A/N: I just thought of writing this today, so I guess I will. In honor of the Fourth of July.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sammy or any of characters. Wendelin Van Draanen does.(And she rocks for it!)
Fire In The Sky
Every year for the Fourth of July, the city has it's own fireworks display that they set off behind the mall. It's the only one I've ever seen, so I don't know if there are any that are better. But sitting there in our folding chairs, just me and Grams, it's a special time.
Before we leave for the fireworks display we always make homemade ice cream. I'm talking with one of those old crank-jobbies. But it's always fun to crank and crank until the ice cream is too thick to crank anymore. Then we scoop it out and eat it until we're practically sick.
This year we took all of our ice cream stuff over to Hudson's, and got to cranking it on his porch. The way these old things work, is you take the ice cream, which is originally just like a soupy stuff, and you pour it into this slender metal thing. Then you take the slender metal thing, put it into a special bucket and latch the crank on top. Then you layer ice and rock salt until the bucket is full, and then you get to cranking.
So I'm kneeling there, cranking away, talking with Hudson and Grams as they sip iced tea, and I realize I'm really happy. Usually on holidays I get to missing my mom, but for the past year, Grams has been my only family. And I don't really want things to change.
After a while I get to where I can't crank it anymore, so Hudson starts in on it. He can only crank for a minute before he declares it done.
I run in to the house to get bowls and spoons, and a few minutes later, I have my high-tops kicked up on the porch railing and I'm scarfing down homemade ice cream.
After we're done with that and we've stuck the leftover ice cream into Hudson's freezer, we grab our folding chairs and head down to the mall.
The Fourth of July may be my favorite holiday. And you'd think that everyone my age would love Christmas the most because of presents, but not me. I love the fireworks. I love heading down to the mall parking lot, setting our chairs up somewhere, and waiting for the display. Then, when it comes, just sitting there and staring at the exploding lights-there's nothing quite like it.
We arrived at the mall and it was packed, just like it is every year. We take our chairs, find that rare empty space, and sit down. Then we sit there chatting away, waiting for the display that always manages to start twenty minutes later than they say it's going to.
Then it starts. You can always tell, because that hush falls over the crowd, then suddenly the sky is lit up by brilliant reds and golds, greens and purples, pinks and oranges. Some of them get bigger and bigger until you feel like they are coming right at you; and others explode and then seem to dive slowly towards the ground.
It's exactly what my mom and me always called it-fire in the sky.
A/N: I just felt like doing a little feel-good ficlet about Sammy's Fourth of July.