the sparkler

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watcher
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Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:40 pm

the sparkler

Post by watcher »

Short one for the 4th...hope you enjoy! :flag:


She had bought the fireworks the day before for the upcoming holiday at the beach. She wasn't sure which she liked the best, and now that they were finally lightening up on the restrictions, it seemed that they might be able to put off Roman candles, sparklers, and whizzers without comment from anyone. When her husband was growing up, he and his brother used to make homemade bombs out of pipes and set them off in the quarry. It was supposedly a huge secret, but it had certainly contributed to his chosen profession as a special effects coordinator for movies. What was sad now, though, was apparently they weren't going to have a vacation. Her children had come down sick, her husband was called in with a technical problem, and her mother-in-law ended up changing her plans in order to spend time with the new love in her life...

She wanted the children to watch from their window at least, and so she went to call them, and they tiptoed down the stairs in their pjs, clinging to their stuffed animals, their usual energy sapped by the flu. They were still eager to try though. So she let them come out on the porch, and lighted a sparkler for each, and they watched them burn down quickly, laughing a little.

The last one she stuck in the ground, like a birthday candle, and lit it, but it refused to light. She moved on to a roman candle, which the kids shrieked at a bit, and drove them back to the stairs momentarily, before they crept down again. They were only 3and 5, so it was partly to be expected. Still disappointed by the sparkler, she tried again, but it refused to cooperate. The boys were still under the weather, and she promised them they would put off the rest another day. Carrying them upstairs to their beds, she opened the window, and let them lean out to watch the bigger fireworks.

She remembered one 4th when she was a girl, sitting on her grandma's roof, and watching fireworks with her cousins, and spitting watermelon seeds...life didn't seem to get much better than that. She sat with the boys until they were asleep, and then went down onto the porch again. Strangely enough, the sparkler had been perversely lit by a stray spark from one of the neighbor's supply somehow... She watched it blaze up, and then sputter all in a moment. While she was watching, the grand finale finished out in front of her from the local ballfield.

It took her back to one other 4th, but she wasn't quite ready for that story yet. She sat on the porch, long until past midnight, watching the embers from the campfire they had built earlier in the evening, and wishing the fireworks would continue a little longer...
moses lee
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If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
Location: Altoona

Re: the sparkler

Post by moses lee »

Well done! Compacting that much story in just a few paragraphs is Hard to do. Good Job!
watcher
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Posts: 229
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2007 3:40 pm

Re: the sparkler

Post by watcher »

Hey thanks Moses! Being a poet helps a little, just the idea I suppose, but I enjoyed it! Happy 4th! :bluebounce:
Leep
Senior Member
Posts: 155
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2005 3:32 am
If Mike has 13 apples, and gives six to Jane, how many does he have left?: 13
Location: Butte, Mt.

Re: the sparkler

Post by Leep »

Good job... :thumb:

Well, now it has begun....More authors/writers are waiting in the wings...Step out and show your wares......

Leep:
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