Thanks to Newsie4eva, broadwaysgirl143, and Ealasaid Una for the reviews. I have decided to continue for you guys.
The little girl wrapped her arms around her tighter, as if to ward off the chill the rain had brought. She shivered, looking around. She was so tired and cold and hadn't had a meal in three days. Finally she sat down in front of a building and started cried until she fell asleep.
Opening her eyes, the little girl blinked as a face came into focus. It was the face of a young girl, about the same age as her.
"Benjy?" she whispered. Or at least, she thought she whispered. She didn't hear anything. She started sitting up. Just then a nun walked in with a tray of food. Smiling, she set the tray down on a table, turned to the girl on the bed and asked a question. The girl still couldn't hear a thing. What was wrong with her? Her eyes started moving around the room, looking for something. Looking for someone…
Laura Mae sat straight up in bed, gasping. She looked around the room wildly, as if searching. She jumped, feeling a hand on her arm.
Her friend Carey looked concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked, using her hands as well as talking. Laura nodded, letting out a breath.
"Bad dream. Same one as always," she signed. Laura had lost some of her hearing because of a head injury before coming to the orphanage run by the nuns. The doctor who looked at her as a child had said Laura may regain some of her hearing but would never regain all of it. It would be enough to speak and sound like other people, but Laura had chosen not to try. Selective muteness, he said; stems from trauma as a child, most likely the same trauma that had caused her hearing loss.
"The one about you ending up here?"
"Yes, but this time was different."
"What was different about it?"
"This time there was a man with an eye-patch chasing me. And there was a building on fire."
"Is that how your parents died? In a fire?"
"I don't remember. I remember running races with my cousin and friend but that's the last thing I remember before waking up here."
Sister Abigail stuck her head in the door. "Girls, it's almost time for morning prayers. Can you help the younger ones?"
Both girls nodded and began to get ready in silence.
Crutchy sighed as he sat down on a bench in Central Park. He had a nightmare last night, he hadn't slept well because of it, the headline was bad today, his leg hurt a lot today, and on top of that he was hungry.
"Are youse okay?" Kid Blink asked. When Crutchy didn't answer, Blink lightly smacked him with his papers. Crutchy jumped, spilling his papes all over the ground.
"Watja do that for?" he yelled.
"Wassa matta wit ya today? Youse not your usual cheerful self," Blink asked, surprised at Crutchy's sudden outburst. Crutchy usually had a big smile on his face, and Blink had almost never seen him without it.
Crutchy sighed again as he bent down to grab his papes. "Sorry Blink. Bad dream last night. I didn't sleep well."
"I hoird you last, talkin' in your sleep. Youse kept talkin' bout some goirl named Laura."
Crutchy paled, but didn't say anything. He had been dreaming about a girl named Laura.
"Is she your goirl or somthing?"
"No, she was my…"
His eyes were drawn to a crowd of girls gathering under a tree not far from where to two newsies sat. Most of them looked to be about Les's age or younger, but there was two older girls about 17 or so helping out. Crutchy guessed them to be from St. Mary of Margaret's, an orphanage not far from the Lodging House. He was brought back to reality by a sharp jab from Blink. He jumped, startled.
"Your what?"
"My cousin. She was my cousin."
"Was? Wat happened?"
"Don't know. Haven't seen her since we was 5."
"Wat happened?"
"Nothin'. Let's go to Tibby's. I'm gettin' hungry as a horse." Crutchy grabbed his papes and began to walk. Blink shrugged as he grabbed his own papes and followed the other boy out of the park.
Crutchy looked back on the way to Tibby's. He could see one of the older girls pulling out a violin and begin to play a cheerful tune. It sounded strangely and hauntingly familiar. He shook his head and kept walking, the sound of the violin following him all the way.
Hope you liked it. If you have any ideas or anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll see if I can work it in.