Seven 3rds.

So, it's November, the fireworks are banging every night leading up to the 5th. At work we stood quietly inside the shop, watching as the firework display at the marina a few streets away made the sky look glittery. So many colours! Pinks and blues and greens and yellows!

They were pretty.

I haven't stood and watched fireworks in years. I haven't particularly enjoyed bonfire night either. I tend to stay indoors where there is only muffled hissing and whizzing and banaging.

I suppose it's nice though. There's something amazing about total strangers, hundreds of them, standing around a fire. All watching in awe as the sky lights up with every colour you can imagine. The cold air (that smells of hot dogs) making your breath look like smoke as you speak.

I haven't enjoyed bonfire night for seven years because each time, I remember that just two days before this celebration, I had lost my best friend.

This year it's 7 years, last year it was six, the year before that it was five. Time passes, and you deal with it. But when it comes up to that time of year, you can't help the memories filtering through your head. The laugh. The smile. The eyes. The hair. The clothes. The machines. The crying. The swelling. Knowing the person they were.... wishing you could know the person they were to become.

I won't attend a firework display this year, either. But who knows. Maybe in another 7 years I'll be ready.