Disclaimer- I *would* own the newsies, but Disney got to it first. Damn them.
L/N- I think I do all my writing when I'm half asleep… Hm… I'm surprised it even makes any sense. I know that the thing with Question is unlikely, but go with it, K?
PS- Don't Snow Days just rock your Newsie-world? I have one today! That's why I'm here at 10:00 am eating dry cereal out of the box and writing! Happy whiteness!
Shout Outs-
Crunch- If you're good I'll give you another chance with the pitchfork… but NO dancing with it! Awww, would you like a Blink!Muse? I may have a spare… *Searches through Barbie's Dream House- Home of the muses* Aha! Here's one! *Hands Crunch a Blink!Muse* Now, take good care of him, I traumatized him a little with this story… Thanks bunches for reviewing and, as always, UPDATE!~
Misprint- *In scary-girl sing song voice from Don't Say A Word* I'll never tell… You'll just have to wait and see where my foreshadowing is. Yep yep, that part was supposed to be funny- look at how angsty this story is, I needed some comic relief. This is the night after Anthony died, remember? He had just found out about it that morning. Enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review!~
Cards- Aww! Lol, did I scare you? I wanted to freak people out with that chapter… glad it worked! Thanks for the review!~
Falco Conlon- *Sigh* Yes, it looks as though Blink has post traumatic stress disorder. Thanks for the review!~
The Omniscient Bookseller- Well, how nice would you be if someone woke you up in the middle of the night? They were tired, and Skittery was just, well, being Skittery. Thanks for the review!~
Sphinx- Two reviews! Niceness! I agree bout the whole original character thing. If they're girls they usually end up being Mary Sue's and the boys just become stereotypical, but I decided to try it and see how it went. I'm glad you like it! Blink does deserve the guilt he's going through, sad but true. Thanks for reviewing *twice!*~
Keza: Queen of Procrastination- We should start a support group for these 'bad reviewing habits.' You're still at home at 7:15? LUCKY! I have to catch my bus at 7:00! Oh yeah, blame it on me… lol. Another Pie? Ooooh… I meant the same one, but here you can have another anyway *Hands Keza another Pie!Package. Reviews are NEVER too long! This was a good long one though… thanks for the review!~
SparksdaNewsie: I like reading some slash, but I couldn't write it so Blink will not be gay. Anyway, this story has no romance in it. Mush and Blink are just really good friends. You have the most random reviews I have ever read… very amusing… I don't know how Spot fits in here, but maybe I'll add him… Thanks for the review!~
Il Salto di Honor
It was now August. For nearly a month the dream had been plaguing him. Every night he would wake up gasping for breath, images from the nightmares still vivid in his mind.
Much to the relief of the others, he didn't scream anymore. Kid Blink, however, didn't feel relieved by this. The dream just kept getting worse and worse. It always started out the same way the first one had, but each night it would go on for longer than it had the night before.
Blink couldn't scream for a reason; he couldn't scream under water. By now, in the dream, he had hit the water. At first he would wake up as soon as his body touched its dark, forbidding surface, but now he sunk to the bottom. It terrified him; the dreams felt so real. He could feel the hard slap on his skin as he hit the water; he could hear the water rushing in his ears as he plunged downward; he could feel a bony grabbing his ankle and pulling him down to the bottom, holding him there; he could see his vision getting blurry, feel himself running out of breath…
And pray that he would wake up.
~~~
"Heah, try dis out," Bull Dog shaved the last rough piece of wood off the structure he was holding with his pocket knife and handed it to Question.
Slowly and carefully, Question fitted the wooden cylinder, with a large grove cut in the top, over his stump of a leg. "Looks like it fits pretty good," he said, looking over it.
Bull Dog grinned broadly and twirled the knife between his fingers, looking awfully proud of himself- he had been carving wood long before he got thrown in the refuge.
"Tie dese around it an' try an' stand up." Parker said, tossing Question the pieces of sheet he and Ten Pin had cut.
Question caught them easily and wrapped them around his leg as tightly as he could, binding the wooden attachment to it. He bit his lip nervously as he shifted his weight to the edge of the bed. He was going to attempt to stand for the first time in almost a month. Taking a deep breath he eased himself off the bed.
A big grin spread across his face as he stood up and felt himself being supported by two legs. His excitement was short lived, though. Almost as soon as he stood up, the bindings unraveled and Question fell painfully to the floor with a loud thud.
Within seconds, the boys had rushed to his aid, helping him back up to a sitting position on his bed.
Parker unwrapped the sheets that hadn't given from Question's leg and Bull Dog took back the cylinder and began to re-carve it.
Question's hopes began to sink again. He was never going to walk again; he would never be able to sell newspapers again.
"Hey, don't look so beat, we's'll get you'se walkin'," Oppie reassured him. He then added to the rest of the boys: "Da sheets ain't enough; we's need somet'in' ta stick it ta his leg b'foah we tie it dere."
"How bout dat?" Ten Pin pointed to the corner of the room, where what looked to be a pile of dirt was sitting.
"Ten Pin, are you'se stupid?" Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Dat's ta keep da cold air out durin' da wintah!"
"It don't woik anyway!" Ten Pin shot back. "We's should at least use it foah somet'in' useful!"
Knuckles made a noise somewhere in the back of his throat, but "Foine. Use 't. But don't complain ta me in da wintah when youah freezin'," was all he said.
With a triumphant glance at Question, he made his way to the corner of the room and scooped up a handful of the stuff. He then proceeded to rub it all over Question's still sore stump. It felt disgusting, sticky and slimy at the same time.
"Uh, what is dis stuff?" Question asked.
Ten Pin shrugged, "I'se don't know. We's found 't las' wintah."
He didn't really like the sound of that, but as Bull Dog fitted the attachment back on to his leg, he could feel it stick firmly to the black goop and his hopes rose once again.
"Let me tie dem dis time. I can get 'em tightah," Parker offered, taking the sheets from him. He was right; it felt much sturdier than it had before.
"Try standin' on it again!" Oppie suggested excitedly.
Ten Pin and Bull Dog each took one of Question's arms and helped him to his feet. He stood there tentatively for a few moments, shifting his weight slightly to his new leg.
"How does it feel?" Parker asked.
"Pretty stoidy…"
"Try walkin', see what happens."
Question took a cautious step forward, then another. He was a little shaky, and his steps were very stiff, but he was walking. He never thought he would do this again!
"Look at me! Look at me, you'se guys! I'se walking!"
They all laughed and Question was met with many pats on the back and various forms of 'You'se got it Question!' and 'We's knew you'se could do it!'
"Now," Ten Pin's voice broke through the celebrations. "Let's see what we can do about getting' you'se outta da refuge."
~~~
I'm sorry! I know this is short and slightly crappy, but I really wanted to just get something up…
Review Button: If you don't click me… I'll… *cough* DIE!
Seriously… REVIEW! Or YOU'LL be the one that killed the review button *glares around evilly*
Keza- Sorry if I'm scaring you with my beyond weird reviews to Writer's Block… I always read that when I'm mucho hyper…
~Lexa~