is gonna be alright.
Everything is gonna be alright.
Everything is gonna be alright.
Be strong. Believe.
Be strong. Believe."
Now when I look back on that day, fifteen years ago, I think about how I never got to thank him for that. He wasn't scared of death. There was no fear in his ice blue eyes. He let his life go, to save mine. He had friends too. A girl, a brother, a sister...and he still came back for an eight-year-old boy he didn't know.
"Think about the chance I never had to say,
Thank you for giving up your life that day.
Never fearing, only hearing voices calling out.
Let it all go, the life that you know, just to bring it down alive
And you still came back for me.
You were strong and you believed."
I lived with the newsies for another month after that but they never really excepted me. I was strong, as Penny had told me to be. I'm glad I got to grow up but at the same time it drives me crazy thinking that I'm responsible for Spot Conlon's death. I want to make what he did worthwhile. No one will ever understand how lucky and happy I am to be alive.
"Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Everything is gonna be alright
Be strong. Believe.
(Again today, we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, to help us make sense of our despair)
Wanna hold my wife when I get home
Wanna tell the kids they'll never know how much I love to see them smile
Wanna make a change or two right now
Wanna live a life like you somehow
Wanna make your sacrifice worthwhile."
Not a day goes by when I don't think about people like Spot. People that have given themselves up for the sake of another. A surprising hero...one that came out of the dark and saved the life of a child he didn't know. He must have had a heart he never let anyone see because it took so much strength to do that. To die for me...and I thank him for it everyday. Everyday when I see my wife and children...things he should have and I shouldn't...
"Think about the love inside the strength of heart.
Think about the heroes saving life in the dark.
Think about the chance I never had to say.
Thank you for giving up your life that day.
(The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.)"