A Sparkling New Year

Icarus stared into the glittering flame in childlike amazement. The flickering sparks launching themselves in every direction before fizzling out mid air. As the stick blackened and burned to its end, they were quick to turn expectantly to Darlet sitting beside them on the ground. He had been absent mindedly staring into the dark chasm of the alley behind them. Icarus tugged on the hem of his shirt to pull his attention from the inky blackness. "Oh. Sorry, I zoned out. Here." He slipped another sparkler from the box in his pocket. If he didn't keep them to himself, it was almost certain Icarus would have lit all of them at once to see how much of a giant fireball could erupt from a fifty pack of sparklers. 

Darlet watched Icarus excitement as he lit the tip of the sparkler, a greenish blue light emitting from this one as he handed it off. With new firework in hand, Icarus inspected the sparks closely. Darlet looked up to the ceiling of the burrows. His mind wandering on realizations that the new year brought on, he had been so preoccupied by work and life that he barely noticed the time going by. Sure, he remembered some of the things he's done. Some of the faces he'd met. But it felt like, it was all blurry. Like all of the things he did were played in fast forward, and even though he knew they were good memories. He couldn't quite remember them at all. Like that, he felt another tug on his shirt. Icarus' had expended another sparkler. 

"Hey. Uh." Darlet looked at Icarus with a solemn expression. He didn't want to bring down the mood, but he felt Icarus was someone he could trust. "Do you want to hear a new song I've been working on? I haven't really played it much and I wanted to perfect it for my new album." Icarus stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly considering their options. Eventually they pointed a hoove to the pocket he had the sparklers. He couldn't help but laugh. "Fine, fine. You drive a hard bargain. But please don't light them all at once. I don't have the carats to keep buying you stuff to set on fire." 

Darlet didn't bring his guitar this time around. Instead taking the time he'd spend tuning to clear his throat, digging around in his backpack for a bottle of water before offering one to Icarus. They were still distracted by the red and yellow sparkler, so he placed the bottle beside them. Before long, he was ready to sing. 

♪You used to come alive. In the darkness, you held a light♪

He tapped on his legs in time with the instruments in his head. Icarus slowly swayed their head to the melody as they stared into the flames. 

♪You had a warm bed you never saw. Are we okay? Will you sleep it off?♪

He started writing this song some time ago. But over the last year, he felt like it was appropriate to finish it. A lot of concerns filled his mind about these fleeting memories. 

♪Are you the hands of the ticking clock? Are we okay when the ticking stops?♪

Icarus began using the dwindling fire of the prior sparkler to light the next, waving gently it in time with the words of the song. Darlet couldn't help but smile, despite the sad nature of the song.

♪We try to fill out heads with blank tapes, and we tape over everything♪

As he ended the song, Icarus moved over and settled into his lap. The last sparkler now extinguished, added to the pile of ashen sticks on the ground. Darlet sat a hand on top of their head, running his fingers across the soft hood. "Thank you for listening. I'm glad you liked it." In the distance, loud pops and flashes began. The fireworks show had began. Looking up at the previously inky black above now shown new colours lighting the sky. Although neither of them could see the fireworks themselves, they could see the beautiful colours reflected from the crystals lining the ceiling of the burrows. Shimmering lights akin to starlight dotted above them. "Happy New year."