There he stood. In the dark of the night, an orange street light shone brightly on Jonathan and another man. Jonathan was looking down the end of a barrel into what seemed like the end of the world. All he saw…was black…the world around him shriveled away into nothing. His life began passing him. He saw himself…a child… running and playing in school…then he saw himself…shaking hands with a business associate, making a deal…he saw himself…with his wife…when they met...their first kiss…their wedding…their first child…he saw their house, the front door wide open…he saw lights flashing, red and blue, red and blue…he saw his wife’s mangled body…his child beside her…blood flowed like a river from the corpses. Then he saw the face of her murderer…the man fled from sight. He began to shake…sorrow and hate filling him. The black returned. He shook his head, tears streaming from his face. He screamed, wanting out of this horrible dream. He was finally brought back into reality. His vision cleared again…and he realized what seemed to be a lifetime, was only one second. The pistol was aimed at the man. The one from his memory, the man’s face was not at all alarmed, nor scared. This man did not care. The man stood, grinning at Jonathan, his face full of pleasure, he wanted death…he figured, it is better than lifetime behind bars. Jonathan stood, the pistol aimed. Tears were flowing from his face. He was deciding the fate of the man. Sirens filled the air…the flashing lights quickly approached. He only had minutes before the police arrived. Revenge...this was the time to act. Anger filled his mind; he once again saw his wife’s mangled body. But…he thought…death, was too kind for this man…what could he do? He aimed at the man’s knee and fired the pistol. The shot rung out through the stale, cold air like a scream in the dark. The bullet struck the man, his knee exploded, with a flash of blood and flesh. Immediately falling to the ground, the man screamed in agony. Jonathan aimed at his other knee, and fired. Again, the single shot rang out loudly. Blood flew from the man’s other knee. The thick, gagging, smell of blood quickly filled the air. The man was now laying on his back his hands gripping his upper legs. Tears were flowing from his eyes, an expression of unbelievable pain on his face. Jonathan moved toward the man…sirens still screaming madly through the night, searching for him. He fired two rounds at the man, each one hitting an elbow. The man laid back and screamed in pure agony…he could no longer move any of his joints. Laying on his back…the man watched as Jonathan stared at him coldly. Closing his eyes, the man hoped for the end. But it did not come. He heard Jonathan’s foot steps as he walked away. Jonathan walked away, tears in his eyes. As the end of the alley approached, the red and blue lights covered the walls between the old, brick apartment buildings. Jonathan stopped a few yards from where the road met the alley. He saw cars…and men behind doors, with their arms raised, pistols in their hands, they were screaming at him, but he could not understand. He could hear nothing. See nothing. Then it dawned on him, what exactly he had done. As another orange street light shone above him, moths and other insects flew around it wildly…Jonathan looked up into the light…thinking about nothing but his dear wife and child. He closed his eyes and wept. His free hand covered his face, wiping tears away. He heard indistinct yells. It was the men behind the cars. He looked up at them. He couldn’t feel anything, except the sorrow that was destroying him. Pulling his hand away from his face, he took a step forward. He felt a stinging sensation in his chest…then another…he stopped. He felt himself slowly falling backwards. The dark night sky filled his eyes. Muffled screams filled his ears…then it was silent…he saw movement, but it was blurred. He was laying on his back…his eyes slowly closed, the last of the stars in the sky shone brightly as his sight left him…he slowly sucked in one final breath. Then he exhaled. Darkness…