The Shooter

CW//being chased by a potential school shooter in my dreams.

Photo by Tianlei Wu on Unsplash

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Based on Bradley Ramsey’s The Halls of Pandemonium prompt for today. This one is about a dream I’ve had over the years about being chased by someone with a gun. Please read only if you’re comfortable with the subject matter.

The Shooter

He came into class, pulled out his gun, and pointed it only at me.

Disbelief spread across my face, like a virus unable to be contained — and I did the only thing that felt sensible right then.

I ran.

Before he could react, out into the hall, turning corners, desperate to get away.

He followed out of school, not shooting, but sprinting toward me. Following through neighborhood and park, to the Drop-in center I used to go.

A final place to hide or die, it mattered not, for only there did the dream finally end.

Hazel Allen, 2026.