Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Newsies or anything about it.
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Okay guys, this is my first chapter (obviously) and I got this idea from seeing the trailer of the movie The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (the book, not the movie). I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks so much for reading.
Since the characters don't have actual Newsies nicknames, I'll tell you who they are: Jasper is Bumlets and Jeremiah is Racetrack. Just to let you guys know who is who, being as I don't say it in the fic.
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The sun shone brightly on the summer day of August 2, 1944. It was a rather hot day in Elksdale, Maine. Elksdale was a small town that hardly anyone knew about. No one ever came here and no one certainly wanted to live here.
I stood silently, a tear glistening in my eye. I looked impassively at the maple tree. When people ask me, 'what's so significant about that maple tree?' What could I possibly say to them? Why explain the whole story to them, they wouldn't understand. I say to them, 'it's too complicated. You wouldn't understand.'
"What happened here?" They asked me.
Everything. That's what happened here. Everything has happened here. I bet you're wondering what the heck I mean by 'everything'. Well what was everything? I guess I should start where it all began, at the beginning. But where is the beginning? I haven't quite answered that question yet. But I remember the first day. That one day when everything started. It wasn't that long ago. In fact, it was only a year ago.
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It was a day like today. Warm. Sunny. A perfect day. Nothing could stand in anyone's way. It was a day that you felt fifty feet tall because of how beautiful it was. I was out by this tree with my best friend, Jasper Reynolds. Jasper had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. We did everything together. We spent summer evenings jumping in the ponds, hanging upside down from trees seeing who could stay that way the longest, we'd catch frogs and then throw them at each other, and just did typical things that boys did. We did that when we were young, now we're teenagers and, well, life isn't as careless. We have to work now. We work hours upon hours a day. We come home from school, and head straight to the mill. We don't make much, but it puts bread on the table. Anyway, we were just sitting under the maple tree one Saturday. We were off work for the first time in six months and we decided to spend the whole day together, just to get our feet back on the ground.
It was careless. I loved it. We were sitting under the maple tree, eyes closed, breathing in the fresh Maine air. We felt perfect, we felt free. We opened our eyes to look up at the blue sky, lined with faces of white.
"I bet that one's George Washington." Jasper said to me, as he pointed to a gigantic cloud that lined the blue ocean of white.
"No I don't think so," I said to him. "I think it resembles Abraham Lincoln more." I joked, it actually did kind of look like George, but I didn't want to admit that he was right.
"No way! How do you get Abe out of that? I swear that's George!" He argued with me.
We were now sprawled out on the grass, hands resting on our chests as we were pillowed by the soft patch of green grass. We were so comfortable we could fall fast asleep and never wake up again.
"Do you want to bet on that?" I said, just starting a fight with him.
"You don't bet, remember."
"Well, I do now. What are you going to do about it?" I teased.
He didn't answer me. I was kind of glad that he didn't. I had nothing planned to say to him if he did say something. We sat in silence just observing the soft bright sky. We heard some rumbling along the dirt road that lined the meadow we were lying in.
Jasper sat up on his elbows to see what was coming. He was always easily distracted by things. I, myself, had a massive attention span. He, on the other hand, had the attention span of a mouse, literally.
A car came putting down the road. That was unusual for here. The only people who had cars in Elksdale were the mayor and, well, the mayor. No one had enough money to buy a car, and no one needed to buy a car. Everything was so close to each other that all you had to do was walk there and you'd be fine.
"I wonder who that is." Jasper said softly.
I sat up and looked at the car that I knew didn't belong to the mayor. "I don't know. Maybe some richie who got lost." I sat back down, and didn't pay attention to the tin can on wheels.
"No, Jer, really." He said seriously. Jasper was always a curious person. He needed answers and when he didn't get them, he wanted to figure it out himself.
I sat up again. "Jas, I honestly don't know. If you really want to know who it is, stand in the middle of the road and make them stop. Then look in the windows and ask them who they are." I said jokingly.
He did exactly what I told him to do, which surprised me. He got up out of the fluffy grass and trudged over to the side of the road to where the vehicle was coming. He didn't get in the middle of the road, but he just stood at the side. To my surprise the vehicle slowed down and stopped right by him.
