A funny thing happened

I am a jumpy person. Even when I know someone is around, I still find myself startled when they approach when I am not paying attention. I think I have passed a bit onto Lola, mostly because I think she senses it from me.  I try and be brave.  We watched the fireworks on the 4th and she was fine. (I do not get scared of fireworks.)  I encourage her to turn on lights when she thinks it is too dark, ensuring her that everything is okay and that she has control to change it.

Last night, we were at a friend's house in downtown. He lives on the 14th floor.  It was a great evening. We were out on the balcony enjoying the cooler breeze when some VERY loud popping and flashing lights started.  He faces away from the river and Wingfield park. A friend said, "Oh, it's fireworks!"  Nope.  I was sure that it wasn't.  It was so loud. I quickly grabbed the arm of this friend and took myself inside. The others of our party moved onto the balcony, where I was sure that they were going to die. I headed for the middle of the rooms thinking that I had a better chance of survival if the building went down.  Meanwhile there is still flashing and loud booms, which I am sure is gunfire and a bomb.  I was terrified.  So if the building didn't go down, then I was going to have to face carnage when it was over. Bodies were going to be strewn about the park. There would be total chaos in the streets below. Who is bombing Downtown Reno? Why would someone bomb downtown Reno?

I think the the one thing that made this all worse was that I had convinced my friend (the one that said they were fireworks) that it was indeed a bad situation and she had moved right inside with me.  I will keep her identity hidden.  But Genoveve was right there with me, cowering in the apartment.

So after a few moments, after visualizing the complete destruction and planning my escape from the building - both if it kept standing or if I had to unbury myself from the rubble, everything became quiet. The FIREWORKS were over. I was no longer a target for a terrorist attack, but now a mark for the other guests and the hard laughter that soon followed all at my expense.