Hi Rochester! This is a bit of a dark title, but I promise this is a lighthearted story. I didn’t get hurt in any way, and it’s been a significant amount of time so, I declare it’s funny.
A little bit of background — this happened when I was 13 years old, two days before our family moved across the country. It was the day before the Fourth of July, and we wanted to gather some family friends for one last hurrah before we went on our way. Our jolly group went to a sweeping park that had a large stretch of grass, brought small fireworks, and were having a good time.
However, we were not the only ones at this park with fireworks. Roughly 30 to 40 feet away from our group was another gaggle of people, and they had the real deal fireworks. They were the biggest ones a regular Joe could legally buy and set off in a residential area. We’d watch those go off as well because they were showy and fun.
I don’t know exactly what happened, but something went wrong. I was busy laughing about something when suddenly, I heard a deafening noise. I turned to look ahead at the noise and saw a bright light speeding towards me, with sparks flying all around. Without thinking, I did what I can only describe as an “Indiana Jones style barrel roll” to the side. After catching my breath, I looked back to the picnic blanket, expecting it to be eviscerated.
I was glad to be wrong. The blanket was fine, with just some smoke coming off the impact zone. And everyone else had the same idea as me, everyone had leapt off the blanket. Everyone except for my three-year-old brother.
DON’T WORRY! HE’S FINE! By some miracle, my little brother only had a small first-degree the size of a bean on his knee, and it healed well. I truly don’t know how he didn’t get severely injured. He is not without casualties though, as he is deathly afraid of fireworks and fire now.
I didn’t think much about that day until two years later. I was in the hallway in school, when that memory popped into my brain, and I went, “Huh. If I didn’t move out of the way, would I have been horrifically injured or killed?” For the rest of the day, I had a bit of a crisis regarding life and death, realized how short life was, and that the decisions I made mattered. This crisis didn’t last too long, with me soon after thinking, “What an odd experience — it’s kind of funny,”
And now you know, my dear readers, the time I almost died. While I find the story entertaining, I am glad it happened and am glad that moved me to live life to the fullest. ‘Cause who knows when another stray firework will strike me down. Nahhh, that won’t happen.
Right?
