A Newsies Vacation (Gone Wrong)

[23]

 March 22nd, 2020

Saint Mildred's Catholic Church, Swansboro, NC, around 8:30 am

POV: Narrator

The Newsies entered the church, formally dressed, and found their seat towards the middle. There was no sign of Kelson anywhere yet. A few minutes later, he, Jake, and Mary entered the church and walked down the main aisle to greet Jack, who sat closest to the aisle. They did so quietly, and Jake found his way down the row to sit with Davey, who was sitting at the end with Sarah and Les. While he was making his way to sit next to Davey eagerly, Spot tripped him. Jake caught himself before he could hit the floor, but he fell quite a ways. He gave a disgusted look to him and moved on. Race slapped Spot in the arm before he grabbed his arm in an attempt to wrestle him to show dominance. "Hey," Jack snapped with his fingers pointing at them. "Knock it off, I has to tell you like you'se four year olds." They quickly stopped because if they didn't, they knew what would happen later.

"What is his deal? I get what you said yesterday about him not being nice." Jake asked quietly. "Well if he found out what you did, he'd even be more upset," Davey said. Kelson and Mary found their seat next to Jake after conversing with Jack. "Where are the kneelers? This church has just chairs!" Kelson sighed quietly. He pulled out his emergency kneeling pads and placed them in front. They all three then began to kneel and pray the Rosary silently. The Newsies followed them, except they struggled without the kneeling cushions. Unfortunately, the turnout at mass today was lower than usual because of the ongoing pandemic.

Everyone was silent in the presence of the Lord, one of the only moments everyone respected each other. They did not worry about their ongoing conflicts, but they focused on their devotion instead. They then waited patiently for 5 minutes before to wait for the lector to begin the announcements before mass began at 9 am. "This mass is being live streamed for those who are unable to join us due to the coronavirus pandemic. This, will unfortunately be the last week we are offering mass in-person due to the severity of the situation. You may find our live stream on our Facebook page to watch mass online there. Until such a time has been reached, the obligation to attend mass has been lifted for all practicing Catholics. More specific issues that may arise because of this will be announced at a later time. If you have any questions, please contact the Parish Office. Again, if you have any questions, please contact the Parish Office." The second time the lector repeated that the Newsies began to silently gossip amongst each other. "Is the world coming to an end? Is everything going to be shut down? Will this be an apocalypse?" Everyone became worried as they were uncertain about the future. They would sure make the most out of this mass as they knew it would be their last for a long time.

After everyone received communion about 40 minutes into the mass, everyone reflected on themselves as the organ played a soft background while people were still receiving communion. These would be their last moments of being at a mass in-person in months. When the procession walked down the aisle signaling the end of mass, everyone looked disappointed and saddened, as they could no longer even go to worship. When the hymn ended, everyone gathered their things and slowly began packing up. Jake gave Davey a hug because of this emotional moment.

As everyone left the nave into the narthex, they could see multiple people asking questions to ushers about what was to happen. The Newsies already knew. They slowly and sadly exited the church knowing they wouldn't be back for a long, long time. Racetrack began to cry and wept on Spot's shoulder as he comforted him. Everyone else was on the verge of crying too, but they were able to keep themselves together. They were all devastated.

"You still up for lunch? I was thinking Hardee's" Kelson said, unenergetically. "Sure, why not. Might have to go through drive-thru though since everything's closed." Jack said, in the same tone. Everyone was just in a bad mood, so some lunch ought to cheer them all up. "Alright, I'll meet you at your place." Kelson said before getting into his elite car. Jake silently took Davey into Kelson's car in the backseat without anyone knowing. Kelson left first before the Newsiemobile. Jack did a count check to make sure everyone was there, but he immediately noticed Davey was missing. "Hey, has anyone seen Dave?" he shouted. "He's probably out there travelin' with them instead of us." Spot said annoyed. "Who's them? Kelson?" "Yeah." "It's fine, he can do whatever he wants, now quit gettin' behind his back! You'se been actin' really weird the past few days!"