"Hey Jack, mind if I join you? I could use a bit of fresh air and a
smoke."
"Nah, Kid, have a seat, I could use a bit of company, but it will cost you." He had wanted to be alone, but sometimes alone with someone is better then being alone alone.
"Sure," the boy with the eye patch sat on a crate next to Jack and handed him his "payment", "you want a light to go with that?"
Not waiting for an answer Kid Blink lit his own and held out the match keeping the flame under his friend's cigarette. "The view tonight is amazing. I don't know if I've ever seen this many stars."
He noticed Jack did not seem to be listening. Wondering what was on his mind, but knowing and respecting that Jack was a private person, decided not to ask. Kid knew he had gone over to see Sarah earlier and supposed the trance somehow related. When he was ready, Jack would talk and not before. Instead of asking about his mood or of Sarah, Kid decided to tell him about his adventures in selling.
"Mush and me was out selling today and along comes this rich looking girl. She started to stumble backward so I reached out a hand to help her. Instead of taking the hand of a newsie, she fell on her backside into a huge puddle of mud. Someone else offered her a hand up, which she took, but her feet caught in her dress and she fell backward taking him with her. We had to run away and find a spot to sit or we would have fallen down laughing." Recalling the events, Kid started chuckling, but Jack only smiled a little.
"Well, Jack, I'm going back in, there's a killer poker game going on in there. You wanna join me?"
"No, thanks tho', I'm gonna stay out here a bit longer."
Taking the hint, Kid Blink stepped over the edge of the roof and onto the fire escape. He looked back at his friend with concern then turned back to the metal frame and proceeded down the stairs to the window. Before reaching the landing, he thought he heard a sob from above him. Kid shrugged and ducked into the window.
Tears stung his eyes as Jack relived his relationship with Sarah. They had only had a brief nine months of courting, but he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. What had gone wrong, why had she not felt the same? He could not believe he was crying. After everything else he had been through in his life, losing a girl should be easy. His mother died while he was at her bedside, his father arrested on the street in front of him, sent to the orphanage, running away and living on the street, sent to the refuge for stealing food, all before finally finding an older newsie who took him under his wing. Jack lived a lifetime in those few short years, all before the age of eleven.
Before retiring to the bunkroom for the night, Jack took one last look at the sky. He caught a glimpse of the moving light from the corner of his eye. What was it his mother said about shooting stars? Jack closed his eyes tight wrinkling his whole face as he did and made a wish.
"Nah, Kid, have a seat, I could use a bit of company, but it will cost you." He had wanted to be alone, but sometimes alone with someone is better then being alone alone.
"Sure," the boy with the eye patch sat on a crate next to Jack and handed him his "payment", "you want a light to go with that?"
Not waiting for an answer Kid Blink lit his own and held out the match keeping the flame under his friend's cigarette. "The view tonight is amazing. I don't know if I've ever seen this many stars."
He noticed Jack did not seem to be listening. Wondering what was on his mind, but knowing and respecting that Jack was a private person, decided not to ask. Kid knew he had gone over to see Sarah earlier and supposed the trance somehow related. When he was ready, Jack would talk and not before. Instead of asking about his mood or of Sarah, Kid decided to tell him about his adventures in selling.
"Mush and me was out selling today and along comes this rich looking girl. She started to stumble backward so I reached out a hand to help her. Instead of taking the hand of a newsie, she fell on her backside into a huge puddle of mud. Someone else offered her a hand up, which she took, but her feet caught in her dress and she fell backward taking him with her. We had to run away and find a spot to sit or we would have fallen down laughing." Recalling the events, Kid started chuckling, but Jack only smiled a little.
"Well, Jack, I'm going back in, there's a killer poker game going on in there. You wanna join me?"
"No, thanks tho', I'm gonna stay out here a bit longer."
Taking the hint, Kid Blink stepped over the edge of the roof and onto the fire escape. He looked back at his friend with concern then turned back to the metal frame and proceeded down the stairs to the window. Before reaching the landing, he thought he heard a sob from above him. Kid shrugged and ducked into the window.
Tears stung his eyes as Jack relived his relationship with Sarah. They had only had a brief nine months of courting, but he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. What had gone wrong, why had she not felt the same? He could not believe he was crying. After everything else he had been through in his life, losing a girl should be easy. His mother died while he was at her bedside, his father arrested on the street in front of him, sent to the orphanage, running away and living on the street, sent to the refuge for stealing food, all before finally finding an older newsie who took him under his wing. Jack lived a lifetime in those few short years, all before the age of eleven.
Before retiring to the bunkroom for the night, Jack took one last look at the sky. He caught a glimpse of the moving light from the corner of his eye. What was it his mother said about shooting stars? Jack closed his eyes tight wrinkling his whole face as he did and made a wish.