In the Blink of an Eye

Nolan tossed another chunk of firewood onto the bonfire. It tumbled onto the burning logs, the flames reaching around it and growing brighter, sending smoke and embers into the cool summer night sky.

 “So I picked up some fireworks for sale at the convenience store,” he announced to Alex and Bobert. He pulled out a box from his pocket and took out a small red firework, about the thickness of a Cane’s chicken finger. “Not sure if I should wait until July 4th to use these, or just light them off now for fun.” He held the gunpowder-filled mass in his hand out towards the light of the fire. The fire lit his eyes in the darkness, which were fixated on the firework with an eager look.

“We should probably wait until 4th of July,” Alex replied. “It’s only three weeks from now. Plus it’s not every year that Fourth of July is going to fall on a Friday night. Also, don’t hold that so close to the fire…”

“C’mon Alex, there’s nothing really better to do, is there?” he insisted, extending his arm out to the crackling fire so that the firework was illuminated. “We even have a free lighter right here.” He gestured towards the fire with a greedy look.

“Hey, I got a stupid idea,” Bobert suggested. “But it’s pretty stupid. You should take a bite of that firework and see what it tastes like.”

“That’s pretty damn stupid,” Nolan replied. “But just stupid enough that I might as well try it.” He raised the firework to his jaw as the group watched in disbelief. His tooth punctured the paper shell surrounding the firework and the powder spilled into his mouth. The bitter dust settled on his tongue and dissolved into a metallic powder. He swallowed the chemical mass quickly and grimaced quietly.

“What the hell dude, that was a joke,” Bobert uttered, staring at the firework with a bite-sized chunk torn out of it. “I always knew you weren’t the brightest, but still…”

“Honestly, that tasted pretty disgusting,” he replied with a slight lisp. “But it left a weird feeling after I swallowed it.”

“Well duh, it didn’t taste the best, it’s a f*cking firework, smartass,” he replied loudly. “Well at least it didn’t explode or anything.”

The group laughed at Nolan for a while, sharing some random chips and other snacks as they joked around the campfire.

“Well, I need to head home,” Alex said. “It's getting pretty late. Don’t do anything else too stupid, guys.”

“Okay, take care broski,” Nolan replied. Alex put on his helmet and hopped on his bike, kicking up the kickstand and taking off into the dark streets.

What the hell just happened earlier… Alex thought as pedaled through the dimly-lit suburbs, the lightly cold wind beating on his face. Oh well, at least Nolan is okay. He pulled into his porch and locked his bike against the railing. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only sane person in my friend group. He walked up to the dark house and unlocked the door.

“Neo?” He called into the house as the door creaked open, hoping she was home safe and sound. He waited. No response. “Great, one more person to worry about on top of my insane friends.” He laid down on his bed and sighed when he got a text from Bobert. “So uh, was it just me… or did Nolan actually enjoy eating that firework?” Alex laughed to himself quietly before replying, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.” To be honest, that kid scares the hell out of me. He set his phone down and shut his eyes. I gotta make sure nothing too quirky happens during next week’s bonfire.

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Finally done with another long day of work, Nolan thought as he walked down the sidewalk, staring into the sky, the sun just starting to set. He stretched his arms and set his sights down the road. Might as well stop by the convenience store, there’s a few things I want to pick up for the bonfire.

“Hey, I came to pick up some more fireworks,” Nolan said to the convenience store worker as he walked in the door, eyeing the surrounding shelves. “Where are your cheapest ones?”

“We just stocked some more of those super cheap fireworks, like under a dollar each,” he replied, walking towards a shelf and picking out a few. “Will these work?”

“Perfect, that’ll do,” he replied. “I’ll take, like, 9.”

“Cool, I’ll go get some for you.”

“Hey, I have an odd question for you…” he asked the worker. “What would happen if someone were to accidentally… eat… one of these fireworks?”

“Ummmm I don’t think eating fireworks is a good idea.”

“Yeah, I was  just curious. I would never eat one.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know. Maybe look it up or something.”

“I don’t have a smartphone or a laptop, but I could probably get a friend to look it up.”

“Just don’t eat fireworks and you’ll be fine. …Wait, did you already eat one?”

“Well… Nah, I haven’t,” he replied, handing the fireworks to the cashier. He scanned them as Nolan pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet. I’m going to need to work a lot if I want to get a decent amount of these before the 4th…

“Thanks.” Nolan placed the newly-purchased fireworks into his backpack and walked out of the building. He began the walk back to his house in the overcast midday skies, the sun shining through the clouds. He decided he would make a stop by the lake on the way back to clear his thoughts as the sun set. I don’t know if I’m making the right decision by buying all of these fireworks… What if something happens? What will my friends think?

He made it back to his house and walked into the backyard. He plopped down onto a foldable chair and opened up his backpack. It’ll probably be a while until everyone makes it here, but I might as well get the fire going. He got some large sticks and chunks of wood from the surrounding woods and tossed them into the pit. He reached into his backpack for a match and striked it against the matchbox, creating a hot flame that he tossed onto the mass in the pit. The logs began to crackle and char, and the scent of woody smoke that he knew so well returned to him once again.

Well no one’s around, might as well try it now… I’ve been waiting for a good time. He pulled out a firework and stared at the paper for a moment. He began to sink his teeth into the firework when he heard a voice from behind him.

“Nolan! What are you doing!?”

“Alex, it’s not what it looks like…”

“Are you seriously doing this again?”

Nolan stood up from his chair and grasped the firework. Powder slowly trickled from the punctured firework. Nolan coughed a brief mist of metallic dark gray dust into the air.

“Dude. Give me that.” Alex briskly walked towards Nolan, extending his arm and attempting to take the firework in his hand.

“Stop, you’ve got the wrong idea!”

“Hand the firework to me!” he shouted, trying to grab the firework from his hands forcibly. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Listen, I just wanted to try it again, I wasn’t going to do this anymo-”

Suddenly, the stick Nolan was standing on slipped out from underneath him, and he lost his balance. Alex tried to grab Nolan’s arm as he fell but was too slow. Nolan stumbled over his leg and fell into the flames, clutching the leaking firework to his chest. “Nolan!!” His back tumbled onto the burning logs as he stared up with regret at Alex, who was rushing to find the nearest way to extinguish him. Nolan jolted to the side in pain as the flames reached into his palms. The searing fire made contact with his palms, causing him to release the fireworks as a response to the intense heat. Alex watched in horror as the powder escaped Nolan’s hands and fell towards the bright flames below. The flames reached outward into the falling dust and exploded into bright red bursts of energy. Alex frantically tried to pull him off of the raging flames, but it was too late. He had managed to pull Nolan off the fire, but his whole body had been singed and scorched extremely badly. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed 911. “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything about this sooner…” he spoke to Nolan’s charred body, dragging it further from the fire. “Your bad habits finally caught up to you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them sooner.”

“I’m… sorry…” Nolan uttered, coughing up blood and other indiscernible matter. “I… should’ve stopped sooner. I should’ve… never started.”