"Excuse me," the man in the passenger's seat said as he looked at Jasper. He eyed him up and down, and came the conclusion, he was an Elksdale resident. "I'm trying to get to Seasville National Church. My daughter, Marianne has a piano recital to get to and I'm afraid we're lost. Would you happen to know how we could get there?" The man asked politely.
Jasper looked in the back of the car, he looked at Marianne. She wasn't looking at him, but she knew he was looking at her. She was wearing a white frilled dress with a red ribbon around the waist. She had locks of chestnut brown hair and a red bow in her hair. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably as Jasper admirably looked at her. Her eyes shifted over to him, trying to get the message across that he was to look away. He didn't get that message. She looked up at him, expressionless, emotionless. She looked into his big brown eyes. Her head shifted upwards as she analyzed him, it seemed. Then she snapped out of her trance and looked away once more.
"Excuse me?" The man asked again. "The church."
"Oh!" Jasper gasped as he smiled and laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. Okay, you go straight up this road for about five miles, then you'll get to a turn. You skip that one and the second turn you come to, go left. Do you get that? Straight, skip first turn, second turn go left. Okay, once you turn right, go straight for about 10 miles and then you're out of Elksdale. As soon as you leave here, you'll get to Seasville and the church should be somewhere in the city. I don't know, I've never been there. I can't tell you how to get to the church; I just know how to get out of here to go to Seasville." Jasper explained as he shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I hope I helped you out some."
"Thank you very much, son." The man said to him as he nodded his head. His white mustache shook as he nodded.
Jasper put up his one finger, as if saying 'hold on a second'. He looked back at Marianne and smiled. "Good luck." He said to her.
She stared at him in complete surprise. She didn't know what to say to this polite stranger. She smiled at him too and nervously mumbled, "thank you."
Jasper backed away to let the car go by. It putted down the road as it left. Jasper watched it leave; he followed it with his eyes. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I looked at him and looked away. "We got to find that church." He said in determination.
"What? Why?" I said in complete surprise and shock. "How?"
"I don't know, but we have to go there." He said as he scratched his head in thought. "You got horses, Jeremiah! You can get them out, saddle them up and we'll head to Seasville. We have to go to that church." He said with enthusiasm
"And then what? Park the horses outside the church on the sidewalk? Yeah, great plan, Jas." He said sarcastically. "Why is it so important to get to that church?"
"Um, forgiveness, confession." He explained.
"We have a church here. We don't have to go all the way to Seasville to do that. We'll just see the Reverend if you want to do that. C'mon, I'll go with you." I told him.
"No, I want to go to that church."
"What does that church have that ours doesn't?" I asked in confusion.
"I don't know. I just feel like I have to go to that church." He explained to me. He didn't even understand why he needed to go, but something inside of him told him he needed to.
"She's a richie, Jas. She doesn't want anything to do with us. You saw the way she looked at you. You were scum to her. She's nothing but an arrogant, no good, daddy's girl, richie. That's how they all are, Jas. Don't bother with her. She'd never even look at you, let alone give you the time of day. Okay, stick with the Elksdale girls. They're better." I told him. I tried to give him the only advice I could. I never had any experience with girls, and I personally didn't want to. Neither of us had any experiences with girls. Sure we had girls who liked us, but we just didn't want to bother getting in a relationship with any of them. It just wasn't worth our time. We were too busy working to even go out on a date or anything. It just was a waste of our time. We'd rather spend time together than to go out with some petty girl.
"I don't care about her, Jer. I just have this weird feeling, that's all. It's something I can't explain, but I just feel something that I've never felt before. Just give me a chance on this. I just need to see something." He said to me.
"Okay what ever you say man. But this better be worth it." I said as we walked back to my house.
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That was my first chapter. How did you guys like it? I hope you enjoyed it. I have a feeling about this fic. Even though it's only the first chapter, I have a feeling that by the end I'll be really proud of it. Out of all the fics I've written, this one is my favorite one so far (besides the Dream Like You'll Live Forever one). I don't know, I just really like the whole story line to this one. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it. Please review and tell me what you think of it. Thanks so much guys!
