David feels like he's invisible. Racetrack tries to convince him that he isn't.
1899 JAVID SLASH.
I do not own Disney, Newsies, or any of the Newsies characters. (I should be so lucky!)
I am making no money from this story.
INVISIBLE
David sat on a bench in the far end of the park. He pondered the reason for his existence as dozens of people passed him by. Nobody seemed to notice that he was there.
After a while, David saw Racetrack Higgins saunter up the path. He was selling his newspapers and tipping his hat to the ladies as he walked. After selling a paper to a slightly portly gentleman, Racetrack turned and promptly tripped over David's feet.
"Damn, David," Racetrack chuckled. "I guess I didn't see you there."
"That's okay," David grumbled. "You couldn't help not seeing me because I'm invisible."
"Are you feelin' alright, Dave?" Race asked. "Maybe you should go and sit in the shade for a while. I think the sun has gotten to ya."
"I don't need to go sit in the shade. I'm feel fine. I'm just invisible is all."
Racetrack tried to hide his concern over his friend's odd behavior, "Okay, Dave. What makes you think that you're invisible?"
"I don't think I'm invisible, I know I'm invisible," David replied. "I've been invisible all day."
"Look, Dave. You ain't makin' any sense. Why don't you start at the beginning, and tell me what's wrong?"
"Well, it started the first thing this morning. I was standing in the kitchen when my father came in carrying a load of wood for the stove. He ran right into me, knocked me down, and dumped the load of wood on top of me. Then Papa looked at me and said, 'I'm sorry, David. I didn't see you there.'"
"So your old man ran into you. That doesn't mean that you're invisible, Dave."
"That was only the beginning," David sighed. "When I finished stacking the wood, I sat down at the table to have my breakfast. When I asked my mother for my plate she said, 'I'm sorry, David. I must have looked right past you. I thought that you had already finished your breakfast.' Then she told me that she was sorry, but there was no more pancake batter."
"Jeese, Dave. I didn't have breakfast today or yesterday, and you don't hear me complanin'."
David knew that he should feel guilty for complaining to Racetrack about breakfast, but he was too busy feeling sorry for himself to care. "It isn't the breakfast part that's bothering me. It's the fact that nobody noticed that I was there."
"So your parents didn't notice you. That doesn't mean that you're invisible. Suck-it-up and get on with your life."
"That was just the start of my day, Race. When I got to school the teacher handed back our essays assignments . . .Well, he handed back all of them except mine. I raised my hand, and Mr. Reynolds said, 'I didn't know that you were here, Mr. Jacobs. When did you arrive?' When I asked him why he hadn't given back my essay, Mr. Reynolds said that he didn't remember receiving an essay from me. . . . I spent all last weekend writing that thing! I worked very hard on it, and he didn't even remember reading it. That's when I realized that I must be invisible."
"Okay, Dave. So you're having a bad day. Everyone has 'im now and again. But thinking that you're invisible is just crazy!"
"Oh yeah? Well if I'm not invisible why didn't anyone see me at the market today? After I waited in line for almost ten minutes, Mr. Nussbaum ignored me and waited on the lady behind me. Then another lady pushed right in front of me as if I wasn't there. When Mr. Nussbaum started to serve man behind me, I stepped up to the counter and told him that I was next! Mr. Nussbaum gave me a strange look and said that he didn't see me standing there. How could he not see me, unless I'm invisible?"
Racetrack knew that there was no way he was going to convince his fiend that he wasn't invisible. David was too busy feeling sorry for himself to be reasoned with.
"Hey, Dave!" a voice called from across the park. It was Jack. He was waving, and smiling, and running toward Racetrack and David."
"Ya see that, Dave. How can you possibly believe that you're invisible when you have someone like Jack? Half the time he doesn't see anyone but you!"
David watched Jack sprinting across the grass. His smile was bright, his cheeks were red, and a mop of hair was falling in front of his eyes. David couldn't remember seeing anything that looked so wonderful.
"Ya see, Dave. It doesn't matter who sees you and who doesn't just so long as the right person sees you. They'll be another breakfast tomorrow, you can always write another essay, and you can consider yourself a gentleman for letting the ladies in the market go ahead of you. But that," Racetrack said gesturing to Jack. "That is what's important. Jack sees you, and that ain't ever gonna change."
David looked at the handsome boy running toward him, and then he looked back at Racetrack. He chuckled inside as he looked at the half smoked cigar clenched between a sea crooked teeth. Suddenly he realized that the five foot two smart-ass sitting next to him was the most intelligent person he'd ever met. "How'd you get so smart?" David asked.
"It just comes naturally, Dave. It's like playing cards and shootin' dice. It's a gift," Race smirked.
"Hi-ya, Dave. I've been lookin' all over for ya. What are you doing sitting here in the park all by yourself?"
"Excuse me?" Race bristled.
"Oh . . . Hi-ya, Race. I didn't see ya sittin' there."
"Ya see what I mean, Dave? It doesn't matter if the rest of the world sees you or not. What matters is that the right person sees you."
David stood and reached out to shake Racetrack's hand. "Thanks, Race. You're a very wise man. Maybe even the wisest person I've ever met."
"Tell me something I don't know!" Racetrack smirked as he returned David's handshake.
"What was that about?" Jack asked.
"I'll explain later," David said as he shoved Jack and started to run.
Racetrack watched as the two boys wrestled, ran, and laughed their way out of the park. Jack put his arm around David's shoulder and pulled him closer for just a second before they disappeared through the gate.
"I'd like to buy a paper, young man," a well dressed woman said to Racetrack.
"Yes ma'am," Racetrack replied with a tip of his hat. "It just so happens that I have one paper left, and I've been saving it just for you."
The lady blushed as she fumbled through her purse. "Here you go," she said as she handed him a nickel. "And keep the change."
"Thank you ma'am," Race replied, again tipping his hat. "And have your self a wonderful afternoon!"
Racetrack flipped the coin in as he walked the path to the south end of the park. "Yep," he said to himself. "It doesn't matter who sees you, just as long as the right person sees you."
He slipped the coin into is pocket and reveled in the sound as it clinked against the other coins he'd earned that day.
Race had a sudden urge to feel a cool salty breeze, and to hear the sound of fishing boats as they traveled across Sheepshead Bay.
The thought of spending the afternoon with someone who could always see him brought a smile to Racetrack's face. Before he knew it, he was whistling a tune, and walking the path across the bridge to Brooklyn.
END
A/N: This story is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt invisible.
Thanks for taking the time to read this story. Your reviews will be appreciated.