Marksman

by R J Dent

“Mr Wilkinson, I can assure you that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Most adult males, at one time or another, experience the very same machismo-dominated fantasy phase that you have just described to me.”

          I was a little surprised by the doctor’s words.

          “But shooting people is a bit much, don’t you think, Doctor?”

          “Not at all,” Doctor Baylor said, shaking his head. “You see, the rifle you mentioned is merely an imaginative extension of your manhood – or, if you prefer, it is a symbolic representation of your penis, which you use, in your fantasy, to shoot people with. Surely the phallic overtones have not escaped your notice?”

          I pondered for a moment.

          “You mean that I’m having imaginary sexual intercourse with all of the people that I kill in my fantasy, don’t you?”

          I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed.

          “Let us just say that you fantasize about shooting people you do not know, from which we can conclude that you are subconsciously trying to prove something regarding your masculinity to yourself, without the help of family or friends, hence the absence of familiar faces in your fantasy.”

          I felt that I wasn’t really getting through to Doctor Baylor.

          “Doctor Baylor,” I said carefully, “the plain facts of the matter are that I am almost constantly daydreaming or – as you call it – fantasizing whilst at work. The constant fantasy I have is one in which I am laying face down on the roof of a building not unlike this one and, with a large caliber hunting rifle I begin to take pot-shots at the people walking in the street below me. That’s pretty bad, but the worst part of the fantasy is that whilst I’m doing this, I actually enjoy killing all of those innocent people. I like shooting them, then seeing them fall to the ground, screaming and bleeding. Now I know you say it’s only a fantasy, but quite frankly, Doctor, it’s scaring the crap out of me.”