~~~
On the walk home, Rick Jr. had to carry Kile slung over his shoulder. The little troll had worn himself out with a combination of fear, worry, excitement and joy. He had told the Johanssons as the city’s own display had blasted above them for ten minutes or more that fireworks had to be the greatest invention humans had ever made. But his tone was still slightly nervous. Giant exploding balls of flame could very definitely be used as a weapon against the trolls he thought, and he knew he would have to report the events of July 4th to the Queen. The display, and the body-shaking rumble of explosions half a second later in town were far more impressive than anything he could have imagined previously when he’d snuck glances at the shows in prior years from the entrances to Machsa. The music playing in the park hadn’t been audible up there before either and that added to and played on Kile’s emotions while he listened and watched. But it had gotten to be too much, such that as the last applause faded and neighboring families lit off the remainder of their fountains, the little troll practically passed out.
“Good grief…I would say it’s almost like carrying Ricky home, except that this dude weighs probably three times as much,” Junior said.
“Be careful of your back, honey,” Sara responded, voice muted in the quiet after the show.
Here and there crackers and small aerial-launching fountains went off about the town. When the family passed by Marissa’s home the pair stopped and said their goodbyes as the rest of the Johanssons continued down the street slowly.
“Thanks for inviting me,” Marissa said, finally letting go of Rob’s hand.
He shrugged and brushed his palms against his pant legs nervously. “Sure. Sure. It was fun. Thanks for coming.”
Marissa checked the position of the rest of the clan and moved in closely to Robert. “Rob…I need to talk to you about something important soon, but not right here or right now. Come by when you can get away from your little brother for a few minutes, okay?”
There was a sincere look upon Marissa’s face when Rob agreed. “Okay. Yeah. I can do that…maybe tomorrow morning?”
Smiling again, she said, “Alright.”
She gave him a peck on the cheek as she had before and both blushed as she turned and ran up the walk to her home. Robert absentmindedly rubbed his chin and then his cheek where she had kissed him as he watched her get indoors safely.
“Wow,” Robert mumbled as he walked along many paces behind his mother, father and a troll who, unbeknownst to Ricky Jr., raised his head slightly, caught Robert’s eye and gave him a quick wink, then laid his head back on Mr. Johansson’s shoulder.