Mike
Written by: Margaret
“A penny for your thoughts.”
Was he talking to her? Janice turned to face him. She stared at his inquisitive eyes for a long moment before returning her gaze to the fireworks.
Loud cheers of elation rang in her ears as the rockets soared towards the sky before exploding into a million stars.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
She dug her hands deeper into her pockets. She didn’t look at him.
“Ooh! Look at that one. Awesome!”
No reaction.
He stole a glance at her.
“You don’t seem to be enjoying the show too much.”
Stephan noticed a deep sadness, an emptiness in her eyes. She’s looking at the show but she’s not seeing it, he thought to himself.
“So, fireworks aren’t your thing?”, he added, hoping for some kind of reaction.
She was in a world of her own and Stephan began to feel as if he was trespassing on forbidden ground. But he couldn’t take his eyes of her. He noticed, now, how she seemed to give a slight tremble and tense up with every loud explosion. He felt the urge to wrap his arms around her slight frame and protect her from the noise.
He began to wonder what brought her out here, alone, among this massive cheering crowd. It was obvious that she wasn’t enjoying the spectacular show. It was – after all – New Year’s Eve. And just about everyone loved celebrating New Year’s Eve.
“He loved fireworks.”
He turned to her. Had she spoken? He didn’t catch what she’d mumbled amid the racket that was going on around them. He moved his head closer to her.
“Mike loved fireworks.”
“Mike?”, he asked.
“My brother, Mike. He loved fireworks.”
“Loved? Doesn’t he still love them?”
“They killed him. The thing he loved killed him.”
She turned to face him and now he understood the sadness in her eyes.
“It happened 5 years ago. He built a massive firework himself. He was so excited about it, brought it to this very spot to light it. But something went wrong. It didn’t ignite straight away. As Mike went back to light it again, it exploded in his face. He was rushed to hospital but…..he died.”
As tears rolled down her face, Stephan did what he felt like doing earlier. He put his arms around her and held her tight, as the fireworks exploded in their ears.