Firework

Ellie kicked the container over. It was plastered with colorful purple and green paper, and read 'Royal Dart'. "Hey, Joel, what's this?"

He took a break from scavenging and walked over to where she stood. He bent down, picking up the casing. "This here is a firework."

"Firework?"

"A big container of explosives that you set off…then you watch the sparks fly into the sky." He gestured faintly as he spoke. "All different colors, all different shapes, too." He looked at it with a faint wistfulness. "Yeah, they used to set them off every Fourth of July. Military ordered 'em to be stopped, said it was a waste of black powder."

"What did they look like? When they exploded, I mean." She reached for the container, turning it over in her hands.

He took a piece of heavily creased paper and a pencil out of his backpack, smoothing out the paper before methodically sketching huge, flowery explosions. He admired his handiwork for a moment, then handed it to her. "Like that." He smirked, "Sure as hell were more of a sight, though."

She perked up a bit, still turning the firework in her hands. "Could we set it off?" Her eyes shone at the mere thought.

He took the firework back from her and started to place it in his backpack. He stopped, then turned back to her. "You know, probably not a good idea to keep explosives like this on me. You had those matches, right?"

"Now, I can't promise this'll work. It's gotta be twenty-odd years old."

"Uh-huh," Ellie nodded in response as she crouched a few yards away. She watched Joel light the frayed fuse, then backed up a bit more, just in case. Joel joined her moments later.

The firework went off with a vengeance. Streams of sparks shot into the air, then exploded again, painting lines of smoke across the sky. He turned to her for a moment. She was silent, in awe, with eyes glued to the whistling masterpiece. He knew making so much unnecessary noise was a stupid idea; hell, the sparks alone could easily attract a horde. The kid didn't ever get a break, though. Just this once, he figured, she'd have something happy to look back on.

After the last gleam fizzled away, Joel got to his feet. Ellie stayed crouched for a while, then joined him, still stunned.

"Come on, let's get goin'," he muttered back to her as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Whoa," she replied as she slowly rose to her feet. "That…was…" she paused, searching for the right words. "Fuckin' unbelievable!" she grinned, jogging to catch up. "Are they all like that? That…that big? That loud?"

He chuckled. "Most of 'em. That one was actually kinda small, to be hon-" he trailed off, realizing that Ellie had disappeared. He turned around. She had run back to the empty cardboard shell. Testing the temperature with her fingertips first, she picked it up, then placed it into her backpack.

"For safekeeping." She smiled, patting the bag as she joined him again.