Chapter 12
Dreams
Dreams may appear like they're so far away, but sometimes when you dream of reaching the furthest star in the galaxy, the harder you try, the smaller the universe seems, and the easier it is to reach that star.
The night breeze wandered through the city, enticing its patrons to enjoy the cool weather a bit longer – to stay out a few more minutes before retiring for the evening. Sparsely scattered clouds sat in the sky, allowing stargazers a full view of the starlit canopy above.
Muffled sobs were heard on the roof of the girls' boarding house, but it wasn't just Estrella crying… Midnight had joined her – the two girls venting out pent-up feelings from months ago, and vowing to each other that they would make life worth living.
~~
"Ya gonna get yer watch back?" Irish Flare asked Racetrack as they walked towards Manhattan.
Shrugging, Racetrack stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed. He missed the way the watch weighed down one side of his vest, and how the chain sparkled in the moonlight on his walks home. "Maybe I'll just save up for a better one," he concluded.
"Or maybe yer goin' back tomorrow ta try and win it back," Irish Flare deducted knowingly. It wasn't like Race to replace a treasured possession so quickly. She knew what he would do.
"Or maybe I am," Race replied, a small gleam in his eye. He'd eat his hat just to see the look on the other boys' faces when he showed them that winning hand tomorrow. "I'll have me a watch soon, you'll see."
Irish Flare patted his shoulder. This wasn't the first time Racetrack had gambled something away, but determination and stubborn pride had always brought him good fortune in the end – even if it meant working extra hard to buy a replacement. "Ya know, ya always say that, and somehow ya've always been right."
Chuckling, Racetrack escorted Irish Flare towards the boarding house.
~~
Skittery held Filly in his arms, his chin lightly rested against the top of her head as they sat on the back porch of the lodging house. "And we'll get out of da city, and we'll have a big farm…"
"Wid horses?" Filly cut in.
Skittery nodded. "Wid horses of course," he confirmed.
Filly closed her eyes, imagining their own place. "Mm, dat sounds nice."
"One day then," he whispered. "One day we'll have dat."
~~
Busy burst out of the washroom stall in song, dancing her way through to the bunkroom.
"Busy, what da heck are ya doin'?" Mischief called.
"Practicin' for me big debut!" she shouted and continued on, ignoring the questioning looks on the girls' faces.
Some day dat solo's gonna be mine.
~~
Autumn looked up at the building in front of her. In a few moments she would enter that boarding house, only to be bombarded by questions of her date, and probably various comments on why it had ended so early.
As she was about to enter, she heard the soft purrs of a cat nearby, and turned to see Lee Lee holding her kitten. "Ya know someday yer gonna get caught wid that."
Lee Lee smiled. "Dat's what everyone says, but I ain't been caught yet," she announced proudly.
"Why do you need a cat anyway?" Autumn asked softly.
Lee Lee shrugged, and before she made her way to the alley that led to the backyard of the boarding house, smiled again at Autumn. "It's nice to be loved," she answered simply.
Autumn watched her depart into the shadows and sighed. Perhaps David needs a real date… without Jack, she thought wistfully as she entered the house.
~~
"Fire, what's in dere?" Satine asked and pointed to the small, brown bag.
"Me savings, a coise," Fire answered quickly.
"Savings for what?" Satine inquired further. For some, saving had become a ridiculous idea. This was their life, and many had accepted the fact that they could stand living like this, having already sacrificed enough.
"For me better life, wid me better job, me better place ta live, and da friends dat helped me get dere."
Satine smiled at her. "Well den, we better make sure dat soon enough, ya got so much ta save dat it don't fit in dere."
Smiling back, Firecracker placed the bag under her pillow and hugged Satine, knowing that with her friends, she'd be able to someday have that life she had always dreamt of.
~~
Blizzard softy approached Wish's bunk, where BC and Moneybags sat beside Wish, comforting the sullen girl.
"Wish?" As soon as the words were uttered, BC and Moneybags exchanged worried glances, but Wish nodded to them, allowing them to leave.
"Look, Wish…"Blizzard sighed. "I shouldn't have said dat stuff earlier."
A small smile on her face, Wish shook her head. "It wasn't all wrong. I play things safe… I know that. I just… didn't want to get hurt anymore."
"But it was wrong of me ta say it like I did, Wish," Blizzard insisted.
"Ya try new things, Blizz. Ya take chances and sometimes dose chances take ya places ya wanna go. Yer stronger den I could evah be," Wish went on, ignoring Blizzard's attempts to cut in.
"But dere are times dose chances get me in more trouble den I wanna be in," Blizzard argued and gently took a seat beside her.
"And dat's just life. Chances are part of it… Maybe someday I'll try livin' a bit more," Wish stated. "Someday…" she trailed off.
"And someday we'll take ya ta get some colorful clothes," Blizzard smiled and gestured to Wish's black attire.
The two giggled as Wish smacked her with a convenient pillow.
~~
Admiring the moon's reflection on the water below, Spot sat on his docks alone, his chest heaving another sigh. Brooky had walked off, annoyed that Spot was apparently brooding over Fade, and Spot had stayed there, alone and confused.
"But attachment ain't good ya fool!" he yelled at himself. "She'd just make ya into a lousy love-struck boy if ya kept datin' her!" Spot thrashed his cane against the side of the docks. "Yer men would harp on ya for lovin' someone. You'd be da laughin' stock of Brooklyn!"
Lowering his voice, Spot stared up at the sky. "Or she coulda been da best thing ta ever happen to ya, and ya just blew it all 'cause of some damn reputation…"
While the night air provided no comfort for Spot in Brooklyn, Kid Blink's arms granted solace for Fade across town in Manhattan.
~~
"Hope, what say we go to da park dis weekend?"
Climbing into Blaze's lap, Hope wrapped her tiny arms around her mother. "I want to go!" she giggled, thinking of the boy who had played with her earlier that afternoon.
Hope was named for just that – hope. Her mother had lost that attribute while pregnant with her daughter, and vowed that through Hope, she would never lose it again. Hope was a symbol to her that she could go on, and that life was worth living, with Hope.
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When I dream, on my own, I'm alone but I ain't lonely