Wow, @wordymouth. That is some brave writing, right there. It takes guts to put a mother in the line of fire, let alone a defenseless child. I don't dare imagine the police state reality that this story paints, but some days I believe it is possible even here in the U.S. Great dedication....
I dedicate this bit of fiction to anyone around the world fighting tyranny.
Well said.
The prompt set in motion a lot of ideas. At first, I wanted the reader to believe it was the narrator standing waiting for the bullet. Then I saw how control would come by making the narrator one of the shooters. I haven’t felt this kind of fear about my future in the U.S. since the Cold War. Everyday we lived with the realization we might die in a horrible fire blast. Now, I worry our republic will crumble due to forces beyond our control. I hope my fear came through in this story.