Nostalgia and Movies

I love movies.

I love watching and critiquing them, but most of all, I love seeing films come together. From the announcement of production, to filming, to post-production, to the first trailer then finally to how it performed at the box office.


I remember when Frozen was actually called The Ice Princess (or something like that), and when Skyfall was Bond 23. I remember when Marvel announced Guardians of the Galaxy as their next big film, and seeing all of the subsequent hate from the comments section. We all know how that worked out.


Yet I can't believe how many old media properties are getting the big screen treatment: I saw photos from the 2014 licensing expo in Las Vegas. They're remaking Terminator, Gem and the Holograms and Asterix as big-budgeted movies. Also, they're making a new James Bond film, Mission: Impossible film, and Star Wars saga.


Freaking Star Wars.


And they're all bound to make some huge coin at the box office when they all hit theaters everywhere and anywhere.


Yet I feel like Hollywood is taking advantage of us because of this.


Nostalgia is the HUGE driving force behind some of these movies coming to the big screen, but it's pushing away new talent.



People are looking forward to the next Marvel movie more than a new idea in an indie movie, myself included. I'm really trying to open myself to new talent and art forms but the market is so saturated with nostalgia-flicks that very few indie works hit the mainstream.



Heck, in some aspect, I'm also trying to milk the cash cow here, but I digress.



What we need are some new ideas, people and places that no one else has seen before. But that's going to be hard, especially when there aren't many unknowns left.


It seems like there aren't many stories left to be told, but as an author, I bet that's what makes the job so inviting and even more exciting and challenging.



Speaking of nostalgia, what show or cartoon from your childhood would you like to be made a movie?


Let me know what yours is. Mine is The Magic School Bus.


See you all in the sunlight!





-Zach

Chapter 4 FULL- Take 3

Here's the next chapter... merged into one post. Enjoy!

All he knew was that he wished he could stay in bed that day; that he would get a fever and go to a hospital, far away from any of the problems he was about to face. He kept wondering what would happen if they got caught.

Without further ado, here's the next chapter! By the way, we're officially on authonomy (https://www.authonomy.com/book/85394/)

and wattpad (http://www.wattpad.com/user/Epic0n)!

I'm just trying to see how you guys like the book so far (hence posting the chapters as they are completed). The other sites either have the complete but unfinished version or more of the chapters that I post up here. There will be other content on the way, but for now, enjoy!

-Zach
... 
He could only imagine the consequences of something as daring as that. Everyone else would hate him even more. They’d lock them all up in separate dungeons. Maybe in different orphanages; after all, there were plenty in London, so he heard. His hands shook violently as he slowly put on his uniform and went downstairs for prayers. When they all received time for their own personal prayers, he prayed that something good come out of all this. It was the first time he did so with emotion, but it soon faded after they all left the church wing together.

It wasn’t long until the bells were heard throughout the school wing.

Recess. This is it.

Time to go.

As the boys flooded the playground like a river, David slipped behind the Nuns back inside. To avoid the clopping of his shoes on the stone floor becoming massive echoes he took them off and walked barefoot on the cold stones until-

“Pssst…David!”

“George! Nath-”

“SHH-QUIET!! You want us to get caught?!?”

“Sorry, George. Where are we going again?”

“Just follow us.”

“Ooh. Nice idea to take off your shoes. We just waited here for you. Why does everyone seem to get all of the good ideas?”

The three boys tip-toed through the halls in their bare feet, reaching the other side of the hall without being seen. The school wing was a separate building, joined at the hip to the church and dormitory with no connection to the other building except through the main entrance. The only way to the other side was through the catacombs, and that was prohibited for any child to enter…for good reason.

There was no light down there, only available by torches. They looked at each other in sincere fright. None of them had been there before, and Nathan was clearly afraid of the dark. But it was the only way. The only thing they knew was that it was a straight line to the other building.

