Carpe diem is Latin for Seize the day. I found it when looking for Italian expressions. I thought it fits the story perfectly. Again, I pay really close attention to choreography. I think you can guess what direction this is going to go. Enjoy! :)

Suddenly, Tumbler comes running toward them. This is new. Not many of them knew that he had gone. But he's coming back, eyes wide.

"What is it?!" Skittery asks immediately when he comes back.

"The wagon," Tumbler breathes, still slightly out of breath, "the wagon we get our papes from? Guess what I found? They was cheatin' us on purpose."

"David, your first day here, you tried gettin' twenty papes," Jack realizes, "but you only got nineteen. That was no countin' accident."

That causes an uproar. And everyone starts talking at once.

"We gotta do something!" "What should we do?" "That ain't fair!" "Why do we work for these people?" "We need to do something!"

"But how do we organize ourselves enough together?"

That voice was right.

Their motivation sinks once again.

Then, David has an idea.

"Open the gates, and seize the day," David murmurs softly to himself, and to everyone around him willing to listen. "Don't be afraid, and don't delay." He wanders around them.

"Nothing can break us, no one can make us, give our rights away." Louder, "arise and seize the day!"

That motivates everyone. 

Seize the day, Race thinks. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Everyone around him is moving. 

Wait.

His harmonica in his pocket. He whips it out. He knew he'd have a use for it.

David continues. "Now is the time to seize the day!"

Now is the time to seize the day!

"Send out the call and join the fray!"

Send out the call and join the fray!

"Wrongs will be righted, if we're united. Let us seize the day!"

David looks around him, everyone is getting more hyped. Then they do a little call and response.

"Friends of the friendless, seize the day!"

"Friends of the friendless, seize the day!"

"Raise up the torch and light the way!"

"Raise up the torch and light the way!"

All together, they say: "Proud and defiant, we'll slay the giant." Race and Mush do a little tap dance between the two groups.  "Let us seize the day!"

Now they move into two big circles, circling Race and Crutchy.

"Neighbor to neighbor, father to son. One for all and all for one!"

Race plays his harmonica happily. He knew he would have good use for it. His intuition isn't that far off after all!

"Open the gates and seize the day."

Open the gates and seize the day!

"Don't be afraid and don't delay."

Don't be afraid and don't delay!

"Nothing can break us, no one can make us, give our rights away!"

"Neighbor to neighbor, father to son...one for all, and all for one!"

"YEAH!" David shouts. They were all prepared to end on that previous note though. But his enthusiasm is definitely appreciated.

Seize the day. Carpe diem. Latin.

Why do Italians say a Latin phrase anyway?

Oh right. Andrea said Latin was before Italy.

Race thinks about it though. All around him, they all have a common phrase. Seize the day. But he has it in two languages. Seize the day, and carpe diem.

He'll make sure to do both.

Surely you will ALWAYS do both if they mean the same thing?

Yeah, yeah, but...it's different.

Suddenly, the circulation bell rings, jarring Race from his thoughts.

"Anybody hear that?" Jack shouts.

"NO!"

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"SOAK 'EM!"

Soak 'im, soak 'em. Soakim is one, soakem is many. Race hasn't had that thought in a long time.

Now they have more reason to strike. They have a purpose here. The prices of papes got raised. And they're not even getting all the papers they were promised when they buy them.

And so they run to the circulation center. They're going to go through the line, alright. But no one's going to pay for a single pape.

...Except for those who do.

Everyone could feel the tension.

No one moves.

"Alright, you fellas crossed the line," Race scowls.

Jack looks pointedly at the ones with papers in their hands.

Some drop the papes. But some don't.

So, Jack knocks papes out of one's hand.

The guy tries to pick them back up.

And that caused the chaos.

There's a lot of pushing, and shoving, and shouting.

Then there's the wagon.

"Everyone! GET THE WAGON!" Jack shouts.

They don't have to be told twice.

Race, Mush, Blink, Specs, Boots, and many others come right away to tip the wagon over.

They are not going to buy papers from some swindling lying cheaters.

Not today. Not ever.

Suddenly, there is another set of hands working right next to Race.

"Hey-!" he exclaims at the suddenness of it. Then he looks at the person next to him. It's a girl. Race is confused on so many levels. "What are you doing-?"

"Helping," she responds briskly. She looks a little older than Race, but not by much.

And she won't stop blinking.

Everyone cheers as the wagon is successfully tipped over.

Now, they start tearing up the bundles of newspapers. Then ripping each newspaper.

There are newspapers everywhere.

Race looks around, but the girl is gone.

And the chaos continues.

And within the chaos, Weasel and the Delanceys are cowering inside their little building.

Jack presses his face to the window. He's always wanted to do this.

It's absolute chaos. 

Just how the newsies like it.

That is, until the cops show up.

"It's the bulls!" "SCRAM!"

