His Last Wish
50 Word Story | Fiction
The acrid smell of July fourth fireworks burned Stella’s throat. She handed the firecracker to the pyrotechnician. He attached a wire and set it off to the side.
At nightfall, the crowd cheered as it burst into red, white, and blue.
Stella watched Ed’s cremains descend. “Enjoy your wish, sweetheart.”
© Copyright 2019—Present, Jenise Cook, All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
First Published: The Friday Fix on Medium.com (RIP), 2019 July 5
Republished: FiftyWordStories on 2019 August 9
Image Credit: ASimagined on Pixabay.com
About this Story
Note: This post is a part of my “push” to publish my older works on Substack. I’m now publishing new works in between the ones I’m archiving here.
When Mark and I were newlyweds, we found ourselves talking about our final earthly wishes and end-of-life plans. He told me he wanted to be cremated. Okay, that sounded like a reasonable request. I figured he would want his ashes buried at sea.
But no. Mark said he wanted his ashes put into a firecracker and exploded into the skies off of Main Beach in Laguna Beach, California, where we lived the first two years of our marriage. You see, on the fourth of July, Laguna Beach puts on a huge fireworks show off Main Beach attended by thousands of residents and visitors.
I used Mark’s wish as my inspiration for this tiny story. It helped me create that “twist” of an ending that’s characteristic of 50-word micro flash fiction stories.
To this day, Mark still thinks the firecracker is a good idea, so he can “go out with a bang”. It’s an expensive idea. As of this blog post, I don’t have the funds in savings to make this happen, and I’ve told him he needs to raise the funds himself. He laughed.
Well, I feel I have honored his wish by writing this story. For now, he agrees.
Featured photo image credits:
Crowded beach scene, Rich Kane, Staff: Patch – Laguna Beach, CA.
Main Beach fireworks scene, Jesse Bee of OC Exclusive and VisitLagunaBeach.com
Your Turn
In the Comments, if you’re in the USA, share your July 4th Independence Day memories. Or, share a memory from your country’s important celebrations.
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A perfect Fourth of July story with a great twist. Thanks for sharing, Jenise, and I hope you have a happy 4th!
A flashy way to go, for sure. 🤣