Leblouche's diary

6. The firecracker war

I officially started my job two days ago and I'm doing very well, I have friendly colleagues, I'm good at my job, etc. ...

"Hey! Thierry could you help me with this line of code please" said Antoine, my colleague

"Okay, I'm coming" I said.

Everything goes well except a few days later...

"Ah, there's nothing like a good hot chocolate in the evening before going to bed"

*Boom!!*

In fright, I accidentally threw my cup, which landed and broke on the floor, causing a splash.

"Rohhh!! What the hell, my chocolate!!" I said, angry and disappointed.

Knowing that it was coming from outside, I opened the window to see what was going on.

"Hm... strange, yet I heard a noise, it surely came from somewhere"

Not even a few minutes later another boom was heard, which surprised me.

"AH!! DAMMIT!! BUT WHERE DID THIS NOISE COME FROM AT THE END?!"

It was not an explosion but the sound of firecrackers, very powerful and since I am sensitive to deafening noises (author: me too) this could scare me a little. The sounds of firecrackers continued until 3 a.m. which prevented me from sleeping.

"Hello Mr. Leblouche, you don't seem to be in good shape" worried Mr. Baume, the manager.

"Not too much, I couldn't sleep all night because of the noise of firecrackers" I said, tired

"Oh... I see."

I had this remark about my dark circles and my bad appearance.

And this continued for three days, I jumped every time and it bothered me, to keep my sanity correct, I opened the diary trying to ignore the sounds of firecrackers.

Dear Diary

For several days, our neighborhood has been invaded by the sounds of firecrackers. Everyone complains about teenagers playing with these surprisingly loud explosives. And strangely no law enforcement agency came to resolve this matter...

*Few days ago*

"Hm...I really like this view, if only I had my camera with me" I said, impressed.

"Boom!!"

"Ah!! What was that noise?" I said, scared.

"Wow! You almost got it, go ahead and throw one at that bastard!"

"Damn...they can't have their third world war anywhere else" I sighed, looking at them from the balcony

These noises can continue until late, I tried as best I could to talk to them, in vain...

"Good evening, I just wanted to tell you if you can go easy on the firecrackers because they're annoying." I said, trying to be as calm as possible.

"Well no, there's the opposing gang that's on our territory, they have to leave, and if you don't like the noise of firecrackers, then move." said the leader of the gang, making fun of me.

"With firecrackers? Well listen, you're not going to wage your "war" until 11 p.m. anyway! There are people sleeping and me too, so please could you make arrangements with them. I don't see why you're going to start "gang" wars like savages with fucking firecrackers while telling me to move!?

But today too much is too-

*Boom!!*

Startled by the noise, I accidentally threw the newspaper out the window and landed on the ground.

"Shoot! The newspaper!!" I screamed.

Without missing a beat, I got up from my couch, wore my slippers, and then went downstairs to get him.

"Ah... phew! He's here, thank God"

*Boom!!*

"The boom comes from that way!"

I decided to follow the noise, which led me to the next street. I saw some teenagers throwing firecrackers at each other but this time, they were some kind of more powerful explosives than described in the newspaper. I wanted to talk to them but with this I have experimented in the past, without ceremony.

"So I have to put up with this noise all day..." I sighed.

So I go back home to resume reading my diary, with the awareness that I will have to put up with them for days to come...

But today enough is enough, after several attempts to destabilize the firecrackers, I was desperately looking for an idea.

"And so, if we mix the two liquids at the same time it will produce a chemical effect, precisely an explosion... Maxime are you with us?" said Mrs. Dupont

"(Wakes up) Um...yes, yes you said that mixing the two liquids would cause an atomic bomb." He said, confused while everyone laughed at what he just said.

"A chemical reaction... Be careful next time Maxime! That's not how you're going to raise your average."

"Yes sir- uh, I mean ma'am..."

Earlier today in chemistry class we were talking about chemicals that can explode when mixed, so I had a brilliant but almost twisted idea:

First I looked for the nearest firecracker store and bought two types of firecracker chain: one less powerful then another more powerful. 

"Boy are you sure you're buying this, how old are you again?" asked the salesman, skeptically 

 "Don't worry I'm mature enough to use these firecrackers, I'll put them to good use." I replied, confident. 

The firecrackers cost half my pocket money, but it was worth it. So began my plan, with a bit of "Leblouche tinkering" I connected the wicks together so that they explode at the same time, it's going to be even louder than usual but I can bear it. 

"Now let's see if this will work..." I chuckled, lighting the firecrackers. 

The goal of my plan is to make as big a noise as possible so the police will be called, and the blame will be placed on them, which explains the twisted side of the plan. 

*The sounds of firecrackers go off* 

 "My god, that's loud! I wonder how you can make things like that..." I complained, covering my ears. 

The entire neighborhood heard the loud sounds of firecrackers. Even the teenagers were shocked.Following this, the police were finally called for "nocturnal disturbance", I could have done it in a gentle way, but they made fun of me so... I think that at this very moment, they are still there, I I feel a little guilty about what I caused, although what is certain is that I won't hear those damn firecracker noises anymore.Tomorrow, I will tell my misadventures to no one except Laurent who will laugh, and can finally sleep peacefully... 

10/9/2004 

"So I had to deal with this type of situation at the time." I said, a little curious.

 "Well... It was quite a mishap, especially for "high power" firecrackers, I don't didn't know I was a little cruel too." 

After reading the diary I went back to bed, aware that the noise of firecrackers would disturb me all night but the next day... 

"Hm, it's strange I didn't hear a single sound of firecrackers last night anyway I slept well" I said, waking up satisfied. 

And this continued for 1 week, I immediately understood that the teenagers who were throwing firecrackers stopped their activity. I went to ask the firecracker seller what happened even he didn't know*.I don't know what happened but at least I found the beloved calm of my neighborhood and I can sleep soundly.

*: It's not the same firecracker seller as mentionned in the diary.