"God, dis weatha' is awful!"
"I'se knows, Dutch, but we'se gotta sell if we'se gonna make it tonight."
The seventeen-year-old blonde looked at his darker-haired friend scathingly. "I'se undahstands dat, Specs. I'se jus' wond'rin if it's woith it ta go."
"Dutchy…cheer up! I'se shoah it'll clear up." Specs looked pleadingly at his fellow newsboy. Dutchy, unable to really resist that look, gave in and followed his friend outside into the pouring rain to continue selling his papes.
******************
Specs was right, Dutchy mused. The weather had cleared up, so that it was mostly cloudless by about eight that evening. His thoughts about this evening's activities were interrupted by Specs.
"Ehy, Dutch, we'se bettah get goin' if we'se gonna make it on time." Dutchy sigh, but smiled at his friend, as he pulled himself up from his sitting position on the floor of the Lodging House. The two best friends chattered some as they walked toward their destination.
Once they got to Central Park, it became apparent that more people than last year had showed up. "Guess word gets around," Dutchy remarked as they made their way through the crowd. Specs nodded.
The pair settled themselves on the ground a little distance from the front and waited to the show to begin. It did, promptly at 9:30.
This year's fireworks were the best ones yet. As they watched, the two newsboys seemed to just naturally lean against each other comfortably. The bright colors and interesting patterns fascinated them.
"Happy Fourth of July," Specs whispered. No words were said for the rest of the night.
A/N: Wow, just felt the need to write a 4th of July ficcie. The fireworks tonight were very good, except the rain prior to that was really crappy. Oh well, it all turned out good. And I wasn't sure, for a little bit, if this was going to be slash or not, but you can take that ending however you would like. ^_^;; Thanks for reading! Oh yeah, the title is a take on Jimmy Buffett's song "Night I Painted the Sky." It's really pretty, and sweet, and about setting of Independence Day fireworks.
Disclaimer: I work at a Girl Scout camp. If I owned Newsies, do you think I'd be working there? **thinks for a second** Actually I probably would, but that's a moot point. ^_^;;