I sit on a bench watching the children playing in the park. I feel the sunlight burning the back of my neck. Each click of a bullet Edward slides into the magazine makes me twitch nervously. Three, four, five, I count them off. As they snap in place Edward gives them names. Names of people. People who have garnered his ire.

“You know who I hate?” I don’t answer. “Stupid people. I mean the really stupid ones. The ones that make warning labels necessary. Seriously, some dumb bastard wants to stick a fork in a toaster, or take a shower with a blow dryer, let’em die.” He pauses a moment to slide Sally into place with a soft click. “I’ve always been a strong supporter of natural selection. Let the weak, and by weak I mean stupid, die out from their own stupidity. It’s for the betterment of the species as a whole.” Marty. “Better yet open season on morons.”

“They are the most dangerous game.” I add.

“I’m saying.” Nathan. “I’m not even opposed to letting them shoot back, it’s only fair after all. If they come out on top, I guess that shows who was really the strongest.” The magazine glides into position and Edward pulls back the action. My stomach turns.

A child stares at me. Terrified. His mother pulls him away and I hear the boy ask, “What’s wrong with that man mommy?” They always look at me like I’m the one who’s crazy.

Edward looks down the sights out over the play ground. “Look at them. Dozens of little vermin who will one day grow up to run the world into the ground. I’d be amazed if one of them amounts to anything worth a damn. BLAM!” He mimics the kick of the pistol firing at a small blond girl.

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”

“Not even a little. Me and you we’re a dying breed man and it’s all because the natural order has been hijacked by government interference. Who asked the government to step in and keep the idiots alive and breeding? Sure as hell wasn’t me. Don’t look at me like that, I know damn well you agree with every word I say.”

“Not every word.”

“Every god damned word. Me and you we’re cut from the same cloth. Only difference is I say what I think. You’re to concerned about offending people.”

“You’re deranged.”

“A madman in a world gone mad.”

“Why do I put up with you?”

“Like you have a choice. I’m your own personal guardian angel. Without me you’d be nothing.”

“Nothing.” I repeat. “I am nothing.”

Edward smiles and opens fire on the children. I watch eyes wide as each child falls in a bloody heap while mothers run towards their children. I blink and there is no massacre. No panic. Everything is fine and I sit alone. There are no empty shells lying on the ground. I am alone. I am nothing.