Dot's

The other kids are laughing when the explosion comes.

It is sharp and it booms. Burns parts of my hair. Pieces of the small firecracker fall down in the dirt. I sit very still.

'Oh my stars! There's nothing on her!'

'Doesn't it hurt?!'

The two girls who tangled the thing in exclaim and ask.

I sit very still.

The dirt is dusty and gray and the sky is losing color. It is very bright. But blurry for some reason. Why do I feel wet?

Oh, I am sweating. (Hand goes up)

Oh; I am crying?

The girls leave but I sit still. The burned carton and paper of the firecracker is pulled apart by strong wind. Wind is good. I can breathe again, I think. The sky is a dark purple now, with white dust on it. The color makes me think of Tar.

Very pretty. Very quiet.

...

My feet hurt. I am afraid to move them. When I stay in one place for too long my body plays stone, then when I move, it's like breaking my stone. It hurts. Why does this hurt?

‘Doesn’t it hurt?!’

Was the boom of the firecracker supposed to hurt? I didn't feel nothing. It was just loud. Too, too loud! Do not like loud now.

I wince. Adults and kids are walking around in front of me. There are many and they are laughing and they are - cheering, is the word? They cheer weird, because they scream and yell.

When Tar cheers, he 'gives a grito'. Which sounds nice, not crazy.

And when Tar laughs, she slaps her knee. It is very funny when she does.

Tar may be worried. But... he is late again, no? If he arrived early, he would have found me. Yes, yes.

I move my fingers away from my skirt. I leave holes in it. Well, it is a worn out towel. A red one when I was smaller. But now it is brown. And it is more thin, that's why it makes holes easy.

More cheering and I move suddenly.

My hands are on my ears. I feel cold and everything is so loud.

Something even worse makes me whistle. There are lights in the sky. And then there are more. And more, and louder. And louder. Like the sky screams. Like it is being hit with a pan.

And the lights are too colorful. And brightness hurts my eyes.

My stone legs crack and I try not to cry. The wind is colder when I run. I don't know where I am running, this is not the way to home... I don't remember the way to home right now...

I am running.

Booming. Here, there. Left, right.

Big lights. Big screams, big cheers.

I run, I run, I run!

They're everywhere! I can't escape the evil fireworks!

Kids are laughing and throwing firecrackers. So many and small ones. But they burn and the smoke hugs me. Then -

POCK POCK POCK BOOM

I gasp because I can't scream like the other kids. I don't know where I am, I hit some wood. A wall.

Another round of sounds fire. Bad smells in my nose. Strong, and tastes like ash smells. I run again, meeting more firecrackers.

Everybody laughs. I am screaming.

Behind, under. My feet burn.

Left, right, above. My ears hurt!

My brain hurts! Stop it!

Run, run, run, run, run, run.

People are laughing and are happy. Why are they so happy? Don't they hear it, feel it, smell it? I don't understand!

I lose all my breath. Suddenly, a person holds my hand.

My brain hurts less when I see Tar. His cap is almost falling off and his green, large uniform is dirty. He smiles at me with dimples but he doesn't look happy like the others.

Her big, scratchy arms are covering my ears and she is bent above me, blocking the fireworks from getting me. Her necklace touches my nose, it is shiny like glitter and black like the burned cracker.

It's cold but nice.

I don't know when I fall asleep. I think I passed out.