Fireworks

[J Peters]

Gemini looks up from her e-reader, as if a noise has distracted her.
She tries to go back to reading, but she soon turns her head again.

"It's fireworks season. Around here, it seems like Juneteenth through
July 4th is fireworks time."

Gemini closes her eyes, rolls her neck to loosen it, and thinks of the
puppies stressed by people blowing things up for fun.

[lkosov]

lkosov twitches slightly, glares at the Outside World. "I swear the
fireworks get worse and worse with every passing year. I don't really see
the appeal, but I guess I just enjoy more cerebreal pursuits than blowing
stuff up."

"I don't know how much pets are bothered by it, though. We have cats, and
they seem to take their cues from their humans. First couple big booms in
June, they jump, look around in alarm, see that we're nonplussed, and go
back to what they were doing. By the beginning of July, they're sleeping
through mortar salvos better than I can manage." He frowns at the
unfairness of life sometimes, then goes back to his crossword puzzle.

[Skatha]

"Personally, I don't mind the noise - I'd rather listen to fireworks than stray gunfire," Skatha says. "I'm about 50/50 when it comes to correctly identifying the stray pops I hear in the neighborhood the rest of the year, so it's kind of a relief to be 99% sure it's fireworks. But I do worry about other people, animals, and fire/regular safety in general - we don't really *need* this when it can cause harm to others. I'm lucky that my high-anxiety cat has finally learned not to react to this time of year - when I first got him, fireworks plus intrusive stray cats led to the nastiest cat bite I've ever had." She rubs her arm absently.