Painless

Chapter 1

"Keep shootin'. Come on, Rebel. You haven't even made a single target yet." My dad nags me continuously. Smells of pine and moss drift around me as my feet crunch on the fall leaves.

"Don't you think I am trying? Not my fault I don't have Liberty's brilliant aim." I mutter.

"Or Blake's strength, or Journey's reflexes, or Serenity's balance, or Uri's speed." Dad lays his sweaty, ratio filled arm across my shoulders and he looks me in the eye. "The list goes on and on and on. What can you do?" I scoff and push him away. Over and over I hear it. 'Why can't you do this?' 'Why don't you have any talent in this field?' 'The rest of the family does.'

"We can't all be good at something. There is always a runt of the litter." I snap back.

"Yeah, and why am I not surprised it's the one kid we named 'Rebel'." I roll my eyes at his remark. He always brings up my name into everything. Let's name all of our kids nice things and then stick the label of REBEL on this one.

"At least I have something going for me." I shoot the gun, and I groan in desperation.

"And how long do you think it will last? I am sure those things can't last forever." I kick leaves up and huff, glaring at Dad in the process.

"It has lasted me nineteen fun-filled years, I am sure it can last at least another nineteen."

"Good luck with that." Dad takes the cigarette from his mouth and blows a big ring of smoke into my face. I cough and try to wave the smoke away from my face. "Well, are you waiting for an invitation? When are you gonna to start shootin' again?"

"Maybe when you stop smoking that cancer stick. Why do you do it anyways?" I complain.

"What do you kids say now? It's a metaphor."

I can't help but let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, but normally the cigarette isn't lit." I hold up the gun to my eye and try to aim. I shoot the gun at the target and it lands above a foot to the right.

"Listen, you shoot until you hit the target or run out of ammunition." Dad says while walking back to the house. My face lights up. "And don't think about just shootin' all willy-nilly. I want to see you actually try."

"Dammit." I huff and turn towards the targets. I start shooting the target as much as I can, but I never hit it. It feels like it has been hours and the closest I have gotten to hitting the target is when I hit the tree right next to it. "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

"Do you need any help?" I hear a voice like a bell behind me. I glance behind me an I just see a swish of bright blue hair coming towards me. Great.

"No, Liberty, go away."

"I was just asking if you need assistance." She starts walking towards me.

"I know. Now go away." I aim my gun again and shoot, this time not even getting close to the target. I hear laughing behind me, and I roll my eyes.

"Are you sure?" Liberty asks between gasps.

"Yes." I put the gun down and start walking towards the house.

"Hey, I thought Dad said not to leave until you've hit a target or ran out of ammo!" Really? I don't recall. It's not like he just yelled at me about that. I roll my eyes and go back to pick my gun. I point it in the direction of the target. I look at her and look back. I shoot the gun until all the bullets are gone, hitting who-knows-what. I hear clicking, showing that it is out. I throw the gun down at her feet.

"There." I begin walking away. I shake my head a bit due to the ringing in my ear from the gun.

"Come on, Re. You know I was just joking around." Liberty runs up next to me. I quicken my pace and turn around so I am facing her, walking backwards. If I fall, I am blaming her.