Guilted: Wars Against The Past (Editing)

T w e n t y - F o u r

"Position."

She took the rifle and positioned it.

"Aim." His voice was low and dangerously weird that she had to furrow her brows and tilt her head towards the side to look at him.

He motioned his head towards the target, indicating her to focus. His expression straight and gloomy.

She then shook her head and aimed.

The rifle, heavy and large that she struggled to just even hold it.

Nonetheless, she aimed at the target.

"Hold your breath." Abed whispered, his voice came out deep and shaky that she had the urge to look at him, to analyze him, but that would disturb the concentration and piss off Abed.

"And shoot!" Sternness and boldness highlighted his voice and when she pulled the trigger, she winced as the deafening shot of the bullet that pierced into her hearing senses that made her ear bleed.

"Seriously? You shoot like a girl, Taraa!" Abed exclaimed in disappointment as she missed the shot.

"Well, I am a girl!" Taraa shrugged.

"That's not the point!" Abed said as he walked towards her and took away the rifle from her. "It's simple and easy. All you need is complete focus and that peaceful instinct. You can't position if you don't have an aim. You can't aim if you don't concentrate, and you can't hold your breath if you let the world invade your mind and you can't shoot if you don't have the instinct!" Abed lectured.

"Really..." Taraa mused and contemplated on what he said. "Did they teach you theory on that too?" Taraa asked genuinely, with a hint of confusion and curiosity.

Abed chuckled.

"No, of course not! It's just that shooting takes my mind off things and allows me to get to know my mind more. My mind becomes freer and gives my heart clear messages and surprisingly, they tend to get along. And that exact moment, I find this shred of composure that allows me to have the whole world in my mind... I can't explain.... it's something else, I guess!"

Taraa looked at him in awe. No, it wasn't because of what he said, but rather, how he had said it.

"I like it when you explain things like that and talk about your feelings. It's nice." Taraa abruptly admitted.

"So, you feel like this every time you shoot?" She slowly asked.

"Not really. Because now, I have mastered it. It was during the times I was training and learning." Abed simply answered her.

"Look here." Abed motioned towards him as he positioned the rifle.

"Position. Aim. Hold breath. Shoot." As he pulled the trigger thrice at the tree's branch where he had marked a cross with a chalked stone, the loud cries of the birds echoed within the forest as the flew away with their lives.

"You do realize that this is the first time I held a gun or whatever is that, right? I have no practice, or I wasn't trained like you." Taraa argued.

"I am aware." Abed acknowledged. "But well, take baby steps. The rifle is a big step and my favorite. Handguns are for beginners and they are totally no fun!"