I woke up bright and early to hear the morning bell ringing. I quickly ran to the distribution center to see two other boys. They looked at the other newsies, who were sitting on the cart, nervously. Mr. Wiesel was grinning and giving the two boys their bags, five dollars, and 100 papes. I nervously walked to Wiesel and took my bag and papes. As my hand shook, I snatched the money out of his hand and crammed it into the bag.

The newsies behind me called me a traitor and even more horrendous things but I ignored them. With tears in my eyes, I tried unsuccessfully to walk past the boys.

Davey laid a hand on my shoulder and states, "Now is the time to seize the day." The other newsies repeat his words.

"Answer the call and don't delay."

"Answer the call and don't delay."

"Wrongs will be righted if we're united. Let us seize the day!" They all said in unison. I hear the newsie next to me slam his papers as hard as he could on the ground.

The other newsie shot knives at the boy. "Are you serious?"

"Well, at the end of the day, who youse gonna trust? Them?" The other newsie pointed to Jack. "Or them?" He threw his bag back to Wiesel.

"Now let them hear it loud and clear." Jack said.

"Now let them hear it loud and clear." The newsies copied.

"Like it or not we're drawing near."

"Like it or not we're drawing near."

"Proud and defiant we'll slay the giant. Judgement day is here." They said in unison. I shifted on my toes and picked up my stack of paper. I could see my hands shaking as I looked to the boy next to me. I slammed the paper down and cheers broke out among the crowd. I nudged the kid next to me.

"Ah, what the hell? My father's gonna kill me anyway!" He yelled in delight. He slammed his papers down too and more cheers came.

"Houston to Harlem," everybody sang. "Look what's begun! One for all and all for one!" We all raised out fists in the air. "Strike! Strike! Strike, strike, strike, strike, strike, strike, strike, strike! Oooohhhhh STRIKE!!" We yelled. We grabbed any newspaper that we could find and ripped the pages off and threw them into the air. Laughter broke out among the crowd as we sang more. "Newsies forever! Second to none! One for all and all for One for all and all for..." the joy suddenly left the boys as we looked up at the stairway along the side of the distribution center.

A man in a black cape and bowler hat was holding a bat. He was surrounded with other people, also dressed in black, and I could see the Delancy brothers among them. He banged his bat on the bar twice and rushed down the stairs. Jack walked directly up to him and glared.

"Newsies," Jack growled. "Attack!" We charged the men and threw the bundles of newspapers, throwing them off guard. I punched the closest one I saw and continued to do so. He kicked me in the groin and I almost fell to the ground. I kicked his groin in return and he fell to the ground. I jumped over him and went to find Treble.

"Treble!" I screamed. No answer. I climbed on top of one of the carts and looked over the fight. I could see no sign of her. That is, until a small puff of red hair poked out near Oscar. He tried to grab her but she crawled between his legs. "Treble!" I yelled again. "Go to the alley!!" I told her. She nodded and snuck away from the battle.

"Jack!!" I heard Crutchie cry. The man in the bowler hat had Crutchie on the ground and was hitting him with his crutch. He groaned and I could see the tears in his eyes.

"It's off to the Refuge with you, little man." He said as he put handcuffs on Crutchie. He was dragged away and kept screaming for Jack, for anybody. I hopped over the edge of the cart and followed him to where he was being taken. It was a black carriage with a jail-like attachment on the back. They threw Crutchie in and one man pointed to me. I could see Crutchie with two other kids, likely two orphans, and he shook his head.

"Let him go!" I screamed. The bowler hat man waltzed up to me and then I realized who it was. "So you're Snyder? Hah, that's funny, I thought you'd be fatter." I smirked. I felt a strong foot kick my back and I fell  to the ground. Snyder grinned and put handcuffs on me too. I yelled and screamed but nobody came. Morris picked me up and threw me into the back of the cage. As they shut the doors, I hugged Crutchie the best I could with handcuffs and we cried together, afraid of what was coming.
                         •••••
"Dot!!" Sally screamed. The cops had now come to "assist" in the strike and she hadn't seen her new friend anywhere. She watched helplessly as the newsies were beat terribly. She could feel the stream of hot tears pouring from her eyes and she spotted Les diving under one cop's legs. She screamed and kicked the cop in the shins and then the groin. She grabbed his hair and pulled it as hard as she could. The cop kicked her stomach, causing her to fall back. Davey grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the fight. Les was grabbing his arm in agony and she came to the conclusion that it was broken. She took his other hand and pulled him back into the Lodging house.

