Distant Minds

Chapter 24: Preparation

Weeks pass. The events go quiet, and we see Randall and Gabby driving to the firework stand on the outskirts of Spingville. "Do you have to leave after the Fourth of July? I mean, we haven't had that much time together. It's only a couple of days away."  Randall smiles and looks at Gabby for one short second. "Babe, we spent the last couple of weeks together. And it was the best couple of weeks ever." Gabby grabs Randall's arm as he drives. "I know. But it isn't gonna make up all those years we didn't have together." Gabby blushes. Randall finally parks his car in front of the firework stand. They walk out and see the store owner surrounded by boxes and boxes of the finest quality fireworks. "Heyyy... how ya doin!" The man says with a thick Jersey accent. "We got a great deal for sparklers. 10 for 50. Last about a minute or two." Randall nods. "Can we test one out to see what it looks like?" "Aye man, for sure" The owner walks into the back area to get a sparkler. He returns with a stick and a lighter. "Aight y'all. Watch and learn." "Randall looks at him confused. "Hold on Man, you probably shouldn't be where all the fireworks are-" "It's cool man, I know what I'm doin." Randall puts his hands up. "Aight, I gotchu man." The owner lights up the sparkler and hands it to Gabby. "So.. what y'all think?" The sparkler lasts for about 2 minutes and dies out. Randall nods. "We'll take the 10 for 50 man." "Good deal bro." The owner pulls out a box of 50 sparklers and Randall hands the dude 10$. The owner looks at Randall and Gabby and says "How bout I give y'all this lighter too? I mean I'm just about to close down for good and I ain't needing this no more." Randall shrugs. "Okay." The man turns it on. But as he does, he drops it onto his shirt. "OH FUCK BRO!!" His shirt lights on fire. He takes the shirt off as quickly as possible and throws it on top of a box. Gabby yells "NO YOU IDIOT!" Randall and Gabby bolt. The owner tailing behind. BOOM The first set of fireworks go off. The three run as far away from the stand as they can, hearing the loudest boom they ever heard. All the fireworks go off behind them. They turn around to see the remains of the stand on fire all on the ground. The owner chuckles. "well I didn't have no use for em anyway." Randall remarks. "Well you're right there, man. Lucky my car is parked a bit far." "Sorry bout that bro, I'm clumsy sometimes. Takes me a minute." Randall nods. "We'll be on our way. Thanks for the sparklers." Randall and Gabby make their way back to the car and leave the scene. Gabby asks curiously. "Where we going next babe?" Randall shrugs. Gabbys eyes light up. "How about we hang at my house?" Randall smiles. "I like the sound of that."

"The Fourth of July is in a couple of days," Kyrie tells Red as they order a boba. "Where are you gonna spend it?" Red inserts his straw and takes a sip. "Maybe I'll invite you guys over at my place to watch the fireworks. My backyard is huge, and it's right near here! The central square mall. The firework show here can be seen clearly." The two take a seat at an empty table. "Who are you inviting?" "Well obviously you, Daniel, Ralph, Randall, Kate, Gabby, and umm," Red pauses for a minute. "I kinda wanna invite Jason over." Kyrie smiles. "Eeeeeeeeek!! You gonna have a moment!?" Red blushes, "I hope so. I'm planning on sneaking him to my roof for some privacy. I'm kinda hoping for a moment." Kyrie shrugs. "Ralph and Randall are leaving the day after. Do you think it's okay for all of us to have a sleep over the night of?" "Yeah! I can make that happen, there really isn't that many of us." Kyrie puts her hands together. "Oh my gosh!! I'm so excited!! Our first Fourth of July with Ralph and Randall!" Red pauses. "Thats actually true. We need to make this a bit bigger. I mean, I asked Randall to buy some sparklers and all that but Ralph and Randall are leaving after! We need to make our last moments together count." Kyrie nods. "I can order food from the Chinese place," Red agrees. "Yeah! And I can order pizza. We need to surprise Ralph and Randall with a going away party. It's obvious, they won't be back for a long time. I mean, look at how long they have been away from our childhood! Four years! The two of don't even have that much memories with them! Let alone memories at all, so the best we can do is make memories with them ourselves." The two stand up from their chairs. "We have to tell Daniel." Red says. " How about Kate and Gabby?" Kyrie asks. "We'll tell them to distract Ralph and Randall while the three of us set up LATER. We have a good patio for all of the food and drinks to go on, we can set my backyard up to make it look like a huge picnic area, and then the fireworks should be right on time. A perfect ending to Ralph and Randall's summer vacation." Kyrie and Red Hugh five. "Let's go tell Daniel right away."

Randall closes Gabby's bedroom door. Gabby, sitting on her bed gets pushed over by Randall playfully as he lies down next to her. They hold hands and stare silently at the ceiling. Randall says monotone, "Do you think, anything will change when I'm gone? I mean, do you like the idea of long distance relationships?" Gabby says in reply, "Of course babe. I would never give up on you now, I finally have all of my problems solved. I finally found the true man in my life, and I finally know my place in this world." Randall pauses. "I know, but I really hope things can be that simple." He turns his head and looks at her. "I'm scared of losing you again." Gabby rolls hr]er body on top of Randall's and whispers, "you won't have to worry anymore babe." And she begins to kiss him.