Fireworks

Fred wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood up and stretched his back, which had for far too long been lurched over his work. Rows of over a hundred fireworks laid before him, carefully arranged and wired together to a system of lighters and fuses - all of which were controlled by a computer program he had personally written three weeks prior - and he still had at least fifty more to set up. He had started work early in the morning, before the sun had even begun to rise, and in the late afternoon he was still working. He had taken breaks only to run to the bathroom, or to grab a quick bite to eat.

It was exhausting work, but he had a limited amount of time to do it in. Setting out the fireworks too early would mean that they would be hampered by dew or rain, which could dampen the fuses, meaning that the launch could be delayed or halted entirely. And he had been paid a large salary to set the display off, and he had every intention of delivering on his promise. That meant long hours the day of the event, but at least he could relax a little in the time prior.

His back was killing him, however, which was slowing him down tremendously, and the longer the day dragged on, the more pain he felt in his back. It wouldn't be long until he could hardly move at all, and if he let himself succumb to that, he wouldn't be able to finish his project. He had to work as quickly as he could while he still could.

Theoretically, he could have hired an assistant. He had more than enough in his budget to allow for something like that, and especially given that the assistant would only be required for a single day of physical labor. However, he was the only one who knew anything about the program he had written, and he didn't trust anyone else to set up the wiring correctly. Especially with the smaller fireworks, which were significantly harder to distinguish.

He had picked out each individual firework with extreme care, searching for very specific colors and explosive designs. He wanted his display to tell a story, and share a message with those who witnessed it, and he wasn't going to be able to do that with variable fireworks.

Not only did they have to go off in order, however, they had to go off from specific areas. He couldn't simply line them up, as the show would therefore simply and slowly move from one side to another, which was not only irritating to watch, but it was boring. He needed something that would be dynamic and capture the attention of not only the audience, but passerbys. The idea that he could capture the hearts and minds of people with spectacular lights raining down like fire from the heavens invigorated him, and gave him a drive that he had never experienced in any other line of work. He took pride in what he could do, and that meant an extreme consideration for the details.

And with fireworks, there was no testing. Once set up, they could only go off once, and so he had to be sure of what he was getting himself into.

It was kind of like checking every bulb on a set of christmas lights to make sure that none of them were out, and thus killing the entire rest of the line.

Only his work was more explosive.