Disclaimer: Just borrowing…
Author's Notes: This comes from the influence of my fantastic English professor and the fantastic storytelling Henry James. I'm attempting to test the reliability of the first-person narrative. So, your narrator here may be telling the truth, or he may not be…that's for you to decide in upcoming chapters : ) In the meantime, initial feedback is very, very much appreciated, and enjoy!
The Power of the Press
In 1899, the streets of New York City echoed with the voices of newsies, peddling the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other giants of the newspaper world. On every street corner you saw 'em, carrying the banner, bringing you the news for a penny a pape. Poor orphans and runaways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader, until one day when all that changed…
That's one way of telling it.
I mean, you didn't really think there was just that way, did you? The story of the strike has many authors. Lots of interpretations. That happens to be the most popular one, from my recollection, though I'm still not sure why, exactly. I don't think everyone gets a fair shake in that version. There was more to it than Jack Kelly and David Jacobs and their makeshift battle against the big boys. Any boy who lived through that summer can tell you so. I mean, Jack wasn't the only poor boy with a pocketful of dreams and a mouth full of lies. Everyone had their demons. I mean, for one, there was Spot…and poor Race…definitely can't forget what happened to Blink…it was the most important summer of their lives, and that story doesn't even give do them the dignity of glossing over it. And even Jack has more to him than the story they're telling now says.
I guess it's true when they talk about the power of the press. The storyteller is the one with all the power. He's the one you have to believe, no matter what he says, because he's the only one you're hearing it from. It's my turn now to be the storyteller, though, and unlike the others, I plan on telling the truth. The whole truth, even if it kills me. I'm gonna set everyone straight this time.