I clocked out and didn’t go home.
Just walked.Gate,then the street,then past the white fence that’s always there.Trees went black against the sky.Slippers instead of hospital shoes.Hair down.Phone in pocket.That was it.No destination,no playlist,just air that finally didn’t smell like anything from inside.
And then BOOM.
Not a car.Not thunder.Fireworks.
Red ripped over the rooftops and I stopped mid-step like everyone else.Another one.Then three at once.The whole street got lit for two seconds and went dark again.It was that deep angry red from your photo,the kind that bounces off leaves and walls and people’s faces.
Kids were everywhere with sparklers,running in circles.Some uncles on the roof of that building in the distance had their phones up,filming.A bike with three guys flew past yelling,laughing,didn’t even slow down.From somewhere down the road there were drums and a speaker playing music too loud.People were just standing in the middle of the street looking up instead of going anywhere.
I laughed.By myself.On the sidewalk.Because five minutes ago my brain was full of noise and now the sky was doing the noise for me,but the fun kind.
Didn’t know what the celebration was for.Wedding?Local thing?Just a random Tuesday that decided to be loud?Didn’t ask.Didn’t need to.I stood there with the crowd,neck craned,while red and gold kept falling behind the trees.The heat from each burst hit my face.The smoke smell stuck to my clothes.
For a bit my head was completely empty.No lists.No reminders.A vendor walked by with samosas and someone’s little cousin tried to hand me a sparkler.I shook my head and smiled.Felt good to just be a person on a sidewalk.
The booms got slower.Farther apart.The crowd started drifting.I did too.Walking home under a sky that was dark again except for the haze hanging over the roofs.My feet hurt.My ears were ringing a little.
Some nights end quiet.Tonight ended with the sky going off.And it felt good. :)
This is my entry for contest. Here are the rules.
