I was bored and it was summer. So I decided to go over to my friend’s house. We were inside his house all day with nothing to do because his x-box was broken. So with us being bored we went outside and he asked me if I wanted to light some fireworks off. Me being bored and all, and a teenager, I said yes.


The fireworks he had were the ones you insert into the launch tube. And they launch 50 or so feet into the air and explode. But instead of putting it in the launch tube we put it under a 50 gallon metal barrel. We attempted to light the firework for 15 minutes and tried three other ones. It wouldn’t light!


So he went and got two knives. We were going to cut them open and mess around with the black powder inside. These fireworks had a ball on the end with a tube in the middle connecting them. So we cut them in half and so we each had an end. He pounded out all of his gun powder, and while I was still trying to get all of my gun powder out he was playing with the disconnected fuse trying to light it. But it wouldn’t light so he set it down on his pile of gun powder. BANG!!! The fireworks exploded! I ran disoriented for about 7 yards so I can think strait. I look at my right hand and I see a circle about the size of a quarter on the upper right part of my palm. Its white and thick, it feels warm, but when I poke it I can’t feel it. Right when I can’t feel it I panic, so I dash to the house to get some water for my hand. Over the course of 20 seconds my hand gets hotter and hotter; even while it’s underwater! It feels like it’s on fire!


When I called my parents, it was so embarrassing and quite interesting. I had told them what happened on the phone and they replied by saying it was an idiotic choice. I said “I know I know…it’s my fault.” I wasn’t going to let them guilt trip me, instead I was guilt tripping my self.


Looking back on that day I feel like I should beat my self up, or ground my self for even thinking of playing with fireworks like that. But, in the end, I paid the price by the pain felt afterwards from the firework.