By Chad Greene
When I saw the streetlight reflect off
an object in the hand of the man huddled in the darkened doorway, I thought
“Knife!”
I should have thought “Swiss Army
Knife.”
I should have thought “can opener on a
Swiss Army Knife.”
I should have thought.
Instead, I let the streetlight reflect
off an object in my hand. That was the third object that hit the street. After
I shot the homeless man, the can opener and the can slipped out of his hands.
Then the pistol slipped out of mine.
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Chad Greene is a graduate of the Master
of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California and an
assistant professor of English at Cerritos College. His writing has appeared in
Cuento Magazine, Journal of Microliterature, Nailpolish
Stories, Nanoism, One Forty Fiction, Southern California Review, The
Southlander, and the flash-fiction collection Book by Authors.