"Here, I'll see if I can find some scraps of fabric and make you a sling." She told him. She ran up the stairs and searched through some of Spec's shirts. She grabbed one grey shirt and ripped the center and one of the sleeves off. She grabbed some scissors and cut the center so that it could fit her arm and tied the sleeve onto the top of it.

She stomped all the way back down the stairs and had Les lay his arm on the table. She positioned the sling and tied it around his arm. Les smiled. "Thanks Sally." He wiggled his fingers.

"No problem. If I learned anything from the barber, it was how to fix broken bones. Please don't ask." She told him. Les smiled and looked at the ground. "What now?" She laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Sally, I really like you. You're sweet, kind, and funny. I..." he took a deep breath. "I wanna be your boyfriend." Sally smiled. She lightly kissed his cheek and nodded.

"I'll go check in on Jack." Sally told him. She stood up and ran out the door of the Lodging house and back into the alley. She looked around at the scraps of trash and saw two men walk by.

"So much for the Newsie Strike." one said. They laughed. Sally looked down at the ground and then to the ladder.

"Folks, we finally got a headline: 'Newsies Crushed as Bulls Attack!' Crutchie's callin' me. Dumb crip's just too damn slow. Guys are fightin', bleedin', fallin' thanks to good ol' Captain Jack. Captain Jack just wants to close his eyes... and GO!" Sally heard somebody scream. Her heart broke in that moment as she realized it was Jack.

"Let me go," Jack whispered. "Far away, somewhere they won't ever find me, and tomorrow won't remind me of today." Sally could hear how desperate he was. She began to climb the ladder.

"When the city's finally sleepin', and the moon looks old and grey, I get on a train that's bound for Santa Fe. And I'm gone! And I'm done! No more runnin', no more lyin'. No more fat old men denyin' me my pay! Just a moon so big an' yellow, it turns night right into day. Dreams come true! Yeah, they do. In Santa Fe!" Sally listened with pain and love as he painted the picture of Santa Fe. Maybe it was better there. She could hardly bare to live in the city.

"Where does it say you gotta live and die here? Where does it say a guy can't catch a break? HUH?" he cried, yelling at the world, sounding trapped, desperate, hopeless. "Why should you only take what you're given? Why should you spend your whole life livin' trapped where there ain't no future, even at seventeen? Breakin' your back for someone else's sake!" One more ladder separated her and Jack. She felt a tear fall down her cheek and she was sure Jack was crying too.

"If a life don't seem to suit ya, how 'bout a change of scene? Far from the lousy headlines and the deadlines in between! Santa Fe! My old friend! I can't spend my whole life dreamin', though I know that's all I seem inclined to do. I ain't gettin' any younger," his voice breaked. "And I wanna start brand new! I need space! And fresh air! Let 'em laugh in my face, I don't care! Save my place! I'll be there." Sally had reached solid ground and looks at Jack, who was facing  he opposite way. She could see his knuckles turning white from clutching the railing and she gripped her heart.

"Just... be real is all I'm askin', not some paintin' in my head," he whispers. "'Cause I'm dead if I can't count on you today." He yells now. "I got nothin' if I ain't got SANTA FE!!!" Sally realized this wasn't the best time to bother him. She could see him breathing hard and clenching his cap. She walked back to the ladder and began to climb down. Just then, her foot slipped and her sleeve got caught on a small piece of metal.

"AH!!" Sally screamed. She desperately tried to pull herself up but was unable to. She looked up to see Jack, hand outstretched to her.

"Grab on." He commanded her. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up.

"Thanks, Jack. I wanted to make sure you were ok after what happened." She told him carefully.

"Oh, I'm just swell." He yelled sarcastically. Sally backed up against the railing and shrank down. She started to shake and Jack sat next to her. He wrapped an arm around her. "What's da matter?"

"I can't find Dot. Or Crutchie. And I'm really scared." She began to cry. Jack's face became grim.
"They took 'em to the Refuge. It's an underage jail for kids." Sally screamed and cried harder. Jack hugged her. "How's about tomorrow night, we go see them? We'll bring some food too." Sally looked up and nodded. "Youse can sleep here tonight." Sally miserably stood up and walked toward what was Crutchie's mat.

"Jack? If you do go to Santa Fe, can you take me?" She asked.

"Sure, Sally. Sure." He told her. She smiled and tried to get a peaceful sleep.