The first one had barely begun its descent when the second one burst dazzlingly before their eyes. Then the third and the fourth and so on, until Sierra lost count somewhere after the fourteenth one.
Without even a moment’s pause to “ooh” or “aah” before the next spray of colored glitter in the sky, Sierra stopped trying to find the little-girl wonder that she usually felt every Fourth of July. Instead, she felt sadness like the cloud of smoke that was forming over the end of the dock and was more visible with each firework that lit up.
Am I more woman than little girl? I’m away from home and my family for a holiday. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that. I’m traveling almost on my own. I’m almost, sort of, kind of being noticed more by guys. I guess in some ways, I am leaving my girlhood behind.
The thought made her sad. She didn’t want to rush into anything, especially a relationship that was more than just buddies. She watched Tim and remembered how he had lit her cattail the night before. That had seemed like such a romantic gesture to her then. Right now, Tim was just one of the guys. Nothing he did or said held special interest for her.
Back and forth, off and on. Feelings sure are funny. But I think everything I’m feeling is normal.
Sierra glanced over at Jana, who had joined Danny at the end of the dock. She was saying something to him, pointing to the fireworks that had just gone off. Danny appeared to be enjoying the attention.
Sierra noticed that Jana’s mom was watching Jana as she interacted with Danny. Her mom had a happy, proud look on her face.
Look at Jana. She got over being spooked pretty easily. I wonder if being six months older than I am makes a difference in how she feels about guys.
Whatever the reason, Jana looked as if she was about to blossom. And she was going to blossom before Sierra did. Or maybe they were both blossoming, but in different ways. It could be they were both finding their voices, their styles, what was really important to them but just via different rivers. Sierra realized she was content to float for a while. She knew there would be plenty of significant rapids ahead.
What she wanted most from her blossoming season this summer was insight. She wanted her life to shine like the stars forever and ever. And that’s what she told God in her whispered prayer as the fireworks grand finale blazed across the sky. She had started this vacation expecting to have a little adventure and some fun. In her opinion, there was still room for more of both.
“Bravo!” Sierra said, standing and applauding after the last sprinkling of color fell from the sky. “Perfecto! Magnifico! Brilliant-o!” With each word, she took a step closer to Gregg, who was overdoing his bow for the audience.
Sierra was right next to him at the end of the now empty dock as Gregg took his last bow.
“As they say in show biz,” Gregg said, “thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
“You know what else they say in show biz?” Sierra asked, moving closer.
“No, what?” Gregg said, giving her one of his “I’m so cool” smiles.
“Don’t they also say, ‘In the event of a water landing …’ ” Sierra didn’t need to finish her line. Her one solid push had worked easily, and Gregg’s big splash was too loud to hear the part about the seat cushion being used as a flotation device.
Gregg surfaced laughing and tried to splash Sierra, but it didn’t work. “One of these days, Sierra!” he threatened.
“Yes,” Sierra murmured to herself while laughing with the others. “One of these days I’ll stop acting like a freckle-faced tomboy and start acting more like a woman. But not today.”
Robin Jones Gunn, Departures: Two Rediscovered Stories of Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen
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