Shots Fired at the Scene of a Bad Breakup

A woman makes a revelation at the conclusion of a relationship, and her soon to be ex-boyfriend shows her that he cares after all.

He pulled the trigger and she was surprised by that reaction. She had not figured that he felt so strongly. She figured that he would be, at the most, indifferent to the news of her infidelity. After all, as he said himself, it was over a long time ago. 

It all happened so quickly that it was hard for her to comprehend what was happening the moment he produced the pistol. Pulling the trigger meant that this was definitely over, just in case there was any doubt. 

The loud bang left a blank spot in her memory; a permanent stain on the tapestry of her mind’s recollection of events. It was like a camera flash, but pure darkness instead of the light that blinds you when you take a picture. 

Afterward, after that loud hand cannon bang that filled the room, there was silence; a stillness that seemed to emanate from her very being and fill the entire room with a sort of space-time paralysis. She thought she was dead for a moment, but then realized that she was being stupid; the dead don't think anything. 

She moved slowly- first her eyes, then her head- to look over her right shoulder, which was where she felt the wind from the bullet that moved mere inches past her right ear. On the wall was a photo of the two of them standing together at a rooftop party of some friends of hers in Brooklyn. Everyone felt it was the nicest photo of them, but she couldn't be bothered with remembering that now. The frame still hung on the wall, the glass broken in a snowflake pattern of deep cracks emanating from a bullet hole made by a .357 magnum. The bullet went right through the middle of the two of them in the picture. 

She turned back to look at him, "When did you get a gun?"

"Probably around the same time you started f*****g someone else.” 

Her eyes moved from his face to the gun, which was still pointing toward her, "I guess we've both been keeping secrets."

"I guess." He laid the gun down on his lap, "Get the f**k out!"

"Right." she nodded.

She picked up her purse from the floor and walked across the living room to the foyer, and stopped. She looked over at him. He continued staring at the ruined photo. 

"Wait a minute." she said.

He fixed a hostile gaze on her.

"This is my place, dude!"

His gaze softened and his eyes dropped to the ground, "Oh, that's right."

Author's Note

Another writing exercise, this time done with the app iDeas for Writing. The app provided the very first sentence, and I did the rest.