Lesson 2 is based on the short story Never Again written by Kristi Love

. A brief summation of this true short story: My mother was married to a man who was very abusive, both mentally and physically. He was not selective with whom he chose to subject to his wrath; either one of us was fine. This story begins in medias res with me, at the age of twelve, holding a .38 in my shaking right hand, aiming at the man who was beating my mother, again.

The inciting incident of this short story is, of course, my step-father beating my mother which upset the status quo of us just returning from a snow skiing trip in Winter Park, CO.

The high point comes when I enter their bedroom from which came the shrill, agonizing screams of my mother and retrieved the pistol from a nightstand next to their bed. It was my full intention to put a final end to these screams that pierced my ears, hence, the resolution which was the fulfillment of a promise I had made to my mother and myself the last time he had beaten her.

The wrap-up is quite vague with only a statement that I knew how to use a gun because my step-father had taught me how two years prior to this incident. It was my intention to keep the reader in suspense as to whether or not this was, in fact, the last beating to ever come from this man. A sequel is planned and is in the making.

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