As much as I hate putting a date on things because then that means it will become outdated, I recognize that that is quite literally a fundamental part of this story haha. And I don't know. Maybe it won't bug me. We'll see. 

Anyways it's 2024 because I am writing this in 2024, considered writing in 2025 but a couple years ago I realized it actually doesn't work to write even just a few months ahead if you want to be contemporarily accurate, so I'm going with January 2024 because as of right now we're closer to that than 2025.

I can honestly say I've never written from this character's perspective before, so I'm excited.

Alright I've held y'all up long enough!

Enjoy! :)

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Boots opens his eyes to find a sky full of fireworks in a New York he doesn't recognize.

What happened? Just a moment ago he was in the lodging house, ready to bring in the new year.

But this is not the lodging house. He's outside. Something in his gut tells him it's still New York. But ... it's not his New York. 

He doesn't even know how to describe it. It's so loud, so many sounds going off at once, bright lights, and extremely tall buildings. Not a carriage in sight, but a lot of moving things moving fast on the streets--black, made of something that is not cobblestone--making it impossible to walk across the street without being hit.

Nothing is familiar.

He feels his heart beat faster and his breath quicken. If nothing familiar shows up soon or goes back to the way it was, his panic might grow worse. But still, he tries not to let his guard down. He has no idea how dangerous this new situation will be.

Please, if there's anybody up there in the heavens, gimme somethin' familiar-

"Hey! HEY!"

Boots recognizes that voice. No matter where he is or when he is, he would always know that voice.

It's Crutchy.

He feels his eyes well up with tears.

"CRUTCHY!" he runs toward him as fast as he can.

"Hey! Careful!" Crutchy exclaims as Boots barrels into him, nearly knocking him over.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Nah, it's alright. I'm glad to see a familiar face."

They embrace tighter. Boots has never been more grateful for Crutchy in his life.

Finally when his heart rate is slower, Boots looks up at Crutchy. "What happened, Crutchy?"

Crutchy bites his lip, subdued. "I...don't know. I've been here for 'bout t'ree hours now-"

"Six hours?! I just got here!"

"Yeah, I don't know why it happened an' how it happened neither. From what I figure, it ain't even safe to cross the street. Them horseless carriages take up all the space now."

Boots gulps. "So how do people get anywhere?"

"I don't know. From what I've seen, the thin narrow sidewalks are the only safe way to get anywhere. And on occasion, ya can cross the street where there's horizontal white stripes, but only when a green man appears."

"That don't make no sense."

"Yeah, I know."

Suddenly, huge fireworks go off. They look up.

In big, bright letters, they see the numbers 2024.

"Two thousand twenty four," Boots reads aloud.  "Two thousand twenty four?"

Crutchy startles. "Wait."

Boots looks up at him. "What?"

Crutchy stares at him, a look of realization on his face. "Do ya think...that might be the year?"

Boots gasps. "The year two thousand twenty four?!"

"It would explain why New York is so unfamiliar now."

"Do you really think we found a way to travel to the future?" Boots asks, full of both wonder and nerves.

"I really don't know," Crutchy admits.

A couple people pass by.

"Excuse me?" Crutchy asks them politely. "Say, what year is it?"

The couple exchange a look, then look at Cruthcy, eyebrows knotted. "It's twenty-twenty four."

Crutchy blinks. He recovers quickly. "Huh, and here I was thinking we was still in twenty-twenty three!"

He starts laughing, getting the couple to chuckle nervously, then they walk away quickly.

"Have a happy New Year!" Crutchy calls after them cheerfully, voice a little strained.

"We're really in 2024," Boots muses. Then he realizes. "Crutchy? Where are the others?"

Crutchy sighs. "I don't know. I don't know if we were the only ones this happened to, or if the others are here too, or if they've gone elsewhere in time." 

Boots bites his lip. "I'm scared, Crutchy."

"Yeah, me too." Crutchy slings an arm around Boots. "Ya know what? I bets you an' I can figure this out together."

Boots smiles. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Boots yawns. 

Crutchy thinks on it. "Ya know what? I think things will look clearer in the mornin'. Maybe we'll wake up and find out this is all a dream. I just know it'd probably be better to get some sleep now, yeah?"

Boots rubs his eyes sleepily. "Yeah."

Of course it may be hard with all the noise, but honestly, he's feeling too tired to care.

"Here." Crutchy leads Boots to a building he had explored earlier. "A public library. It's open twenty four hours a day-"

"How do they do that?"

"No clue. I asked them when they close and they said they don't. I've look around, and there's some comfy little furniture. I bet we can tuck into a little corner and go unnoticed for a few hours."

They walk around a little inside. It's peaceful in here. Not like outside.

Boots looks at the soft-looking bags in the corner curiously. "What are those?"

"Well, I asked around a little, and I got told that those are called 'bean bags'," Crutchy tells him. "They're supposed to be really comfy."

Boots plops down on one. 

Oh. Wow. This is just as comfortable as his bunk back at the lodging house, if not comfier. 

The lodging house.

He tries not to think on it too hard.

He hopes that tomorrow he'll wake up and he'll be back in his bunk, surrounded by all the newsies, ready to sell the first newspapers of the new year.

His eyes droop. He really needs sleep.

"G'night, Crutchy," Boots says sleepily.

Crutchy carefully plops in the bean bag next to him. "G'night, Boots."

Crutchy pulls a couple books off the shelves closest to him at ground level, to make it look like they were reading something and just fell asleep. In the few hours that he's been here, he's seen a lot of hostility to people, especially those who look like they don't have a home.

And now that they are no longer in 1899, he no longer has a home.

He's scared. Really scared.

But he's gotta be brave for Boots. Boots is only thirteen. He shouldn't have to experience something like this. True, he shouldn't have had to experience anything he did back in 1899, but at least they knew how to handle the challenges of 1899.

Maybe in the morning it will all seem better. Maybe in the morning, their minds will be clearer after a good night's sleep and some food in their stomachs--if they figure out how to aquire any.

Still, that's a tomorrow problem.

And so, Crutchy shuts his eyes, and to the best of his ability, tries to calm his restless mind and let sleep over take them.

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Well that was a tad bit angstier than I thought it would be.

This is just over 1000 words.

Also you know me, time for research! :)

Fireworks were inventd in the 2nd century BCE in China.

There is evidence that Ancient Greece had sidewalks, but the first use of the word was in 1740.

Beanbag chairs were invented by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro in 1969. So we need to say a big grazie to our tre uomini Italiani for beanbags.

(In case you haven't read any of my other wattpad stories and don't necessarily know me, I have Sicilian/Italian ancestors, and I am all about all things Italian haha)

Another thing about me is that I will legit research anything. I want--no, need--my stories to be as accurate as possible. I don't care that it's fanfiction. I will dedicate hours to researching things to make sure I'm historically accurate.

Another thing about me is that I'll be preaching historical accuracy and then 0.2 seconds later turn around and say "it's my story, I can do whatever I want" haha. For example, I need to know when certain things were invented...but I don't necessarily need a logical explanation for how they time traveled.

Next chapter will be better methinks :)))

Don't worry, you will get to see the others. Just in case you were feeling a little antsy and have anxiety like me.

Another thing about me is that I write looooooong author's notes, that I hope are more entertaining than boring.

Alright! Time to write the next chapter! :)

Please, no homophobia, profanities directed at real people, or hate in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who is kinda satisfied that they wrote this is under an hour)