Firing Pin
by K. Jeffery Petersen

	The little girl with the dirty black hair pointed her gun 
and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the man in the jaw. It 
sheared the lower-left side of his face off and jerked his body 
around almost full circle. The jet of blood and flesh splashed 
against Samantha's face and chest.

	She blinked twice, clearing her eyes, and stared as the man 
slowly fell to the ground. He hit the sidewalk with a wet thud. For 
a long moment she was captivated by the picture he presented, lying 
splayed out on the ground, so peacefully dribbling all over the 
place.

	The little girl stepped closer, eyeing the corpse. She 
brushed up lightly against Samantha, but it felt like Samantha had 
been pushed. She sat down hard on the park bench behind her. The 
little girl prodded the leg of the body with her foot, then turned 
to regard Samantha.

	Samantha frowned at the gun when it was pointed at her. It 
seemed so alien and innocuous, so unable to do anything harmful. 
However, in some recess of her mind, she realized she was going to 
die. That thought was unable to motivate her to do anything; to 
move, to shout, to beg for mercy.

	But the little girl merely shrugged and turned away. She ran 
off, her feet making rapid, soft taps against the park sidewalk.

	Samantha's face felt warm. Warm and wet. She traced the 
first two fingers of her right hand along side her nose. A thick, 
slick coating of deep red covered the tips. She ran her thumb across 
them. It surprised her that it felt so smooth.

	She dabbed her fingers against the tip of her tongue. It 
tasted salty.

	A rapid thumping of footsteps approached. A crowd clustered 
around. "My, God!" someone screamed. A face appeared in front of 
Samantha, pushing close. "Are you okay?" it demanded. 

	She mutely shook her head, jaw slightly agape. She wondered 
what they were so excited about.

	"I think she's been hurt! Has anyone called an ambulance?" 
Hands pressed against her shoulders. "You're going to be fine. Just 
stay awake." In the distance, sirens wailed. "Here they come now. 
It'll all be fine." The hands shook her. 

	She wanted to shrug them away. Her body felt drained and 
weak, though. All she could do was wait.

	More people arrived. More hands touched her. They stood her 
up and placed a blanket around her, then hustled her off.

	Samantha saw the body once more as she left. She almost 
cried at the sight of the people tromping through the man's blood. 
Didn't they have any sense of dignity?

***

	"Abe's Gunshop and Firing Range," the sign said. Samantha 
read over it three times. The picture of the pistol in the comical 
cowboy's hand seemed strange to her. It was so unlike the little gun 
that the little girl had used.

	She wondered what it would be like to be that little girl 
and to point a gun at people. It seemed like such an easy thing to 
do. All she would have to do is pull the trigger. Samantha pointed 
her hand forward like a gun, first two fingers pointing straight, 
thumb held high, and the other two fingers curled back. It did not 
seem so hard at all.

	She brought her hand back and ran her thumb across the first 
two fingers. They felt wrong, now; cold, dry, and rough.

	The cartoon cowboy beckoned to her. Samantha walked up to 
the entrance and pushed through the door.

	"Hi! How can I help you?" the man behind the counter said 
after the bell stopped jingling.

	"I want to try out a gun," Samantha said, staring at the 
firearms in a glass case.

	"Well, you've come to the right place! Abe's guarantees 
satisfaction." He smiled and nodded. "What sort were you 
considering?"

	"I..." Samantha shook her head and shrugged. "Something 
small?" She did not understand how that mattered.

	"Small we can do." He pulled a gun out of the case. "This 
here's a Glock 26. It's small, but it's got a 10 round magazine. It 
also doesn't have a hammer, just an internal firing pin. Less moving 
parts, so less can go wrong. This baby is perfect if you want some 
strong, concealable protection." He nodded towards the entrance. 
"Dangerous out there, isn't it?"

	She reached out towards the gun. "Can I try it?"

	"Sure thing," he answered. He pressed a button on the bottom 
and slid out the magazine, then grabbed another and slotted it in 
place. "With a hammerless model like this, you don't need to cock it 
for the first round. Just pull the trigger." Then he led her into 
another room - the firing range.

	He handed her a pair of goggles and ear protectors. "Targets 
are down that way. Point and shoot. You'll probably want to use both 
hands."

	Samantha cocked her head to the side at the targets. The man 
had not been nearly so far away from the little girl.

	She held the gun forward, arms straight, one hand cupping 
the other, and pulled the trigger. The pistol bucked in her hand 
hard, but she only heard a muffled crack through the ear protectors. 
The paper target down-range jerked from an impact.

	Samantha smiled and held her hands more firmly. She pulled 
the trigger again. The paper jerked again. She had to stifle a laugh 
as she started to fire more and more rapidly.

	She was panting after the ninth bullet had holed the paper 
target. She tugged the ear-protector off and looked at the man.

	"Wow! You're a right natural at this, aren't you? What do 
you think?"

	"That was..." she nodded.

	"You think you'll be liking that one? It's only two-fifty 
plus tax... don't even have a waiting period."

	"I think... I think I do," she said, then pointed the gun at 
him.