Dyin' Ain't Much of a Livin'

the moment before a suicide.

The dancing light from the TV dyes my living room a fifties-esque hue. Half-finished Coors bottles are littered across my coffee table, looking like brown skyscrapers scattered by the wind.

A black and white movie's playing on TCM. It's some western I've never seen.

I have a gun in my hand.

On the TV, a horse sighs. Men in boots click-clack themselves around an empty saloon. Someone spits.

There's a lonely bullet in the chamber of my gun.

A televised revolver clicks as its hammer is drawn back. Steely-eyed bandits shift their eyes from one man to the next.

I raise the gun to my mouth.

"Dyin' ain't much of a livin', kid," growls Clint Eastwood from the TV.

I pull the trigger.

A cowboy screams.

Author's Note

A short one. I tried to make the events on TV parallel the man about to commit suicide (the revolver drawing its hammer back, suspense building as the men watch each other, Clint Eastwood's line from The Outlaw Josey Wales).

Reviews

[~D.A. Phoenix~]

This is short and sweet. It's not overloaded with details which I think happens with a lot of short stories. Even without back story it's still a good piece. I really like your imagery. The parallel between the man and the movie worked well. This was a really interesting piece

[JustNeedToBeHappy]

This has a sepia-edged film noir atmosphere to it :) I really like it, especially the parallels between the film and the events :)