So they silently walked, step by step, down the stairs, hands held tightly to the other person. George then David then Nathan entered the world of darkness the moment the door was shut.

Silence. Darkness. They couldn’t speak to each other not to give anything away. They could only hold hands as they walked blindly through the room that housed the dead. Even with wide open eyes they couldn’t see anything. All they had was their hands and feet guiding them. The only thing they smelled was the musty odors of decay and worn-out wood.

They knew about ghosts and demons. They knew how they waited in the dark to scare and terrorize the living. None of them knew if they were down here. Maybe there was a priest down here that woke up and waited for something to possess…

One step. At a time. They held their breaths. David couldn’t believe what he was doing; all this darkness let him think more of it. He was breaking so many rules; going into the catacombs, running away from the orphanage, disobeying a priest, leaving Sister Deborah…

He still thought of her as a Mother. How could he leave his mother?

Suddenly he felt a tug. A strong one. Then he felt steps under his feet. They made it. They were closer to freedom, to the light. He didn’t like the feeling of being blind. This was why he wanted a nightlight wherever he went. At the orphanage, it was the streetlamps.

A surge of happiness surged through him as they all quickly stepped up the stairs. Light was just behind the door. They could see it. They never felt more grateful than then to smell the weird but tolerable smells of the orphanage.

They stuck to the door for a long while, waiting to hear if anyone was coming. They were used to the loud footsteps of the Nuns. George creaked the door open just enough to fit all of their skinny bodies through, as they came out into an empty hallway that would empty out into the main sanctuary. They made it. They were so close. The door to the outside was staring at them in the face. That’s all it was; a straight line.

Then they heard footsteps. Someone was coming! And faster than usual!

It was Father Kenneth!

“What on earth is going on out here?”

They didn’t say anything to each other. They just ran.

The three boys exploded into the sanctuary, as Father Kenneth called for the guards to catch them. Then he saw who the third boy was.

The chosen one? Why-

They got closer. And closer. Nathan reached the door and pried at it.

“It’s STUCK!”

“WHAAT?!?”

“It’s not opening! We’ll have to break it down!”

“Or just opening it would be nice!”

“Come on. David put some back into it!”

All three boys pushed hard on the door, heaving and pushing to get the rusty hinges to move.

“C’mon! C’mon! Budge, please!”

“Why. Won’t. This. Door. OPEN?!”

The hinges gave way as Father reached for George’s shirt. He missed, and they burst out into the sunlight, the warm air, the calm winds, the colorful leaves...

And the guards.

 “Don’t stop, David! Keep running!”

The guards were younger policemen, hired to every orphanage to keep the orphan “scum” off of the streets. They were about to be tested.

But Nathan was fast, and David was quicker. They turned on the hair and spun away from the guards as they grabbed for them.

One of the fugitives wasn’t so lucky.

“NO! LET ME GO!”

David immediately spun around.

“GEORGE!!! NO!!”

The two men held him in grips too strong to break. He wrestled against them, trying to wiggle out somehow.

He realized that all was lost.

“David! Nathan! Run! Don’t stop! Just go!! NOW!!”

David’s tears kept him from moving. George was so kind…

“David, let’s go! Come ON!”

A good push was all that was needed to get him moving as the orphanage swallowed up yet another victim. 
...

They never wanted to stop running. The sun wasn’t as bright as before. The blurs of color were deeper shades, not the brighter kinds. They stopped at an alleyway off of the main street to take a breather. They didn’t even realize that they lost their shoes.

“Well, David. We did it! Huh. We’re free!” He couldn’t hold himself back as he pumped fists of celebration, jumping around like a jack-in-a-box.

David just sat across from him, his legs stretched out in front of him.

“I guess. We still lost George, though.”

Nathan acted as if he had just got out of a tight space, stretching his arms over his head and taking huge breaths of fresh air.

“Well, who cares? We got out of there.”

He looked down to glaring, wide blue hazel eyes.

