folklore

- 13 -

"Harley," She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her awake. "Harley." The voice whispered again, louder the second time.

She saw dusty grey walls ahead of her and looked down to see a dark wooden floor. She then realized that she wasn't in the bunk room and that instead, she was in the hallway right outside of it. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light that was provided and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, recalling the events of the night before.

"hey," She turned her head and there was Race, crouching down beside her.

"what are you doing here?" She asked in a groggy voice.

Race chuckled quietly. "what is you doin' heah?"

"I don't quite remember." She lied, recalling what had happened between her and Spot the night before. The two laughed simultaneously and it almost seemed as if the room physically lit up. "what time is it?"

"early."

"figured." Harley clicked her tongue and straightened her posture against the wall. "so, what are you doing up?"

"evah since I was little, I always woke up real early and I can't fall back asleep." Race explained with his back against the wall, staring ahead at the dark floor boards. "I mostly go outside foah a little an' come back ta take a short nap of sorts befoah the bell."

There was a pause as the two simply stared ahead either at the wall or at the floor.

All of the sudden, Race perked up. "ya evah seen the Eiffel Towah?" He turned to face Harley, who gave him a dumbfounded expression.

"I spent over half of my life in an orphanage!" She reminded him and let out a short chuckle. "but- but, I've read about."

The corner of the blonde's lips tugged into a smirk. "why don't I show it ta you then?" He stood up and held a hand out for Harley to take.

"Race, the Eiffel Tower's in Paris."

"you's right, but mines tallah anyways... Or I likes ta think that. " Harley let out a yelp when Race pulled her to her feet and dragged her out of the lodging house.

Race kept his grip on Harley's hand as they ran through the rough cobblestone street, Harley mindlessly letting her feet take her to wherever Race pleased. The sky was a dark blue with the moon being the only source of light. The morning air felt crisp- indicating that autumn was near and a cool breeze blew the same direction as the two ran in which gave them a sort of speed advantage.

And suddenly, Harley heard Race laugh. But this time, it was different from all the other times she had heard him laugh. This one was like sweetness to her ears and the high pitched hiccup at the end was like a glistening red cherry on top. It sounded as if the noise of pure happiness had uttered out of his pink lips and danced in the wind, ringing in her head and making sure that she would never forget it.

It made her realize that she wanted nothing more than to hear him laugh like that in every waking moment of the rest of her existence.

Race then took her inside a tall apartment building. She hesitated at first, but she trusted Race. She knew that he wouldn't get her into trouble; she knew that it wasn't like him to do so. He may seem reckless and irresponsible most of the time, but there was a reason why Jack had chosen him as his second in command. He was a careful person and he would do whatever he could to keep his newsies out of trouble. Race has been a great leader as far as Harley knew and she would follow him anywhere at anytime.