The family had gathered at V— Street on 31 December, at grandma's house, to commemorate the year ending and to celebrate the beginning of a new one. The house was large, tall, and statuesque. It was a little worn—since grandpa had died seven years ago, maintenance had halted—but all the cozier for it. Staying at the house this New Year's Eve, aside from grandma, were her three daughters and their respective children: the eldest daughter's two adult sons, Rickie and Mitch, the middle daughter's thirteen- and fifteen-year-old girls, Elena and Lucy, and the youngest daughter's eleven-year-old boy, Jason.

The Christmas tree was still standing mighty to one side of the spacious living room, where the various family members were scattered. The adults clustered around the television, where they sat on the two dark-leather sofas drinking wine and chatting, while Elena, Lucy, and Jason were sitting in the middle of the floor putting together a large puzzle. 

Over the past days, fireworks could already be heard, even though, strictly speaking, this was not allowed. The policy of no fireworks until ten o'clock on New Year's Eve was leniently enforced, however, which is to say that it wasn't really. Who was going to chase around the offenders lighting firecrackers around the city? There were more serious matters to attend to by the police.

Around ten-thirty in the evening, when the family were all gathered in the living room as described, the fireworks had become considerably more incessant. The moments when you did not hear a bang, snap, or sizzle from outside the house were few.

A particularly loud explosion had just shaken the house, when Jason walked over to his mother. It took a while to get her attention, as she was in the middle of a story about something that happened to her at work the other day, and the wine had already blunted the sharper edges of her attention. When she realized Jason was standing next to her, she pulled him close to her.

"What is it, darling?"

"Do you think Charlie's okay?"

She looked at him, as if not understanding. Then she answered.

"Oh yes, he's fine, darling. He's safe under the bed upstairs."

"Can I go see him?"

"Of course," she said, letting him go and turning to her sister again.

It was the first time that Jason was allowed to stay up with the adults on New Year's Eve. He had been excited and chattering about it all week to anyone who would listen. What made the stay at grandma's especially wonderful, was that he got to see Charlie, his grandmother's old cat. He loved his grandmother, of course, but whenever his parents told him that they were to visit grandma, his first response was always about seeing Charlie. In his mind, the two events had come together to promise the loveliest stay—he got to see Charlie and he got stay up for the fireworks.

It was only when he had seen Charlie flinch at the first bang outside that he realized that all might not be fun, that Charlie did not like the fireworks. In fact, Charlie had quickly fled upstairs right after they had arrived that afternoon.

Now that the bangs were so loud, to the point where he felt a little uncomfortable himself, he thought of how Charlie must be feeling. He remembered his mom once telling him that many animals have better hearing than people so you shouldn't be so loud around them. He didn't understand how the fireworks were supposed to fit in with this; they were so loud, almost too loud for people, and there were always animals around.

When he looked under the bed in the guest room upstairs, he saw Charlie sitting right in the middle, with big, shiny eyes.

"Hey Charlie," he said.

Charlie didn't respond. Usually he would come up to Jason and bump his head into whatever limb was closest. Now he just sat there, looking straight ahead, not blinking.

Jason had snuck in the kitchen pantry and brought some treats, which he took out of his pocket. He showed them to Charlie, who remained unmoved. He reached under the bed and put the treats right under his nose, to encourage him. Charlie didn't even sniff them.

"It's okay, Charlie, you can eat. They're treats."

He gently stroked the top of his head, between his ears, and Charlie just looked at him with those big eyes.

Downstairs, they were having a great time. The excitement stirred by the approach of midnight swept everyone along with it. The champagne for the customary twelve o'clock toast was removed from the fridge, and they were all getting dressed in order to go outside, despite the bitter cold, to see the fireworks. They hadn't bought any fireworks this year, but the neighbors were sure to have some. In V— Street, as in so many other streets in the country, it was customary for residents to go outside around midnight in order to greet each other, light fireworks, and toast with best wishes to the new year.

They were all bustling about, since it almost time, when someone asked, "Where is Jason?"

"Jason!" His mother yelled from the hallway. "Jason!"

When she received no response, and nothing Jason-like materialized, she had the clarity of mind to go and check upstairs. 

She found him tucked half under the bed.

"Here you are, we've been looking for you!"

He didn't respond, so she got down on her knees next to him.

"Have you been here all this time?"

Jason pushed himself from under the bed and hugged his mother.

"He's so scared, mom."

"Oh, darling, he'll be fine. It's only for a little while, then it'll all be quiet again."

She held him for a bit. Outside, the fireworks were erupting in full force, shaking the floor and flashing swords of light into it.

"Don't you want to come and watch the pretty fireworks?" She asked, trying to get him excited again. "You've been looking forward to it for weeks."

"No, I want to stay with Charlie," Jason said.

For a moment, she considered this. She had nothing against him staying, but she wasn't sure how to tell the others. She could always tell them that he wasn't feeling well…

"Okay, darling, you can stay here. I'll go see the others again."

She left, and Jason climbed back under the bed. The treats were still there, untouched. Charlie hadn't moved, not even onto his favorite blanket, which Jason had put there to try to make him more comfortable.