Hi, all!
This was written for the 3rd circulation of the Newsies Papes Selling Competition.
So, I had a lot of trouble with this one, and I have a new respect for fanfiction authors who regularly write AUs. But I finally got it written and I am relatively pleased with how it turned out.
Thanks a whole bunch to everyone who helped me actually get this written. Charlotte was amazing at helping me flesh my 300 word thing out (you're amazing!), sonicblue99 gave amazing advice (as per usual), and Emador was wonderful to commiserate with.
Also, can I just say how happy I am to be a part of this competition and to be getting to know all of the wonderful authors involved. You guys are amazing!
Requirements:
Task: Your newsie (or newsies) go to a Waterpark.
Prompts:
Color: Yellow
Word count: 742
"Hey, Jack?" asked Crutchie, breaking the quiet air between the two boys who were seated in the front of the canary-colored van, affectionately called The Highlighter. The group had collectively lapsed into silence after the first hour of switching between the two scratchy radio stations that came in through the receiver; it was either classic or polka, and no one liked polka. Eventually, the boys littering the backseat had dropped off into sleep.
Crutchie's question startled Jack out of his road-trip-induced stupor. With a jerk, his knees hit the dashboard and he swerved his head to glare at Crutchie.
"Yeah, Crutchie?"
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go to the water park today?"
Jack grunted before answering, shaking his knees out and wrinkling his nose at the sting. "Yeah. We've all been planning this trip for months. Why wouldn't we go today?"
"Well, have you looked at the sky lately?"
"What are you . . . Oh."
The sky in front of them was heavy with black storm clouds.
"Yeah."
Jack glanced in the rearview mirror at the boys sleeping in the seats behind him. They were all really looking forward to visiting the water park, and Jack didn't want to call off the trip for nothing.
"Let's wait until we get to the water park and can talk to Davey and the others."
Crutchie nodded. "And who knows, maybe the sky will lighten up before we get there."
The sky didn't lighten up. If anything, it grew darker.
By the time Jack parked their personal butterball, all of the boys were awake and, unfortunately, had noticed the weather.
"Well, that's just swell." Race popped his heels sardonically.
"Shut up, Race." Jack tossed him a look.
He opened his mouth to bite back, but was cut off.
"Guys! The ticket lady at the gate said the park is still open." called Davey, jogging up to where the boys had gathered.
"That doesn't mean they can't close it later."
"On the bright side, the park will be practically empty!" Les sing-songed.
"It'll be even emptier once they close it."
"Race," Jack rounded on his friend. "Do you want to go to the water park or not?"
A huff came from the other teen. "I do."
"Then shut your trap and come on!"
The boys trooped into the park, Race making small snide comments all the way ("'Shut your trap,' he says. 'Come on,' he says."), purchased their tickets and scoped out a place to sit.
"All right guys, I think we should all meet back here for lunch around one-o'clock." Davey checked the sky. "Or if it starts raining."
"Don't worry, Dave. It'll be fine. Let's go!" Without waiting for an answer, Jack turned and charged deeper into the park.
With that the boys took off in multiple directions, eager to go on all the rides.
Jack, Les, and Davey were halfway up the stairs to the top of a water slide, lugging the bright yellow tubes with them, when an announcement came over the park's loud speakers.
"Attention all Splash Park customers. Due to inclement weather, all rides within the park with be shut down for the next thirty minutes. Should the weather persist, the park will close and we will refund all tickets. Thank you."
Les dropped his tube. "Five stairs. We had five stairs left. Five. For the first ride of the day." Davey patted his shoulder consolingly.
The three of them turned around, albeit begrudgingly, and headed back down the stairs to where they had agreed to meet the others.
"Do you think they'll close the park, Jack?" The question was innocent enough, but Jack still found himself sighing.
"Naw, Romeo, they'll probably just wait for the thunder or whatever to pass and then open everything back up again." He tried for a smile in the hopes that that would somehow set his words in stone.
Almost as if in response to Jack's answer, the sky chose that moment to open up and dump buckets of water on the group of boys.
"Okay, maybe they are going to close the park."
"Attention all Splash Park customers, we regret to inform you that due to inclement weather the park will be –"
"Okay, that's it! Last one to The Highlighter is a rotten hot dog!"
All the boys seized their belongings and took off in the direction of the parking lot.
Davey sighed. "I'll get the ticket refunds."