“Who cares?! George got caught! What are we going to do?”

“Look, I know what happened, but there’s nothing we can do for him. We got to keep moving.”

He couldn’t believe how insensitive Nathan was being.

How rude of him to completely forget George. He was our friend!

“But first, we have got to find some shoes. I can’t believe we dropped them back there.”

“Nathan, that’s it! We can go back to get our shoes then get GEORGE out!”

“David, you’re mad. No way! That’s not a good idea!”

But David was determined to find a way to get George back. But Nathan thought otherwise. The moment David heard Nathan’s rejection, he tried to run for it. Nathan held him back as much as he could.

“David, please, listen to me! I didn’t mean it! Don’t try to get him back! You can’t!”

“WHY NOT?!”

“Because…you’re…they’re all grown-ups, David. You can’t take them on and get George too. Not now. Please! I didn’t mean it! Stop!”

Nathan pushed him back into the alleyway. David just stood there with clenched fists.

“No! I know what you really meant! You never liked him, did you? You wanted him to get caught, so you could escape.”

“No! Not at all! It’s not like that! David, I’m…I’m sorry.”

He didn’t believe him. He slipped underneath his legs and ran out into the alleyway as fast as he could. Nathan didn’t try to stop him again.

Good. I bet he didn’t want to deal with me anyway. So selfish…

Nathan had enough.

“Go get him back!” He screamed with sarcasm, “But they will grab you back in!”

He stormed out into the street, speckled with men and women walking between them.

“If you leave, I can’t help you! You won’t last out here! You’ll die and you know it! You need me!”

He looked back at his last hope…only to run away faster.

“Of course he won’t come back. I failed you George. He was a foolish, heartless orphan.”

…

The running didn’t help anything. He had to stop because of the tugs of pain and guilt on his chest. Not only had he lost one friend, but completely abandoned another. And if he gets caught again trying to save George…

He didn’t know what to do. Save George or try to find Nathan again? Forget about both of them and go out on his own?

At that point he was even more scared of going back than going forward. The guilt had gripped him so tightly that all he could do was want to sit on the side of the road.

Then it happened. A rush of calmness and serenity came over him, the same one that helped him stand his ground against John. The same one that helped him befriend George and Nathan in the first place. He began to think in much calmer terms:

Let’s see. What was I doing just now? Going to get George? Then that’s what I’ll do.

So he started to turn up the winding streets and after he realized he was walking in circles, turned back to any way that seemed familiar. A right. A left. Then another left. It came back to him now…sort of. He just went with his gut, continuing to go straight, then a right, then another right.

He saw the sign of the street: Country Street. We’re here! He knew it. This was the street the orphanage was on! He avoided the front steps and headed to the right of the huge church.

There were his shoes. They were right there, staring at him in the face from the inside of the fancy gate where the congregants would leave.

David gave a puzzling stare at them. They must have been swept to the side amidst all of the action. He quickly moved across the street from the orphanage and, as he slipped back on the shoes and tied the laces, never felt happier not feeling the cold ground anymore. Yet he liked walking barefoot in the beginning. He just wished there was some grass…

Then he heard a commotion. The sound of a car. He saw that it parked right outside of the orphanage. He rarely saw a car, let alone at the orphanage.

Oh. A boy must be getting adopted.

Safely out of sight, he looked out to the entrance to see who it was.

Then he saw a tall boy with deep black hair scream “Just let me say goodbye!” while firmly escorted to the car by a man and a guard.

It was…

George! No! I’m too late!

The man cranked the front as a women- his new mother- got into the back of the car to join George. The car putted to life as the man climbed in.

The car turned around and drove in David’s direction.

He got out of his spot and tried to get another glimpse at him as they sped by. The woman blocked the window, but as the car passed him his legs just started to chase the car. He just wanted to see him again.

“Stop! Wait! George!”

He ran as fast he could, passing building after building, the stones flowing underneath him like a river.

