Throughout It All

23 | While We Still Can | September 20, 1918

Well. So that was a way to end that chapter.

The amount of research I'm trying to do but nothing is answering my questions ... you wouldn't believe it.

So there will be a lot of things that I won't know what I'm writing about.

So, right now, I'll write about what I do know.

And that's having a touching moment while they still can.

Enjoy! :)

---------------------------------------

In two days, Jack, David, Spot, Race, and Mush will be on their way to Europe. They have no say in this matter. They can try to run or to hide, but that won't work. And honestly, at the moment, no where in the world is truly safe for them to run to and/or hide in. And even as they dread the idea of going overseas and fighting in a war of unprecendented size, they'll have to anyways.

But surely the war should be coming to a close soon, they reason. Why would they need more people?  The answer is simple, really. This is a war of power and innovation, where neither side wants to be the one to give in.

Yet it is also a war of destruction, and a war of loss.

And soon, they will be directly involved with it all.

Race hasn't been the same since he got drafted.

To be fair, none of them have been, but Race had been affected the most. No one really knows what's been going on inside his head these past few weeks. Spot doesn't try to pry. He just stays with Race, being a form of silent comfort for Race. Race cherishes the gesture.

Spot is trying his best to hold it together. He knows that Race needs him now. He just ... doesn't want Race to know how much time he spends lying awake at night, terrified for what this means for him, for both of them.

David is the most subdued out of the five of them. He knows that all of them are being sent to fight in France. Not him; the British need poeple who can fly planes. And so, he and many other American pilots who have been drafted, will end up in England. He'll tell Jack soon. He feels guilty about procrastinating, but he wants to focus on the present.

Jack ... Jack looks out to the horizon at sunset each day, wondering what life would have been like if he escaped to Santa Fe all those years ago. Wonders if it's too late for him to still do just that. Maybe this time, he can take David with him. And they can run away from the world together.

Mush is determined to hold on to the present. He tries to make sure that every day has a happy moment, in any way that he can. He cries at night thinking that this peaceful home that they've built is soon going to be empty, with not a sound of laughter or love to fill it. He wishes that he could keep his friends in here forever, so they won't have to go to war, so that he won't have to go to war. And it makes him devastated that he can't do that. 

They all just want to enjoy this peace and happiness while they still can.

"What would you consider the perfect day to be?" Mush asks as they eat breakfast together. He tries to make it as casually and making conversation-like as he can, but they all know what he's trying to do. And honestly, they don't mind it.

"Are we talking about current day perfect day or newsie day perfect day?" Race asks.

Mush shrugs. It's palpable he likes the question though. "You can decide."

"Well, my perfect newsie day would be going to Sheepshead," Race starts.

Spot snorts.

Race looks at him. "What?"