my mom brought home some box; it was a 500 piece kit full of random fireworks. i think her grocery store got it as a gift from some vendor.
i stared at that box forever. it just seemed so boring. so i convinced my brother to help me. we cut opened every one of those things and poured whatever contents into a big plastic jar. my neighbor showed up and helped. even the tiniest firecracker, we broke in half and twist-massaged that tiny bit of ordinance into our jar. once we were done, we found the longest fuse we had. it was maybe 10" long. poked a hole and stuck in that fuse. the rest of the fuses naturally went into the jar. we stared at that..then i said we should tape it up!! my friend and i wrapped it up over and over with duct tape. it was about the size of a soccer ball IIRC.
we set that thing up in the middle of the street and lit it. we lived in a big city, on a corner lot of a busy intersection. we ran from that thing like it was a bad movie scene..RUUUUNNNNN! when it went off, it was shocking how loud it was. the percussion we felt at our backs. we ran into the house..my mom was "what did you do?!!" the cops came..and my mom recognized an old cop that was friends with my dad (who was also a cop for a time)
i don't remember how old i was, or if my dad was still alive. i NEVER did that again..in city limits.
i know i was a tiny kid.
i remember when i graduated from Civil Engineering, i applied for a building demo company. my mom was giving me the oddest look, when i said.."it would be awesome to blow up stuff for a living!"
my brother and i, and that friend..we still talk about that bomb. you never forget your first.