But the car was faster. He could only run for so long until the car sped ahead. Then it made a turn. David tried to keep up, but as he turned the car went a different direction. As he made it to that road, the car turned again.

No… It was hopeless.

“I lost him. I didn’t even…get to…say goodbye.”

Tears began to swell up in his eyes and with blurry vision and sheer desperation, he thought he could cut the car off by taking a short cut. He ran down a different road and started making any turn he could find, hoping he could find a road to that bloody car. He ran and ran until he couldn’t take it anymore. He just wanted to cry. It took more strength to hold back those tears than it took to run this far.

He aimlessly walked down the rest of the street, up until the corner. For the first time in what felt like forever, he was completely alone. No George to make a plan and no Nathan to help. Then he heard a commotion coming from the adjacent street:

“Got ‘ya, you little thief! Now you’ll pay for what ya did!”

A policeman dragged a boy -younger than David, with darker hair- by the collar across the street David came from. That boy struggled to free himself from the policeman

“Get offa me! You got t’e wrong boy! I didn’t do nothin’! ‘Onest! Let me go!”

“Not this time, ‘ya little runt! It’s off to the o’phanage for ya!”

He pressed himself as close to the wall as possible when the man passed the narrow street perpendicular to David’s.

He had never seen a policeman so close up before. But all it took was one look to be scared of them. He ran the opposite direction and even hid in an alley out of fear of being grabbed by them. His heart was beating fast in his chest, and once again, was scared to go out. No confidence was coming now.

He didn’t even know that there were other boys hiding behind him. They started whispering to each other, and the hairs on David’s neck shot up.

Wait- there were others in here?

“Hey, kid? Wheh you come from?”

Uh oh.

It took a little too long for him to muster up the courage to turn around.

“Well? Who are yeh?”

“Some little rich scut. Pro’bly lost his Mum.”

“You got any money on ‘ya?”

“Nice hat.”

There were three of them, their clothes and thin faces caked in dirt. Their eyes narrowed on him, as if ready to tear him apart.

“M-m-my name is Da-David. I’m from the… the Orphanage.”

“Oh yeh? Prove it. Which one?”

“S-Saint Augustine’s.”

They were taken aback and gave looks to each other.

“Guys, I remember that name from somewheh.”

“Yeah, it does… wait that was wheh Porgey must’a gone!”

David looked confused. “Who’s Porgey?”

They turned to him again. “You don’t know Porgey? You must have not gone there, you liar!”

“W-wait, is that his real name? Porgey?”

The smallest one spoke up. “It was a nickname. It’s from the nuhs’ry rhyme- ya know? Georg’y Porg’y? That’s wha’ we called ‘em.”

“Georgey? As in George?” David never felt this excited that day.

“George who?”

        “Was he tall? Black hair? Did he steal a carriage once?”

        They all looked shocked, their eyes opened in the childish manner again.

“Holy shweest-… how did ya know ‘bout tha? ‘E told ya?”

David started reminiscing in front of the wide eyed others. “He told me about how you all stole the Judge’s carriage, galloped away before he could blink, and destroyed it while keeping the horse. So…which one of you is Oliver, Johnny, or Willy?”

...
So, what do you think? Sound off in the comments section. Thanks for reading. Part II is on the way!!

Chapter 3, Part II

First of all, thank you for reading until this point. I would also like to give a shout-out to my new readers in Romania and France! Remember, any feedback counts!!

-Zach
P.S. The book has passed the 65,500 mark and well on the way to completion. A few kinks have to be fixed before the next run- through, but it's looking really bright, people!

..............................................

He heard footsteps coming to his bed.

Ah well. Might as well not pretend to sleep. 
As he Sat up and put his hat on, he felt a little calmer when he remembered what the boy’s name was.

