The Story of a News Girl

Thunder

It was the middle of July night as thunder boomed outside and the sound of rain crashed down onto the streets of New York. Surprisingly all the newsies were fast asleep in their bunks. Light snores filled the dark bunk room while the rain continued to pour down onto the streets. Mush was fast asleep up in his bunk. He shifted a bit in his sleep, and, in a matter of moments he woke up when he heard quiet mumbling. Mush slowly opened his eyes, and blinked a few times so they would adjust to the darkness. He sat up in his bed and looked around to see what was going on. When Mush saw Finch was fast asleep in his bed, he then looked to the left and saw Feister was wide awake. She was sitting up in her bunk with her knees hugged to her chest. "Hey, you'se ok Feisty?" Mush asked quietly. As soon as the words left his lips, Feister jumped up a bit at the sudden sound, but relaxed once she realized what was going on. "Just peachy Mush for brains," Feister replied.

But the way she jumped up at the loud clap of thunder, Mush knew that Feister wasn't "Just peachy." So, without giving it much thought, Mush stood up in his bunk and swiftly jumped onto Feister's. When he landed on the end of her bed, there was a little creek sound. Mush then moved up the bed so he was now in front of Feister, his legs were dangling over the edge, and through the darkness he could just barely make out her face. "Hey neighbor," Mush said, which made Feister laugh quietly. But as soon as another clap of thunder boomed she jumped up, this time a little yelp had escaped her lips as she clung to Mush as if her life depended on it. Mush could feel Feister's hands clench at the fabric of his shirt to the point he thought it was going to rip. But, what was more surprising was seeing Feister act like this. Yes, she's only six, but for such a young girl, she was extremely tough, and could hold her ground like nobody's business. "Feisty, are you afraid of thunder?" Mush asked quietly as he started to rub her back soothingly.

"What!?" Feister exclaimed as she pulled away from Mush. There were a few groans from the other boys and a "shut up," from Wisp below. "You'se are the dumbest boy I's ever met!" Feister exclaimed quietly as she whacked him with the pillow. "Why would I's be afraid of thunder?!" as if on cue, thunder boomed with a clash of lightning. In a split second Feister was back to hugging Mush for dear life. "Ok, so..maybe I's don't like thunder, but that don't mean I's afraid or that you'se ain't the dumbest boy I's ever met," Feister huffed after a few quiet moments. The brown eyed girl's face turned red at the sound of her own words. But thankfully, it was dark, so it wasn't like Mush could see her red cheeks or anything.

Mush chuckled quietly as he ever so gently stroked Feister's head. This was the first time he's ever seen Feister so...not like herself. It was different, and maybe a little odd to see such a strong girl like this, but it also meant that she wasn't as cold and heartless as Mush thought she was. A few moments later Feister let out the cutest little yawn Mush has ever heard. "How bout ya get some sleep? I's don't wanna become black an' blue by the end of tomorrow," Mush joked.

"Yer lucky I's to tired ta -" Feister yawned again as she pulled herself closer to Mush without giving it much thought. The sound of rain continued to pour down outside, but there was no thunder. So that meant Feister let herself relax and instantly fall back into a deep sleep.

On the other hand, Mush had no idea what to do. Here he was, with this tiny little thing clinging to him like a baby to its blanket. He didn't want to move, in fear that it would wake her up, but he also wanted to go back to sleep. But, Feister looked so comfy, peaceful even. Mush did a double take, making sure he used the word "peaceful" to describe how Feister was at the moment.

Before Mush could freak out anymore, he carefully pulled Feister's arms away from him, which only caused the small girl to lean towards him and not fall back into the bed. And when he nudged her ever so lightly to get her to lay down on the bed, he somehow ended up laying next to her. It took a few minutes but he finally managed to untangle himself from the news girl's grip and jumped back to his own bunk for the night.

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Author's note

I think the reason why Feister is so afraid of thunder is because of how loud it can get and it connects her to the time with her father. If that makes any sense. I haven't worked how all the details though, that's the big picture. By the time people start reading this I'll probably be playing around with some flashbacks, I'm not sure how that's going to work out but, you all know me and my love of flashbacks. The reason why Feister doesn't admit she's scared is because she's in that stage of feeling like she needs to go the extra mile to prove that she's tougher than she's tougher than she looks. Mush's reasoning for going to check on Feister is a bit complicated. Yes he's protective of her, but it's mostly from old instinct with Brooklyn (the girl not the city) I'm telling you guys now that will start to change for obvious reasons that needs no explanation, just not yet. They're still testing out the waters with this new world with living the newsie life and their friendship. Hope you guys enjoyed and thanks for reading!