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Firework displays are common this time of year, especially for the duration of the festival. By all accounts, the fireworks lighting up the sky seemed perfectly ordinary--until, suddenly, a light flashes so brightly that it immediately blinds everyone who was watching. For those staring directly at the explosion, they may find that their vision takes 2-3 days to return; for those who caught only a glimpse of it or were further away, they may still be affected with less severe vision loss. (Please see tomorrow's prompt for more information on vision recovery! You may respond to this prompt at any point in time or backdate, but this event will always have ICly occurred on the night of June 20th) To anyone who viewed the firework, it was unlike any other firework before; it was a beautiful array of colors and was accompanied with a loud boom and a strange gust of wind. Destiny City has reported that it was not an approved display but do not have further information on the firework’s origin.
She was on her own this evening, as she was most evenings at the moment given that her friends were otherwise engaged and some were even out of town. She wasn't much of an introvert, but in the same vein she had managed to find balance between that and a healthy amount of extroverted behaviour. Save for the occasional (read: frequent) overly frank remarks, she wasn't the sort to drain another individual of all their energy in a short period of time but that didn't mean that she didn't crave the company now and then.
Having managed to finally cull the plant-life from around her family home, she'd left her parents to their devices to tidy up the garden to their satisfaction. There was little doubt in her mind that by the time she returned the garden would be in a fairly recognisable state. Now, provided it didn't rain again and more strange things didn't happen overnight, it would hopefully remain neat and tidy. Nevertheless with the deeds of a good daughter now firmly put behind her she had invested some of her time in the fireworks display - an event that delivered another of those cute charms into her hands, the Fushia star charm to be precise!
The red head had always liked the displays - the sheer level of technical expertise that went in to orchestrating something so beautiful and then you added music and it was one hell of a show. She didn't quite know where this one would lead her but she was hopeful that it would follow much the same trend as before.
This evening her time keeping was good, and she wouldn't have to wait long until the performance started. Her main concern was finding a good place to sit among the rest of the crowd that had gathered. They'd all had the same idea as her, a slightly taller vantage point away from the glare of the city lights just so that you could see it just a little bit better... But that did rather limit the availability of space. Fortunately she did manage to find a spot of her own and she flattened the picnic blanket to the chilled grass before settling herself down. A brief moment to fold her knees to her chest and wrap her arms around them, and she was then ready to go.
What came next was exactly as she had anticipated.
Perfect fireworks, choreographed beautifully to music, all accompanied by the oohs and ahhs of the audience.
It was with each crackle and spark that Liliane was struck with an epiphany and she soon pulled out her phone to take a recording. The kaleidoscopic format of the fireworks had given her an idea, something she could use in her dissertation... and it was that epiphany that might well have saved her from the sudden burst of light. It wasn't accompanied by the normal thunder of gunpowder, but sound wasn't required to stun the majority of those in her immediate vicinity.
The flash rippled through her phone lens, showing nothing but white light on the screen and while eclipsed, the 'ring' of light from the fireworks were enough to cause a startled yelp. Her phone was dropped to the blanket and she quickly turned her head to the side, blinking rapidly at flickering lights that simply wouldn't dissipate.
What the hell was that?
If it had been a finale she rather thought it was a touch too much; if anyone had actually managed to see whatever shape it had formed then she would have been amazed.
She closed her eyes for a moment and gently massaged at both eyelids in an attempt to calm her angry vision, but with it seemingly uninclined to play ball at this time she suspected that perhaps it would be time to head home. A dark room and some solid rest would be enough to fix it (that was normally how these things worked) and once she'd woken up again she'd take a look at her phone to see if it had captured anything.
It was with that in mind that she collected her things and very carefully picked her way home, unaware that the fireworks had done more to some than it had to her. Fortune had favoured her on this evening, there were others who had been completely blinded!
(Word Count: 726)
