The gun - a short story

A flash fiction piece written as an exercise on a writing forum

The mandate
The first words of your contribution must be:

She picked up the gun.


Somewhere in the middle you must include this line:

"Oh go and boil your head!"


The last words must be:

She grimaced. "You know, I really loved him."


My story

She picked up the gun.
It was a snub nosed colt. The blue steel was cool to touch. Could this lovely svelte object really kill a man? or a woman, come to that? Anyway, what was it doing in her hand?

She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair appeared harried and disheveled due to constant running of fingers through it. The lipstick needed touching up. So many things had happened since this morning. Her world was about to turn topsy turvy. Those words still rang in her ears.

It was the cell phone ringing for the nth time. Sheil nervously approached her. “He’s called again. What should I tell him?” She was in no mood to discuss anything with him at this time. "Oh go and boil your head!" she yelled into the phone.

At last she was ready. Quietly she entered the room. A man lay on the couch, paper folded over his chest, arms crossed, eyes closed. She took a deep breath and mentally prepared for the shot. The finger stayed smoothly on the trigger.
As the cameras rolled, she fired once, and grimaced, "You know, I really loved him."