He used to be called Jane, and with a name like that you better be ready to defend yourself. You see, it was supposed to be" John", but the person who wrote the name on the certificate must have been so tired that day that he thought, for a second, that he was actually a girl, so he wrote Jane instead. He came in a few years ago as a small boy for his size, almost David’s height –and he wasn’t so tall either- but the story came too. How it happened David didn't know, but soon everyone knew about it, including him. Yet the last person who made the joke wound up with a broken arm and a mouthful of dirt. From then on, no one said a word. The anger must have swelled up so much that the hot air caused him to grow a few more inches over everyone else.

This same boy was quietly marching toward David, with a mix of sleep deprivation and with the short temper that came easily when no adults were around. And the rest of the boys were up too.

“Hello, Spotty face." He tried to sound scary, but came off as mean. The rest of the boys snickered.

Yet David felt cool and collected amidst the shivers of fear, something very unusual of him. It felt weird, like a warm breeze flew throughout his body.

“H-Hello John,” he whispered. “Is there something wrong?"

“Yes. Your screaming has kept me up for two days already. I know it was you that made all that noise last night and you were too stupid to know not to do that.”

 “Okay. So what else do you want me to do, besides not scream?"

 “Well, you have to ask me what to do? Now why would you need me to tell you to shut up? Maybe you should stop screaming for your mum.”

No one ever admits that they missed their old homes.

“And stop acting like such a freak, you freckled smut! You already are one!” The rest of the boys laughed as all of the confidence spilled from the freckled boy’s face faster than rain off of a roof.

“In fact, let’s see your hair.” He grabbed for David’s hat.

“No! Stop! Please! Don’t-“

Too late. John yanked off his hat and tossed it across the room, to another accomplice. David immediately leapt for it, rushing with shame and embarrassment while trying to keep his head covered with the other hand.

“Give me back my hat! Please stop!”

All of the other boys laughed at him as he ran between the two boys at the front of the room.

David tried in desperation to get his hat back, while more tears streamed down his face.

“Please. Just give me back my hat.” Then one of the other boys pushed him to the ground, as other boys surrounded him in an overwhelming circle.

 “Well, now, you little git. You know what, fellas? I don’t think it’s about the hat. Yeah, David, I think you miss your daddy. Or maybe your mummy!”

Everyone began to point and laugh at him, loud enough to wake even the deepest sleepers in the room. He must have had supernatural strength to hold back sobs.

Then it happened.

Somehow, he found some courage, some force to help him stand for himself. He looked up at him, his wide eyes red, narrowed and wet from tears.

“I… never knew… my Mum. Unlike YOU.” The crowd fell into a hush and John into a different mood.

“Did they not just leave you here for no reason…Jane?” 

“How dare you,” John said between clenched teeth. David awoke from the rush and realized what he said. His body shook with panic as tears of fright welled up in his eyes.

“I ought to give you a better reason to scream right now!” He cracked the knuckles of his fist. David gulped even harder as he tried to crawl away. The rest of the boys looked on.

Then someone else spoke up, in a loud, indignant, deep voice.

“Wait! Don’t hurt him!”  

It was George! Nathan wasn’t too far behind him.

 “Why would you beat him up now, when there will be marks on his face tomorrow?” George asked as he snatched the hat from one of the other boys and tossed it back to the victim.

“What happens next if he even decides to snitch on you to the Nuns?” George spoke softly and like a negotiator, to David’s confusion.

Yet this method seemed to work. In the light of the streetlamps outside, David saw a calmer change in John’s body language.

“Yeah, that’s a good point…” he whispered.

“So why not push off the fight until tomorrow? I’m sure he won’t scream again,” George whispered.

Then John made up his mind.

“Tomorrow…I’ll make you scream tomorrow…”

Oh, Thank G-d, David thought as he exhaled deeply while the circle dissipated.

John walked away and quickly went back to bed while the three of them stayed on the floor, the smallest one bent over his hat, now with new wrinkles.

