I remember the first time I fired a gun.

I happened to be sitting in a cliche-ly dark corner of the Punch-Drunk Line, down on Oak Street.  There was the usual hub-bub that night.

Up to a point.

I was asking the barkeep for another pot of hot water when the door blew open, and a shadowy figure filled the doorjamb.  Everyone turned predictably.

The stranger clunked to the side-back-corner corner of the bar, his black-pinstripe fedora over his eyes, the collar of his trenchcoat around his ears.

"Can I get ya something?" the barkeep asked apprehensively.

"Yeah," the stranger replied gruffly.  "Y'got some joe?"

The barkeep slid some a mug across the counter, the stranger catching it perfectly.

I watched, interested.

I guess I watched a little too long.

"Whadeah lookin' at, huh?" the stranger snapped, his unseen eyes glaring in my direction.

"Nothin'," I said simply.

"Nothin', huh?  Y'callin' me a nothin' now?"

"What's it to ya if I am?"

The stranger slammed his mug on the counter for enraged emphasis.  "Y'gonna be sorry!"

I glanced at the table next to me.  A pistol lay conveniently in my reach.  I picked it up and fired it through the ceiling.

The stranger, the barkeep, everyone present jumped to see me, the quite writer, with a gun in my hand.

"Jimmy..." the barkeep whispered in awe.  He shook his head in disbelief.  "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Guess there's a first time for everything, Doc."

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Author guidance for This story

A challenge! A challenge I say!

In honor of my first challenge on Protagonize, I issue the "First Time for Everything" Challenge!

Objective: Write an anecdote about a "first time" experience. Try to make it something odd or unusual. Like the first time you (the narrator) had sushi, or did morris dancing.

Or, if it's something more prosaic (eating a sandwich, walking in the park), maybe something out of the ordinary should happen. Something that would make that mundane occurence vividly memorable.

Guidelines:
-I was thinking the first sentence could be "I remember the first time I...", or some variation of it.
-keep your entry to one chapter/post/thingy in length; just sequel your entry onto whatever entry happens to be last.

I'm not sure whether or not I'll judge. I'll update this if I decide to do so.

Good luck, godspeed, "Force be with you", Feliz Navidad, etc, etc, etc...

updated Jan 21 '09 by g2LaPianistaIrlandesa