Denise Mclinden: A Short Story

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Denise McLinden took a moment to stare at her reflection. Naturally reddish brown, more curly than wavy shoulder length hair, parted slightly to the right, framed her heart shaped face. Her lips were a little thin, but not noticeably so. A few acne scars here and there from a teenage habit of picking her skin that didn't die easily, but those were fairly well hidden within the splatter of freckles across her nose and cheeks that hadn't really faded since childhood. Her nose was small and well formed, but a small bump on bridge showed signs of a previous break. Denise wasn't insecure in the slightest, though she was painfully aware of her imperfections-barely noticeable to anyone but herself-she was also aware of her better traits. Well, her best trait, at least. Her eyes. Large, intense,…show more content…
He normally came home around 2:00 after a particularly bad fight, but this hadn't been too bad, he should be home soon. In fact, Denise could hear the gravel crunch under the tires of his Ford F-150 as he pulled in the drive now. She began to feel fear creep up on her spine. What if he sees the gun in her lap through the porch screen and gets to her before she can aim properly and shoot? Surprise was Denise's main advantage here. Well, besides the gun. But, no, he wouldn't think to suspect it. First off, he was already drunk earlier; he had to be utterly smashed by now. Second, no matter how fast he was, it would still be pretty difficult to overpower a gun. She was just nervous, he don't know what's waiting here this time. She clutched the gun as she heard his footsteps creak on the wooden steps of the porch. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm as she loaded the gun. Setting down the beer, she took the gun into both hands and readied
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