Artemis hopped into the bed. He was tired, and had had a rough day. The twins had kept him up late that night, Butler was sick and Artemis had to tend for him. He was also on constant alert to today. He was very paranoid. If someone were to attack him, he had no one to protect him. He slid his Colt .44 pistol under his mattress.
Earlier that day, while at Butler's bedside, he fell asleep. Myles crawled into his room very stealthily. Since he was small, he made no noise.
Artemis was careless with the pistol, and laid it on the bedside table next to him. While Artemis lay slumped in the chair, Myles reached for the gun.
He had seen it many times in movies. He wondered if it was a real gun. He decided to test it. And who better to test it on than his older brother. The gun was already cocked. He put it to Artemis' head. Artemis felt the cold metal against his skin.
"Noooo-ahhh," Artemis yelled as he dived for the floor. Myles fired. The bullet shot into the wall. Butler woke up.
Artemis dived for Myles. As he picked him up, Myles dropped the gun from his toddler hands.
"What the hell….heck is going on?"
"It's okay Butler, I'll take care of this."
"No, you can't! Are we under attack?"
"No. Myles apparently likes to play with guns."
"Well, Artemis, I'll let you handle it. You're mature enough-you've been mature enough to handle this."
Artemis walked out the front door of the house and laid Myles on the ground.
"I'm sorwy, Artemis. I didn't know what it would do."
"It's okay, Myles, but don't ever do it again. You could get somebody hurt-or worse, killed"
"Sorwy. I promise, I'll never do it again!"
"No, you won't, because I'm going to teach you a lesson."
"Are you going to," Myles gulped. Tears welled up in his eyes, "spank me?"
"No, Myles, I'm not."
"Time-out?"
"No. You'll see."
Artemis carried Myles to the back yard, and once again set him down.
"Stay right here," he said as he went back into the house. He came back a few minutes later with two pink balls in his hands."
"Here, put these in your ears." Myles obeyed. He didn't want to get into any more trouble. But he still wasn't prepared for what Artemis was going to do.
"Do you see that squirrel in that tree over there," Artemis said.
"Yes. It's cute." Myles eyes widened. "What are you going to do to it?" Artemis picked him up and cocked the gun. Artemis held the gun in one hand, and put one hand on Myles' eyelids, pulling them up so he couldn't blink.
"This is your punishment."
"No-please no, Arty, NO!"
Bang.
The squirrel fell from the tree. It was twitching, but no longer alive. It was bleeding profusely from the head.
Myles cried, but did not shout out. He was too traumatized to do that. He didn't kick, out punch out either.
Artemis brought the squirrel over to Myles. "This is what happens, when you play with guns."
"Th-then, why do do do people h-have guns?" Myles sobbed.
"For self-defense," Artemis said. "You should only use a weapon if someone tries to hurt you. But only use a gun, if they have a gun. Or, maybe, a knife. But only, if they're trying to hurt you."
"I hate guns, Arty, I hat them. Why? Why did you have to kill that squirrel.
"It was your punishment. I'm sorry, Myles, but you must take responsibility for your actions. This squirrel died because of you. But now, you've learned. You are forgiven."
Myles didn't look up at Artemis. He no longer made sounds. Silent tears rolled from his eyes. Artemis took him back upstairs to his room, and laid him down in his crib. Artemis left the room without a sound, leaving the door ajar. Myles reached over for one of his favorite stuffed animals. He stroked its fur. It was a squirrel.