The prompt was Shotgun, the goal to form a story around this using no more or less than 100 words. This was so not 100 words and I never pared it down to include it, so now it finally has a home, yay!
You have no idea how loud shotgun blasts are, until one goes off near you. The blast deafening, the percussion made his ears ring, echoing through his skull painfully. The smell, the heavy metallic scent of a freshly fired gun burned his nostrils and clouded his throat.
Gus clamped his hands over his ears. He had been knocked down during the commotion, his back hurt where he lay on the ground. He felt so disconnected for those few moments, trying to figure out what happened.
His head came up off the ground and he looked around, dust blurring his vision. He tried to blink the dirt out of his eyes. He couldn't see Shawn.
He began to panic as people shouted, calling his name. His heart sank, Shawn must be hurt and they needed him for help. Gus needed to get to Shawn.
He was grateful for the hands that came to his assistance, but he was confused when they pushed at him instead of pulling him upright. His ears were ringing, so he couldn't hear as they shouted. Pressing and touching him. It hurt.
He needed to find Shawn.
And suddenly he was there, tears in his eyes, hovering over him, he was saying something to him, but he still couldn't hear. Gus relaxed, Shawn was ok. He closed his eyes, his ears still ringing.
He felt Shawn shake him, he opened his eyes. He watched a tear track down Shawn's dirty face, saw his mouth tremble trying to say something. Then a fist rose into his line of sight, and Gus smiled.
He slowly raised his own arm to meet his friend's, it took a lot of effort. As their knuckles brushed, Gus sighed and closed his eyes again, feeling breathless. His ears were still ringing and people were still pushing and pressing at him, their shouting muffled.
Gus eased his eyes open a little, seeing Shawn hovering pale, worried and crying above him. Gus sighed, he was just glad Shawn was okay this time.