The Sun Shines Brightest in June (Completed) gxg

Thursday, July 4, 2002

All of kids set the picnic table. We laid out a checkered tablecloth, paper plates, and colorful plastic cups. My dad brought out the utensils and Mr. Jacobs brought out two extra chairs for each end of the table, since we didn't want to cram ten people on the two side benches. Both of our mothers were in the kitchen preparing the rest of our feast of a lunch.

My dad had already grilled burgers and hotdogs, which were sitting in warming dishes in the kitchen. Our mothers brought them out along with the bread rolls, potato salad, chips, Jell-O squares, coleslaw, hotdog and burger buns, drinks, and dessert. They spread out all of the food on the table, and immediately us kids ran over and grabbed our spots so we could dig in.

Lunch was followed by our parents engaging in a long conversation about who knows what. All of us kids laid down in the grass and talked about the shapes of the white, fluffy clouds in the sky as we let our food digest. Caleb claimed he saw a dinosaur, but Anna argued that it was a bunny rabbit.

I don't know how long we were laying there, but Klara was right next to me, and I think I heard her fall asleep at one point, though I never actually checked. Her breathing became even and quiet. She didn't move. She didn't speak. Anna and Alice were whispering to each other and Timothy and Caleb were laughing about something. I closed my eyes, shutting out the rest of the world, so I could hopefully fall asleep too.

It was already getting darker out by the time our parents came and got us. We peeled ourselves up off of the ground and slowly made our way inside.

"We're going to do fireworks soon," my mother announced. "Make sure you get something to keep you warm."

It was getting breezy outside as the day went on, so the boys grabbed jackets and the girls grabbed blankets. Our parents pulled up chairs and we sat on the ground, forming a small circle. Anna and Alice wrapped themselves up in their blankets, while Klara and I shared one. We huddled close together and wrapped it around us tightly.

We talked, laughed, and waited for the sky to get darker. Once it was dark enough my father was the one to light the fireworks. Before we left for the summerhouse we had bought a huge pack of what seemed like fifty fireworks. They sparkled, whistled, shot up in the air, cracked, and fizzled. Our eyes were wide as we watched them. I remember looking around and noticing how they lit up all of our faces. The world seemed to slow down and I was thankful for that, because I wanted that moment to last forever.

Some of the other kids cheered as the fireworks display went on, especially when we hit the end. The best were always saved for last. Those were the ones that shot up high into the air and lit up the night sky. They cracked even louder than the little ones and seemed to go right over our heads.

Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, all of the colors clashed together to form a rainbow of lights as the finale was set of, which consisted of a group of about ten different fireworks. My father lit them as fast as he could and then ran back to us, turning back to watch them so he wouldn't miss a thing if they started going off before he got back to us.

When the fireworks were over, my parents handed us sparklers and we ran around the yard with them, flailing our arms and drawing pretty designs in the air until they burned too long and died out. Luckily, we had several packs, so we got to keep repeating these actions over and over and over again.

We chased each other, we chased our parents, and they chased us. It was a good time, and eventually we all collapsed onto the ground, laughing and catching our breath. All good things must come to an end, though, so once we got ourselves together, my mother announced that it was time for bed. We groaned and complained about it of course, wanting the 4th of July to last forever. It was a magical day, one of the best any of us could remember.

That night, Klara and I laid awake in bed for hours, whispering to eachother about all of the fun we had that day. I don't remember when we actuallymanaged to fall asleep, but I do remember having a dream, a dream about thefireworks, and about Klara.