“Thank you so much,” David whispered. “But I guess the ‘no fight at all’ option was out of the question…” He clearly grew a smug smirk on the side of his mouth.

George caught the sarcasm as he helped David up. “Hey, I only just saved your life.”

“Besides,” Nathan interjected as he put the hat on David’s head, “He’ll probably be more tired tomorrow.”

That seemed to make it all feel better. Time just seemed to pause as the three of them sat together in a broken circle, the two bigger boys a sort of security for the third. He wondered if grown-ups had to deal with protecting themselves like he needed to. [Maybe they weren’t so bad if they never fought with each other.] Maybe if he was able to grow a little taller, he wouldn’t have to deal with these things.

“You had the same dream again, didn’t you?”

David turned to George, the height difference made him look like a tower.

“Yeah…”

“The ledge, the thoughts, the hand through the wall, all of that the same?”

“There’s more.”

“So there’s more huh? Why didn’t you tell-?”

“Because of Sister Agnes, remember? She came in while I was telling you?”

Nathan looked confused. “Um, where was I during this?”

“Oh yeah… By the way, do you want to know what happened next, after you left to Mass?”

“Wait, what else was there in the dream? It was so good until then.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry I left you up there. What happened?”

“Don’t worry, everything is fine (chuckle). She only made me go to mass in my pajamas. Said it would build character. It was pretty embarrassing.” David grimaced at the thought.

“That’s why some of the others snickered at you.”

“Yeah. They tried to needle me about it, but I took care of that.”

“Yikes,” David whispered. “What happened next?”

“I snuck back upstairs to change into the uniform. Thankfully no one noticed. So what parts are new?”

“Well,” David continued with the same hesitation as before. “After the hand comes out, I guess I- I don’t know why but- they told me to jump-”

“Who?”

“Wait, what hand?” Nathan had a look of confusion all over his face.

“A hand broke through the brick wall of the tower, reaching for him.”

“The same guy telling him to jump?”

“No. Someone else.”

“Who?”

“That’s what I’m asking, Nathan.”

“Okay, so who was it, David?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t a voice I could recognize.”

“So it told you to jump?”

“Yes. I don’t know why, but I just listened.”

“Well, that’s nothing new. You jumped before. Then what?”

“So I’m falling...”

“Yeah…”

“And falling…”

“Okay, you can stop being dramatic.”

“Nathan, honestly. I fell for a long time.”

“Couldn’t be so long, especially from that tower. It would have felt a lot shorter, especially when it isn’t real, and especially when you smack the floor-”

 “But then I flew.”

Then there’s silence. George looked to Nathan after taken slightly aback. They were expecting for David to wake up before he landed.

“You flew… Right. Are you sure?”

“Do I look like I’m sure?”

“Absolutely not. You still look clueless.”

“Then you’d be right. I-I’m not so sure but I think I was…”

“Everyone falls in their dreams, David. That’s nothing new. Some wake before they die, while others think they fly away. Do you have any idea how many times I dreamt of flying out of here and back to the gang I belonged to? Since the first day I was locked up in here. What about you Nathan? Same thing?”

“I never like admitting it but yeah, I do. They never end well.”

“Yeah. You fall and wake up when you’re about to hit the ground, right?”

“Yes.”

“George, please. I really did fly. I felt it before I landed.”

“So would I. How are you so sure?”

“I don’t know. Every time I feel like I am, I wake up. I scream when I’m falling.”

“I see,” He whispered, scratching his head. “So why are you dreaming about this, over the past couple of days? And why are those screams so loud? No one else screams in their dreams.”

“I have no idea, and certainly hope that it doesn’t get any worse. Next I’ll be screaming Bloody Maries and wake up the Nuns.” They couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea.

“George,” He began to ask. “Why do you think I’ve been dreaming about these things?  Does it have anything to do with where I came from?"

"I don't know," George said.

“Why are you thinking about that, David?”