----
Okay guys, this is my first chapter (obviously) and I got this idea from seeing the trailer of the movie The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (the book, not the movie). I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks so much for reading.
Since the characters don't have actual Newsies nicknames, I'll tell you who they are: Jasper is Bumlets and Jeremiah is Racetrack. Just to let you guys know who is who, being as I don't say it in the fic.
----
The sun shone brightly on the summer day of August 2, 1944. It was a rather hot day in Elksdale, Maine. Elksdale was a small town that hardly anyone knew about. No one ever came here and no one certainly wanted to live here.
I stood silently, a tear glistening in my eye. I looked impassively at the maple tree. When people ask me, 'what's so significant about that maple tree?' What could I possibly say to them? Why explain the whole story to them, they wouldn't understand. I say to them, 'it's too complicated. You wouldn't understand.'
"What happened here?" They asked me.
Everything. That's what happened here. Everything has happened here. I bet you're wondering what the heck I mean by 'everything'. Well what was everything? I guess I should start where it all began, at the beginning. But where is the beginning? I haven't quite answered that question yet. But I remember the first day. That one day when everything started. It wasn't that long ago. In fact, it was only a year ago.
----
It was a day like today. Warm. Sunny. A perfect day. Nothing could stand in anyone's way. It was a day that you felt fifty feet tall because of how beautiful it was. I was out by this tree with my best friend, Jasper Reynolds. Jasper had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. We did everything together. We spent summer evenings jumping in the ponds, hanging upside down from trees seeing who could stay that way the longest, we'd catch frogs and then throw them at each other, and just did typical things that boys did. We did that when we were young, now we're teenagers and, well, life isn't as careless. We have to work now. We work hours upon hours a day. We come home from school, and head straight to the mill. We don't make much, but it puts bread on the table. Anyway, we were just sitting under the maple tree one Saturday. We were off work for the first time in six months and we decided to spend the whole day together, just to get our feet back on the ground.
It was careless. I loved it. We were sitting under the maple tree, eyes closed, breathing in the fresh Maine air. We felt perfect, we felt free. We opened our eyes to look up at the blue sky, lined with faces of white.
"I bet that one's George Washington." Jasper said to me, as he pointed to a gigantic cloud that lined the blue ocean of white.
"No I don't think so," I said to him. "I think it resembles Abraham Lincoln more." I joked, it actually did kind of look like George, but I didn't want to admit that he was right.
"No way! How do you get Abe out of that? I swear that's George!" He argued with me.
We were now sprawled out on the grass, hands resting on our chests as we were pillowed by the soft patch of green grass. We were so comfortable we could fall fast asleep and never wake up again.
"Do you want to bet on that?" I said, just starting a fight with him.
"You don't bet, remember."
"Well, I do now. What are you going to do about it?" I teased.
He didn't answer me. I was kind of glad that he didn't. I had nothing planned to say to him if he did say something. We sat in silence just observing the soft bright sky. We heard some rumbling along the dirt road that lined the meadow we were lying in.
Jasper sat up on his elbows to see what was coming. He was always easily distracted by things. I, myself, had a massive attention span. He, on the other hand, had the attention span of a mouse, literally.
A car came putting down the road. That was unusual for here. The only people who had cars in Elksdale were the mayor and, well, the mayor. No one had enough money to buy a car, and no one needed to buy a car. Everything was so close to each other that all you had to do was walk there and you'd be fine.
"I wonder who that is." Jasper said softly.
I sat up and looked at the car that I knew didn't belong to the mayor. "I don't know. Maybe some richie who got lost." I sat back down, and didn't pay attention to the tin can on wheels.
"No, Jer, really." He said seriously. Jasper was always a curious person. He needed answers and when he didn't get them, he wanted to figure it out himself.
I sat up again. "Jas, I honestly don't know. If you really want to know who it is, stand in the middle of the road and make them stop. Then look in the windows and ask them who they are." I said jokingly.
He did exactly what I told him to do, which surprised me. He got up out of the fluffy grass and trudged over to the side of the road to where the vehicle was coming. He didn't get in the middle of the road, but he just stood at the side. To my surprise the vehicle slowed down and stopped right by him.
