Flash! Friday: Prompt #3-51

As some of you may have seen, Rebekah announced last week that this year marks the end of Flash! Friday. This weekly flash contest was one of the very first things I did when I decided to refocus on my writing and join the rich virtual literary community. A little while later, I even became a judge! I've missed it every Friday when I didn't have the opportunity to write, and I'll miss it in the Fridays going forward, but I'm so grateful to Rebekah for cultivating the community she did, and for welcoming all of us to be a part of it.

Nothing could replace it, and I'm not sure what if anything will fill the flash void in terms of my own writing, though thanks to people like Rebekah, there are many flash contests happening throughout the week.

Of course, it's November, so I really should be working on my NaNo novel. But instead, here's a 150-word (+/-10) flash attempt based on this character: 

and this photo:

Stockholm cityscape. CC2.0 photo by Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho

And it's not too late for your story! Enter the contest here.

Like a Watermelon

Just like a watermelon—that’s what they say.

He shifts on his stomach, lining his eye up with the scope. A merchant’s flag flutters in the square below, filled with shop owners and ware peddlers tearing down the skeletons of their booths.

I line up my breath with his, inhaling as the breeze caresses my nostrils. A woman in a fur-lined, floor-length coat steps out of a black car and into the square, flanked by men in suits.

His target is in sight. He tilts his wrist, checking the time.

Five. His shoulders drop with his exhale.

Four. Not a drop of sweat lines his upper lip or forehead.

Three. The woman hugs the lover she’s here to meet, blissfully unaware.

Two. His finger presses down, a hair away from death.

One. I pull the trigger.

His hands fall away, lips parting in a gasp I can nearly hear across the open air before he drops.

Gotcha.

(157 words)