Harrowing by S.E. Amadis Page A

led me into the forest. We walked until I couldn’t see the highway anymore, and the sounds of honking and cars speeding by had faded almost to nothing.
    With a grunt, Brionna lowered her bag to the ground and stood stiff and straight, staring at the sky. She pulled her rifle up and rested it on her shoulder, aiming it towards flocks of birds in the sky, and imitated pulling the trigger.
    “Pow. Pow. I’m gonna teach you to shoot today, baby bro.”
    Her gaze followed the flight of wild birds as she lifted the rifle. Her hand tightened around the barrel and she began to trace deliberate circles in the air, apparently trailing the path of some fowl she could see. I watched with my mouth open, my hand held up to my ears in anticipation of the deafening roar. Suddenly, Brionna dropped the barrel and aimed the muzzle straight into my eye.
    “Pow, li’l bro,” she intoned, imitating a cartoon voice. “I hold ze power of life and death over thee in my hands.”
    We stood for a second without moving. Brionna cracked a grin from ear to ear.
    “I can do what I want with you, baby bro.”
    She lowered the gun. Her eyes flicked over the horizon, apparently searching out something new to chase. A little dog with pure white curly fur dashed out all of a sudden from who knew where, yapping excitedly. Brionna frowned at it. It dodged itself against me and licked my hand. I bent down, stroking it with delight, rather moved that it seemed to like me.
    “Hey, you,” I whispered. “Where’d you come from? Who do you belong to?”
    The little poodle only leapt up and down, yipping away some more and wagging its tail furiously.
    “Pay attention to me, li’l bro,” Brionna said with annoyance. “I’m going to teach you how to shoot today. How’re you gonna learn anything if you don’t listen to me?”
    I glanced up at her and tried to show some interest. She seemed to be fixing her stare at that moment on a flock of colourful wild ducks. Their emerald green heads bobbed up and down, blissfully ignorant of the danger, as she aimed and fired a few rounds. I clapped my hands over my ears. After a few shots, she dropped her gun in disappointment.
    “Shit. How am I ever gonna teach you if I can’t even do this myself? ”
    She gouged the tip of the rifle into the soft earth. The poodle licked at my hand again. I tumbled to my knees and started fooling around with it, forgetting about my sister. The wiggly animal jumped on me, lapping away at my cheeks and hands as if I were a lollipop or something. I giggled with delight. We rolled around in the dirt. I wrapped my arms about those solid flanks. I could feel the dog’s warmth and eager quivering underneath my fingers. The dog twisted about, trying to catch my face with its tongue.
    Suddenly, Brionna leaned over and seized my hair in her fist, tugging hard. Tears leapt into my eyes with the pain. It felt as if she were skinning my entire scalp off. She jerked my head backwards, nearly snapping my head from my neck.
    “I said, pay attention, moron,” she hissed.
    My eyes strayed towards her angry face in terror. She hurled me towards the ground. As I sprawled out at her feet, she aimed her rifle at the hapless poodle and fired. A pool of thick, sticky crimson spread out through the pristine white.
    I keeled onto my butt and stared at her, petrified. I didn’t dare move a muscle. Bending down with a grimace of satisfaction, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a knife. She held the knife towards me, handle down.
    “Take this knife. Skin and gut that beast, you fool.” She snarled. “I want to see how you handle all that blood.”
    I tried to raise my hand, but my muscles and nerves refused to obey me. All I could do was stare at her trembling from head to toe. She reached down and slapped me across my cheek.
    “I said, take this knife, Bruno,” she shrieked. “Do what I say. Or else.”
    She grabbed her rifle, pointed the muzzle at me again. A slow smile spread across her