"Excuse me," the man in the passenger's seat said as he looked at Jasper. He eyed him up and down, and came the conclusion, he was an Elksdale resident. "I'm trying to get to Seasville National Church. My daughter, Marianne has a piano recital to get to and I'm afraid we're lost. Would you happen to know how we could get there?" The man asked politely.
Jasper looked in the back of the car, he looked at Marianne. She wasn't looking at him, but she knew he was looking at her. She was wearing a white frilled dress with a red ribbon around the waist. She had locks of chestnut brown hair and a red bow in her hair. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably as Jasper admirably looked at her. Her eyes shifted over to him, trying to get the message across that he was to look away. He didn't get that message. She looked up at him, expressionless, emotionless. She looked into his big brown eyes. Her head shifted upwards as she analyzed him, it seemed. Then she snapped out of her trance and looked away once more.
"Excuse me?" The man asked again. "The church."
"Oh!" Jasper gasped as he smiled and laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that. Okay, you go straight up this road for about five miles, then you'll get to a turn. You skip that one and the second turn you come to, go left. Do you get that? Straight, skip first turn, second turn go left. Okay, once you turn right, go straight for about 10 miles and then you're out of Elksdale. As soon as you leave here, you'll get to Seasville and the church should be somewhere in the city. I don't know, I've never been there. I can't tell you how to get to the church; I just know how to get out of here to go to Seasville." Jasper explained as he shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I hope I helped you out some."
"Thank you very much, son." The man said to him as he nodded his head. His white mustache shook as he nodded.
Jasper put up his one finger, as if saying 'hold on a second'. He looked back at Marianne and smiled. "Good luck." He said to her.
She stared at him in complete surprise. She didn't know what to say to this polite stranger. She smiled at him too and nervously mumbled, "thank you."
Jasper backed away to let the car go by. It putted down the road as it left. Jasper watched it leave; he followed it with his eyes. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder. I looked at him and looked away. "We got to find that church." He said in determination.
"What? Why?" I said in complete surprise and shock. "How?"
"I don't know, but we have to go there." He said as he scratched his head in thought. "You got horses, Jeremiah! You can get them out, saddle them up and we'll head to Seasville. We have to go to that church." He said with enthusiasm
"And then what? Park the horses outside the church on the sidewalk? Yeah, great plan, Jas." He said sarcastically. "Why is it so important to get to that church?"
"Um, forgiveness, confession." He explained.
"We have a church here. We don't have to go all the way to Seasville to do that. We'll just see the Reverend if you want to do that. C'mon, I'll go with you." I told him.
"No, I want to go to that church."
"What does that church have that ours doesn't?" I asked in confusion.
"I don't know. I just feel like I have to go to that church." He explained to me. He didn't even understand why he needed to go, but something inside of him told him he needed to.
"She's a richie, Jas. She doesn't want anything to do with us. You saw the way she looked at you. You were scum to her. She's nothing but an arrogant, no good, daddy's girl, richie. That's how they all are, Jas. Don't bother with her. She'd never even look at you, let alone give you the time of day. Okay, stick with the Elksdale girls. They're better." I told him. I tried to give him the only advice I could. I never had any experience with girls, and I personally didn't want to. Neither of us had any experiences with girls. Sure we had girls who liked us, but we just didn't want to bother getting in a relationship with any of them. It just wasn't worth our time. We were too busy working to even go out on a date or anything. It just was a waste of our time. We'd rather spend time together than to go out with some petty girl.
"I don't care about her, Jer. I just have this weird feeling, that's all. It's something I can't explain, but I just feel something that I've never felt before. Just give me a chance on this. I just need to see something." He said to me.
"Okay what ever you say man. But this better be worth it." I said as we walked back to my house.
----
That was my first chapter. How did you guys like it? I hope you enjoyed it. I have a feeling about this fic. Even though it's only the first chapter, I have a feeling that by the end I'll be really proud of it. Out of all the fics I've written, this one is my favorite one so far (besides the Dream Like You'll Live Forever one). I don't know, I just really like the whole story line to this one. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it. Please review and tell me what you think of it. Thanks so much guys!
