The Shooting
It started off as a normal school day. I arrived late to school, at 8:50 am, and was shouted at by Mrs Robinson. It was 23rd June 2000. I was in Year 8 at the time. First two lessons finished as usual, and then it was first break which was about fifteen minutes long. Boys normally mess about during this time. On this particular day as I went into the form room to find virtually the whole class gathered around John Smith, a fellow pupil in my form.
He had a very sophisticated looking BB gun in his hand. It fired little round, coloured pellets. He was showing off this gun to everyone, firing pellets at distant objects or out of the window. When it fired however, it made a very loud 'thud' noise, and all around him tried their hardest to cover up this sound by coughing very loud each time the trigger was pressed The gun was a pistol, non-automatic. It was amazingly powerful though. This weapon was known as the 'desert eagle'. The bullets it fired went so fast, that you only saw them once they'd hit something. John had also managed to smuggle another firearm into school. This one was also a pellet gun but it was a semi-automatic M16 sub-machine gun and was capable of holding much more ammunition. It could unload a whole magazine of these little round, coloured pellets in a matter of seconds.
Another boy, Herbert Jenkins, picked up this gun, and without any caution, shouted at me across the form room, "You'd better run Abhishek," He smiled menacingly, pointing this M16 gun at me. I tried to shirk the continuous reign of pellets, as he unloaded the entire magazine of 36 pellets at me. I got caught and tried to shield myself under the impenetrable, padded fortification provided by my blazer. I scarcely felt a thing, as it was capacity and not power that counted for this gun. Everyone stood shocked and people laughed at me as tried to equivocate ...
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Another boy, Herbert Jenkins, picked up this gun, and without any caution, shouted at me across the form room, "You'd better run Abhishek," He smiled menacingly, pointing this M16 gun at me. I tried to shirk the continuous reign of pellets, as he unloaded the entire magazine of 36 pellets at me. I got caught and tried to shield myself under the impenetrable, padded fortification provided by my blazer. I scarcely felt a thing, as it was capacity and not power that counted for this gun. Everyone stood shocked and people laughed at me as tried to equivocate the fire.
After this I went back to lessons, and had my lunch. At lunch break, John was still hanging around the form room, showing off his Desert Eagle, but a bit more cautiously, because any minute, Mrs Robinson would be coming back with her daily lunch; a leaf of lettuce, some cherry tomatoes and a big chunk of Morrisons' finest Cantaloupe melon. He shot the odd coke can in the form room, but that was about it. Near the end of break, John put his gun back into his locker and began to walk out of the form room. He was just about to disappear out of sight when he suddenly turned around and smiling he said, "Oh and by the way, be prepared for the end as school as something special might happen!" He laughed a cruel and evil laugh then walked off.
Break ended soon, and the final lessons began and ended. Now it was the end of school, and was I in for a shock when I entered the form room. It was noisy as usual, with everyone shouting and insulting others, doing wrestling moves, punching, kicking and generally beating up James Shaw. I went to my locker to get out all my homework books, and put them into my school bag. John was just playing with his pistol again, and just as I was about to leave and go for my bus, Jack Green shouted, half laughing, "I know, let's shoot Abhishek with John's Desert Eagle!" I tried to quickly make my way towards the door, i.e. to safety, when Herbert Jenkins closed the door and, and thus blocked my means of escape.
"Move out of my way, Herbert!" I tried to push my way past him but he stood firm and wouldn't move. "Don't you dare, John!" I shouted as I saw John brandishing his Desert Eagle from his inner blazer pocket. "You'll be in so much trouble!" I said in a relaxed voice trying to reason with him, as he began to advance towards me. I started to back away from him and had no place to go except the centre of the form room.
Everyone stood by the sides, and waited. It was like being in the coliseum with the crowds circling the stadium, hungry for some action, and me, standing in the middle, being mocked and insulted, helpless and unable to escape, waiting for the oncoming danger. I ran to my best friend, Muhammad Khan, to seek refuge, but he pushed me back into the centre, with the words I'll never forget, "If you don't get shot, they'll shoot me! Better you than me!" I was infuriated, sad and betrayed, at the same time. I had no time to react, because the danger soon followed!
John aimed at my chest, and laughing, he also emptied the magazine of 12 pellets onto me. I quickly spun round, and again used my blazer as protection. It was futile trying to elude the pellets, as they zoomed past my sides and some over my head, as I evaded the onslaught. Some managed to get through, and one struck me straight in the stomach! I let out a cry and subsided onto a nearby table. The pain was excruciating as I tightly grasped my stomach. When the pellet first made contact, I felt a searing pain, like a knife piercing my stomach. It stung for a while, and left a mark too. I thought to myself, 'I'll have my revenge, just you wait John.' Everyone was laughing a lot and renacting my dodging and getting shot. The following day John was suspended, and that wiped the smile off his face. It is still lucid in my memory today, but I am glad that the matter was dealt with accordingly and I emerged the victor.
Abhishek Singh 10VM