Stories to Tell in the Dark

I Want to go Home

It was a dreary kind of day. It always was in this small suburban town. On the edge of this town,there resided a deep forest which gave a little life to the otherwise plain residence. The large oak trees swaying in the playful breeze, the few gentle rays of light peeking through the grey clouds were speckling through the forestry onto the foliage below, it is quite a sleepy little forest, the loudest sounds coming from the occasional wildlife passing through. That is except for today. Today all silence was broken with a loud pop and a flurry of fluttering wings followed by apish hooting and hollering. The culprit of these sounds? A group of boys who often frequented this otherwise quiet little forest. These boys had been friends since elementary school and it was common place for them to meet up after school and walk through to the edge of the local park into this forest. It was their "secret hideout". Normally their games were innocent enough, kids just being kids goofing off and throwing sticks at each other. But today was different, today was "special". The oldest of the group had just turned thirteen and had received a pellet rifle for his birthday. He was told repeatedly that it was not a toy and he could only use it with an adult around. He was even promised by his uncle that they would go out and shoot some targets at on Friday after school, but that was several days away and he was of course eager to show his best friends his newest treasure and what better place to do it then their secret hiding spot? So here he was proudly holding his recently fired .22 caliber pellet rifle smugly grinning at his accomplishment in hitting his first ever target. Before him just a few feet away in a mass of twitching black feathers was a small black bird, its spastic movements slowly ceasing.
"I can't fucking believe you hit it dude!" the youngest of the three squeaked, excitedly running over to examine the fallen bird.
The oldest snorted "Of course I hit it, Uncle Joe used to let me shoot his real rifle all the time before this."
He got a playful punch on his shoulder from the youngest boy. "Yeah right dude, I saw how your hands were shaking, you've never even used a pea shooter before."
"Fuck you dude" the oldest replied with a wry grin.
The youngest chortled and rummaged through the leaves until he found a medium sized stick. He bent down to examine the animal. "Still Tommy," he said turning the bird over, its head lolling limply over its snapped neck, now no longer moving. "It was a nice shot, you got it straight through the head, Aw sick its eye is even missing dude!"

"Just leave it the hell alone already Jake, let's just go." The last member of the trio was fuming. He had made it clear to his friends when Tommy brought out his smuggled birthday present that he was uncomfortable with them playing with the gun and was even more distraught of the idea of them hurting a harmless creature with it.
Tommy rolled his eyes. "Quit being a fucking pussy dude, it's just a damn bird. What are you going to cry over it?"
James's face grew hot "No! I-It's just not fucking cool alright?! We already know how good your gun works can we just leave now?"
Tommy and Jake both gave each other knowing looks, letting out an exaggerated sigh, they both loved James, he was quiet and reserved, but smart and quick witted. However he was a rule follower and always got very nervous whenever the boys were doing something they "weren't supposed to be doing".
Tommy walked over to where James stood indignantly with his arms crossed and eyes glaring. He clasped a hand on his shoulder, James flinching away slightly, still miffed. "Hey dude, I was just messin with ya, Look I'm sorry I shot the thing, I was just really excited about this gun and when I saw the bird sitting right there on that low branch, it was like I couldn't help myself you know? It was just right there calling to me like come on Tommy, shoot me shoot me!" He finished his sentence in a squeaky high voice drawing a giggle from James.
"Seriously dude, I didn't mean anything by it and I promise it won't happen again, let's just walk around a little more and I'll only shoot trees or shit like that alright? I promise!"
James looked unconvinced but sighed and nodded his head. "Fine, but you better keep your promise dude or I'm so kicking your ass."
"I'd like to see you try Jamie-boy" Tommy replied with a smirk. "But seriously James, it won't happen again."
James knew Tommy could be an un-tactful asshole sometimes but knew he never did it purposely.
"It's cool man let's just hurry up, it's getting late."
James bent down and scooped up the broken bird and set it next to a tree where he brushed some leaves over it.
Tommy and Jake shook their heads, James was such a softy.
"Come on then slow poke, I know just the place to really try this puppy out!" Tommy began sprinting deeper into the forest, Jake and James following closely behind.
The boys finally reached their destination; it was a wide open area of the forest with the trees forming almost a perfect circle around it. There was a variety of stumps and fallen trees of all shapes and sizes, some seeming to come out of the ground like giant reaching arms, perfect for climbing or jumping off of. It was by far the boys' favorite part of the forest.
"I don't know why I didn't think of this before, this'll make a great shooting range! James, I'll even let you go first this time." Tommy held the butt of the gun out to the boy but James just shook his head and shrugged.
"Nah, that's okay, I think I'll just watch you guys." With that, James plopped himself down in the soft grass and began picking at the weeds that resided there.
Tommy shrugged, "suit yourself dude, hey Jake come here!"
The youngest stopped kicking toadstools off the tree stumps and ran over to Tommy and James.
Tommy slid his backpack off his back and tossed it over to Jake. "Here get these set up why don't ya."
Jake opened the backpack to find various bottles and cans. Perfect practice targets for a pellet gun.
"Fine I'll set up the first round but you are setting up the next one."
Tommy waved a hand nonchalantly in Jake's direction. "Yeah yeah, sure."
Tommy looked over to where James sat. James seemed to be finding whatever he was picking at in the grass to be very interesting. He sighed and moved closer to the boy.
"You sure you don't wanna try? I know guns aren't your thing and all but you gotta admit, this thing is pretty bad ass."