Fireflies

Tiki posts lined the edges, separating the meadow from a field of tree's. The moon floated above the tree's. we s sat in plastic lounge chairs, with beers in our hands and smiles on our faces as we watched the fourth of July spirit in fireworks. Streams of smoke would fly into the sky, only to burst into colorful rain. "hey kay," i heard freddie say. kay? that's what tom calls me.. "you wanna play with some fireworks?" fred asked me, pulling the box of sparklers towards himself. "uh, sure." i've never been the kid to play with fireworks. i'd rather watch. Fred handed me a stick. "let's go out into the meadow." he said. Tom opened another beer, ignoring the situation. "okay Freddie, give me one second." i handed my unfinished cigarette to Cheyenne. i looked over to tom, sitting in a chair with his right leg crossed over the other. He watched as Fred grabbed my hand and pulled me into the meadow.
The fireflies were instantly drawn towards us as we entered the meadow. They circled around our bodies as if they were dancing. Fred pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit my stick before his own. "you know, i had an aunt who was burned by a firework one year, right on her nose." i shared with fred as i moved my sparkler across the sky. "my father use to sell fireworks. you know, one of those ghetto stands that are always out in the middle of nowhere." "a firework set my grandfather's hay field on fire." i watched fred twirl his sparkler "i always liked to make pictures in the air with these things." He spelt my name in the air from the smoke coming off the sparkler. i laughed "i have never played with fireworks" i said. "what? thats crazy, why not?" "i wasn't interested. i would rather watch them than set them off." "understandable." he said. i noticed my stick was shorter than it was a moment ago. "Freddie, is it supposed to do this?" like i said, i was never the kid to play with fireworks, i had no explanation as to why the flame was suddenly approaching my hand. "its supposed to do that, dont worry. because, you know, fire burns wood." he said. i held out my stick farther away from my body. "kayla, its only a sparkler. i've been playing with these since i was 3 years old. nothing is gonna happen, i promise." i took my sparkler and spelt "freddie" in the air. he smiled "there you go!"