4th of July

“Fuck you!”

She stumbled backward, away from the sparkler he was holding out towards her.

“Careful…” he warned and she glanced around.

“Fuck you all!”

She was surrounded by sparklers, waving through the dark night, spewing fiery bits into the air. She spun around, looking for a hole in the circle, but they each had two and there was no gap.

“Get the fuck away from me!”

“Language, my dear, such foul language.”

She turned back to face him. Rage and fear warring for dominance made for an interesting glare being cast his way.

“I.. just… oh!” She couldn’t figure out a sentence in that moment that didn’t involve swearing, so she clenched her fists and closed her eyes.

“No,” he replied. “You will keep your eyes open and your tongue civil.”

“I don’t think I can do both… sir.” She shook her head and the shaking went down to her toes.

“Open your eyes.”

She stared at the ground, but it didn’t help, the sparks were falling all around her, peripheral vision be damned. She held her breath, mouthing silently; fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Look at me.”

She shook her head again and he repeated the command. Clenching her fists, she lifted her chin, afraid he would step closer if she didn’t.

“Shit!”

She stepped back, he was closer, but so was the person behind her. She startled and spun and stumbled, trying to center herself in the shrinking circle of sparklers.

“Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.”

“STOP.”

It wasn’t a shout, he didn’t shout. But it was the Dom voice and she froze, dropped her head and stared determinedly at the ground, gasping for breath, fists tight by her thighs, tears starting to drip down her cheeks. She stared at her feet, willing them to be still, even as her head twitched this way and that and her shoulders hunched up around her ears.

“Breathe slower. Control yourself,” he ordered.

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking control, counting her breath. Six in, six out, six in, six out. And opened her eyes again, tears still leaking out.

“Raise your head.”

She summoned all her will and lifted her head once more. They were all right around her, and as she looked up into his eyes, they all brought their sparklers up over her, sparks showering down.

She screamed wordlessly and fell to the ground, into a tiny ball of terror, tears and inarticulate sound.

The sparklers burnt themselves out and the sparks stopped falling. He knelt down beside her and scooped her up in his arms, the others drifting away.

“Good girl. You did a very good job.”

He held her to his chest while she sobbed herself out; twitching and shaking long gone sparks from her hair and clothes. He handed her a bottle of water, she took a sip and then dumped the rest over her head.

“You’re alright, you did a good job, I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir. Also, fuck you, sir.”

He grinned and kissed her wet face.

“You’re welcome.”