Fireworks

The preschool (a bit like kinder) that I attended way back when was an interesting place to say the least. It was on the grounds of a Lutheran Church in the middle of Durban's tiny German enclave aptly named New Germany (The suburb itself is actually quite large, but there weren't all that many Germans.)
Before I get side tracked by my experiences with a certain Vrou, I should get to my story about the day we "saw fireworks."

*The official story*

I was playing on the scooter track (yes, someone had laid a mini roadway for us to race scooters around, all asphalt, very impressive), and somewhere up the street (the real street) I hear sirens and screeching tires and shouting. With enthusiasm I run to get a better look. With my own two eyes I see the kid across the street, or someone of the sort, playing with fireworks. The kids thought it was very exciting. End of story.

*Reality*

I was playing on the scooter track , and somewhere up the street I hear sirens and screeching tires and shouting. With enthusiasm I run to get a better look. I see a red car rammed up against the curb, drivers door flung open, as a young man flees two angry looking cops who's car was abandoned further up the street.
I was standing a few meters back from a wire gate, bordered by a low concrete fence, so I could see the entire incident unfold, despite being a bit clueless as to what was actually going on (I was 4). So haring along as fast as he could the criminal was still losing ground to the law. As he reaches the far end of the gate one of the cops pulls his gun and fires quite expertly at the suspect. The criminal drops behind fence out of view completely. At this point frantic teachers and minders usher the little ones inside and begin to adjust reality. We saw fireworks. No one got shot in front of me.

To this day I'm not sure what to think of my reaction to that incident, because I went home and told the story to my parents with great enthusiasm. "I saw fireworks at school and the police shot a car thief!!"

I wasn't much for finger painting and I already knew my times tables, so I only needed to take one lesson away before "Big School." A simple lesson that ended with the metaphorical words:

"Welcome to life kids. It's cheap here, so take as much as many as you want."