And so, everyone scrams.

Except Crutchy, who is still tearing up newspapers.

"CRUTCHY!" Race shouts. He's about to be taken! He tries running back.

Blink grabs Race's arm. "No, Race, we gotta go!"

"But Crutchy-"

I can't let Race get taken. Blink continues to yank Race away from Crutchy. They would have been too late anyway.

Oscar and Morris get to Crutchy. And then they take him away.

The only newsie who got arrested.

Once everything has settled, there's silence. They won. They all got away. Save for one.

Race pulls away from Blink, eyes wide with shock and hurt. "We could have helped him! But you left him there!"

Blink knows he'll have no way to explain this. "Race-"

Race shakes his head. "Mm-nn." He walks off, needing to clear his head. Not too far; but just not in the middle of the crowd.

Mush squeezes Blink's hand sympathetically.

I couldn't let you be taken, Race. I couldn't do that to everyone. I couldn't do that to you.

True, Blink's not happy with leaving Crutchy like that. No one is.

But they have no choice but to move forward.

They'll get Crutchy back. They will.

And they will continue to strike until the prices are back to fifty cents per hundred.

Jack goes on the roof that evening. He touches his bandana. He looks up at the sky. "We started something today, Ray. We started a strike. Nothin' like that ever happened in your day, did it?"

Of course, he doesn't get a response. But it's still nice to pretend he's talking to his mentor.

Then, he chuckles a little out of disbelief. "Wanna know what else happened, Ray? I became leader." He looks down. "Yep." He looks back up. "I'll never be able to fill your shoes, Ray. But I can try. I'll try my hardest." 

He sighs. "They took Crutchy, though. I wish that wasn't how it went. If I could do it over again, I would make sure that Crutchy got out of there okay. He's like a brother to me. Just like Mush and Blink. Just like Race."

A couple quiet moments.

"I stayed for Race, Ray. Just like you wanted. Just like I want. I'll be 22 soon. But as long I can, I'll stay."

Then he thinks about something.

He looks up. "What would you do, Ray? You didn't see the war last year. You aren't seeing either price change. What would you do, if you were still here?"

Perhaps Jack will never know what would have happened if Ray were still alive. None of them will. But they can't rely on someone who isn't there. They're all looking toward Jack. Jack is their leader. He's going to have to be the one with the world on his shoulders. He can do that. He can. And he will.

Jack stands up. "Now, it's been nice, but I got a brother to try to save."

That night when Jack and David went to get Crutchy from the Refuge (who politely refused the rescue), Brooklyn's messenger, Zap, returns with news from Manhattan.

"They tipped over the wagon that sells 'em papes," Zap reports to Spot. "and only one person got arrested. They'se determined."

"So they are," Spot remarks. Then, he makes his decision. "Zap, tell everyone to prepare for a busy day tomorrow."

He looks out across the water. "Tomorrow, we strike with Manhattan."

OOOOOOOOO SPOT'S GONNA JOIN THE STRIIIIIKE

Why am I so annoying on my own stories? I really don't know why I do that haha. Besides, I'M the one who makes those endings happen. Why should *I* be reacting like this? Eh. Funny ways to start an author's note are entertaining, right?

In 92sies and Livesies, Jack and Crutchy have a strong brotherly bond. It's more pronounced in Livesies. Just watch either. The chemistry and strong friendship (or stronger than friendship, however you wanna read it) is there.

Seize the Day is just so beautifully put together! The lyrics, the music, the choreography...all of it makes my musical theatre heart sing. 

Seize the Day is a really good song for motivation.

RACE HAS A HARMONICAAAAA :)

During 92sies David's opening for Seize the Day, there's one point where he helps Crutchy up, and then Crutchy does this cute little nod thing that I can't describe but just want to acknowledge that it's there. Marty Belafsky really knows how to play a sorta-background character. Those are some of the best actors. Just watch all the little things his Crutchy does and says throughout the movie. Those people are what make a story more real.

92sies and Livesies David both got cheated out of a lot of singing solos. Anyone else agree that they should have sung more?

Same goes for Spot Conlon. I want more of him singing--either version.

It's so ironic. In the actual strike, Crutchy was one of the newsies that was NOT ever arrested. But in 92sies and Livesies, he's literally the only one to get arrested.

The actual wagon tipping happened July 18, 1899, in Long Island. They found out they were being cheated out of papers, so they tipped the wagon bringing them the papers. Once Manhattan and Brooklyn heard about it, they were eager to make their own moves for the strike.

Edit: mystery girl will be explained eventually, I promise.

I can't wait for chapter 29, but I especially can't wait for chapter 30. ;)

And hopefully, they'll be posted later today! :)

Please, no homphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who wonders what would happen if they put cookies 'n cream Hershey's chocolate as the chocolate in a s'more--and has the resources to find out)