“I’m not sure. I realized that I didn’t know much about where I came from. Sister Deborah didn’t tell me anything. Just that I came from a garden.”

"Well, believe me, if possible I would tell you what it meant. Maybe it's just you." He realized he said the wrong thing as David yawned.

"Yeah... It's always me that’s got to be different. Look at everybody," he said, pointing at the many dark shades of hair, including George and Nathan.

“No one else has such bright hair or these spots. Why am I the one who screams in his crazy dreams, if you’re dreaming the same thing? Why am I the one that has to stay?"

"Again, I just don't know. Nothing’s changed since yesterday,” George replied."

“But I can assure you, you won’t be here forever. There’s always a way.”

“Yeah… and I think I got it.”

“Exactly- wait, you found a way out?”

“Yep, I know just what to do.”

“David, why haven’t you tried that before? You’ve been here longer, so you know this place.”

“Well, I guess I was just so scared of leaving. I would be all alone out there. What about you? You came from there.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t know. What was your plan?”

“We escape at recess. Sneak around the Nuns and exit through one of the doors in the Church.”

“Won’t that be too risky? There are Nuns everywhere. And the Head Priest-”

“He won’t be there.”

“What do you mean-”

“He walks to another Church to meet with a Cardinal. Sister Deborah told me once.”

“She seems to be the only nice Nun in this whole place, doesn’t she?”

“So what, Nathan? The plan is as good as it gets. We escape through the Church at a side door! It’s good enough for me. I just don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

“That’s because you never thought about escaping, did you? What do you say, David?”

He stared down at the ground, shifting around as though his pajamas became itchy.

“I…don’t know if I…well…I just don’t think that…”

“That what? Why are you so afraid?”

“David’s never been out there before, have you?” Nathan looked back to David with inquisitive eyes.

“Well, yes but… a long time ago.”

“Oh, come on. It will be much better than this David. Trust me, I have friends out there. They can take care of us.”

“Yeah…m-me too,” Nathan interjected, “Come on David. We’ve been out there before. It’s not as scary as you’ve been told.”

“I… I don’t know if I want to…”

Nathan couldn’t understand what the problem was.

“Look, if you stay here, you’re going to stay forever, right? Don’t you remember what you told us last night? You wouldn’t want to stay here if it means being that.”

You can say that again.

“And we won’t have to deal with John either.”

Really? I never thought of that. David looked back at him with wider eyes, flashing his hazel eyes in full color, as if mesmerized.

“So, when recess is called, we’ll sneak behind the Nuns, through the catacombs-”

Nathan interrupted, “Ooh, right. Good idea.”

“-and through the Church’s back side door to freedom. Okay?”

He quickly thought about the whole situation. He’d miss the fight. He wouldn’t have to grow up to be a priest. Better yet, he wouldn’t have to see John again! He could only think of one thing to say:

“Okay, I guess.”

Nathan shook a joyful fist.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll be leaving tomorrow. I’m going to miss the beds. They were the only soft things in this place.”

“I miss the outside more than anything. I can’t wait to see Oliver, Johnny and Willy again. We’ll get right back to what we do best.”

Only David seemed less happy at the decision to leave. After quick “good-nights” to each other, the other two quickly leapt into bed to catch as much sleep as they could. David, on the other hand, walked to the large window and took another look outside.

Tall flats blocked out half of the view, while large clouds covered the other part. He had seen stars over London before, but now the world outside was painted with the light from the streetlight and nearby windows. The street looked so empty at this time of night. The world was asleep again, while he sat in the protection of the orphanage. Soon, he would be out there and he wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he wouldn’t have to look for anyone to save him this time. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be protected anymore; he would have to follow Nathan and George forever if he wanted to survive. He had only heard bad things about the world outside. He didn’t want to die out there, but then again he would in here.

So even though he realized he had nothing to lose, he still didn’t want tomorrow to come. He never felt so scared in his life.