Gephyrophillia #217

Originally Posted on 11/30/2009 by Jeff Harris

Let me tell you a story.

It all started with a gun.

It always starts with a gun when it comes to this life. You're either the one holding it, the one beside the one holding it, or the one laying down on the ground because it was successful in completing what it was intended for. Guns launched revolutions, wars, confusion, and chaos. It happens every day in this life. It happens every day in this world.

The world was never perfect, and whoever said it was probably was born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Or up a certain orifice I can't discuss in mixed company. Often times, perfection is an ideal that is distant and blurry from a certain point. We've never reached perfection, and I doubt we ever will. It's okay. If we were looking to achieve perfection, we wouldn't be doing what we're doing.

And what we do is pretty damned good.

There has always been four of us. We've known each other since, I would say, four, maybe five years. Three dudes and a dame. A cop, an assassin, a hitman, and a son of a mob boss. We're all on different sides of the law and are naturally supposed to be enemies, but somehow, we're friends. Some would say we're friends by convenience. Others would say that we're friends so we could make the ultimate double-cross. Of course in my case, I think it's a little of both.

We've seen our share of bloodshed. Hell, some of us shed a few pints and we lost a few drops ourselves. But life in Junction Point has come to a halt. People are afraid to walk the streets because they're afraid they'll end up a casualty of the four-way war that's taking place between the three families and the boys in blue. I know I'm part of the problem. Does that make me the bad guy in this story? Depends on which side of the history books you're reading and who's writing it. Some would see me as a bad guy because I do things certain individuals would consider unsavory. Some would see me as a guy who saw the hypocrisy that is so prevelent in societal rules that my actions would be lauded in the mainstream if the mainstream wasn't taken over by the hypocrites who say what I'm doing is wrong and them doing the same thing is right.

Of course, life is rarely in straight-up black-and-white. It's in many tones of gray. Some shades are brighter and others are darker. But they're all equal hues. Nobody said the world was perfect. It's certainly not perfect tonight. It's raining harder than it has in a long, long time. The four of us have gathered at the corner of Lauder and Campos. One of us is dead on the ground. Three of us are pointing guns at one another, uncertain of what happened, a little scared, and ready to blow each other away. A hell of a way to end a friendship.

It all started with a gun.

To be continued...

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.