A Big Kaboom Across the Lake

We had a little excitement late yesterday evening on the lake. It was just after sunset and things were just beginning to get dark when we heard a loud boom and a fire broke out on Jerry Jim Maloneson's pier. The Harper Volunteer Fire Department sprung into action and were there in force within twenty minutes. By then the pier was in a complete blaze. This morning looking across the waters all you can see is about two or three feet of decking, all charred and pitiful looking. Jerry Jim built that deck once and I reckon he can build it again easy enough.
Jerry Jim Maloneson is a wannabe engineer. He was never able to pass the math classes necessary to get into college so he devoted his time to home study. He loved chemistry and I reckon still does because what caused the explosion was this giant skyrocket he whipped up in this laboratory room he built onto the back of his house. He had bragged about it and several of us were watching and waiting to see it go off. We knew that it would be a sight to see whether it was successful or not. Jerry Jim couldn't wait for complete darkness before he lit the fuse. He stuck the match, stuck it to the fuse, and ran as fast as his short, fat legs could take him. And a good thing he did. That rocket needed a good deal more in design than Jerry Jim could bring to it.
Herbert Hillside was standing beside me when the big kaboom came about. He shook his head and said, "Poor Jerry Jim. That boy came real high on imagination and real low on smarts."

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle