Fireworks                                                                                  

By Maddie , 7^th grade

“Three, two, one-”

BOOM! A stream of light burst from the sidewalk where I was sitting. It was the Forth of July, our nation’s holiday. My family and many of our friends were celebrating by setting off our own fireworks at our house. My dad had set up some small fireworks and sparklers to set off from our driveway, and we were having a blast. Literally.

“Hey, set off the red one!” cried my neighbor Sally, who liked the color red and the fact that that particular firework was larger than the others.

My dad laughed and set it down on the sidewalk.

“Three, two, one-” we counted down again. SPITZT! It launched off and shot off at the sky. It exploded above us, little sparks drifted down on my head. We “ohh”ed and “ahh”ed, all except my mother. She didn’t like us kids sitting so close to the spot we were setting off the fireworks. And as she saw the sparks drift down on us, she crossed her legs, frowning and biting her lip.

“You know, Greg,” she said for the fifth time to my father, “the kids really-”

“Oh, loosen up, Tina!” my dad interrupted her, smiling, “It’s the Forth of July! Come on, just let them be!” She frowned again and tried to look the other way, but kept glancing at us.

“Now do the blue thingy over there! The one shaped like a rocket!” My cousin Tim said. My dad set it down on the cement and lit the fuse.

“Yeah, yeah!” Tim cried as it lit the black night sky. We pointed at it and laughed when it formed into the planet Saturn.

“What about that one?” I asked pointing at his pile of fireworks. I wanted him to light off a small, shinny pink one that looked like a star.

“Okay,” my dad said and picked it up.

“Hey!” cried my best friend Rachel, “why don’t you light up the pink one and that small blue one? You know, at the same time!”

“Yeah!” we chorused in agreement.

“And the orange one!” said someone else.

“And that long one that’s green!”

“Yeah!” we cried, and got up to try and help my dad put them all together.

“Now, kids, sit down! I’ve got it!” my dad in a hurry as we all rushed at the pile of explosives. “Sit down! Just tell me the one’s you want! Hey! Guys!” But we couldn’t be stopped. We all grabbed at least one each (I had three in my hands) and then shuffled back onto the sidewalk. We dumped them in a pile, wanted my dad to fire them all at once. There had to have been at least ten or fifteen fireworks lying all around waiting to be lit. We hurried back to our seat, chatting excitedly.

My father examined the pile, shaking his head.

“We can’t fire all these at once,” he said.

“Thank you! Thank you!” my mother said, jumping up, arms waving. I could tell she had tried to interrupt more than once and tell us no, but had to bite her lip. I was surprised her mouth wasn’t bleeding.  “If you fire more than one, I’m sure someone will be killed! Here, let’s just put them back and leave them there, okay?”

My father laughed at her.

“Tina, of course we can’t fire all these at once! But I was going to say let’s take away five or so and then we’ll fire the rest!” We cheered for him and I told my mother to sit back down. She frowned and started to protest again.

“Too late, too late!” my dad said, hushing her. “I’m firing them!” we cheered again for the multiple fireworks getting ready to fly.

“THREE, TWO, ONE!” we shouted, and then my dad set fire to them.

SWISH! BANG! A bright light filled my eyes.

“AHHH!” I cried with others and tried to roll away. When I opened my eyes I saw my friends laying in grass, clearly as astonished a I was. My father was knocked over on the sidewalk, eyes wide.

“I knew it, I knew it!” my mother shouted as she got up from the grass, her lawn chair knocked over. “Greg, I told you! Didn’t I warn you that would happen? Didn’t I WARN you? Well? I said-” she stopped in mid sentence, looking in my way.

“BEATRICE LOU ANN YOU’RE ON FIRE!” she screamed while pointing at me. I looked down at my shirt, and saw a small signed place the size of an orange growing on me.

“HELP ME! AHHH! SOMEBODY PUT IT OUT!!!” I cried running in circles. My dad grabbed me and pounded at my clothes until the hot feeling at my side stopped. I took some deep breaths and my mother panted heavily.

“OKAY!” she cried. “NO MORE! NO MORE! Are you happy now, Greg? NOW THAT YOU’VE SET YOU’RE DAUGHTER ON FIRE?! We are putting the fireworks AWAY! AWAY!” She walked over to last few sparkers and fireworks and picked them up. She marched over to the garbage can and dumped them.

She turned around, a heavy look on her face. And despite everything, I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed. And soon everyone was joining me. My mom tried to contain a strait face, but she too burst and a smile formed on her face.

It was a Forth of July I’d never forget.