The Sniper (Brothers P. O. V)

The Sniper

Copyright © 2010 by Ifrah Hussain

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Originally by Liam O'Flaherty

This version of the brothers P. O. V is ENTIRELY written by me

Comments will be welcomed

I SUGGEST READING THE ORIGINAL BEFORE READING THIS!

Enjoy :)

Brother's P. O. V

The soft glowing light from the sun hung in the air creating a pinkish glimmer into the evening sky that reflected into the clear waters of the Liffey. It was mid June in Dublin, around the surrounded Four Courts bullets zoomed back and forth. Here and there, loud cries of pain, yelling and the booming noises of machine guns ripped through the silence of the night, but they were distant.

Republicans and Free Staters were waging civil war.

On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Free Stater sniper lay watching. In his hand, held tightly in a firm grip was his sniper. A baseball cap fit snugly on his head shading half his pale and sunken face from the now faded orange glow of the sky. His eyes were droopy and tired from the sleepless nights but he refused to close them for even a second. His eyes scanned over the streets below him for any other sign of life.

Emptiness.

That's what he felt.

He thought about the night when all his family members had left him to suffer alone. The night when his father was accused of being a spy and was hung in their small village with a sign hung over his father's head reading "Spy. Tried by court martial and found guilty. All others beware." Of course he wasn't tried by court martial. They didn't have time for that. They had bigger problems than trying to figure out whether his father, a Republican soldier, was a spy or not. They probably didn't even listen to what he had to say, because it didn't matter. Once you were accused there was no chance of getting out of execution whether you did it or not.

As for his mother, he did not care where she was. She had fled once she heard about his father being accused of spying behind the Republicans back fearing being accused of spying as well. His brother had taken the republicans side along with his father long ago and when his father was accused, his brother claimed not being related to the family.

The Free Stater shifted onto his side feeling as if the thoughts and memories were causing him pain in his stomach just thinking about them.

Just then he saw the flick of a lighter go off on the rooftop opposite to the rooftop he was currently on. Without hesitation, The Free Stater pulled the trigger on his rifle just as the flame flicked off.

Missed.

The enemy dropped to cover after his first shot and he held his sniper even firmer looking for any movements on the opposite rooftop. He saw a hat peak out from on top of the low protective wall along the roof and his finger pressed the trigger almost instantly.

Missed again.

The enemy head immediately sunk down behind the parapet again and this time he also sank low trying to regain his focus and breath.

His ears perked at the sound of a loud roaring engine. He very carefully looked over the low wall and saw a grey armoured steel car coming up the street and stopping in front of his side of the road. A Free Stater car. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an old woman, her head covered by a tattered shawl walk towards the car. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the Republican lay.

I slid lower against the parapet a little flutter of hope filled me. Help had come on it's way.

Bang.

I didn't dare look to see what had happened. He heard a faint thud of a body against the ground and hoped that it was the sound of the enemies body hitting the ground. He then heard the light sound of feet hitting the ground then another gunshot followed by a feminine shriek. He quickly raised from the low wall, took aim and fired at the Republicans visible arm. The man's rifle dropped to the rooftop with a clatter and hid behind the parapet again.

He's hit.

A sick happiness rose inside of him. The Free Stater stayed arise, positioning his gun on top of the wall and scanning the opposite roof top for any movement. The stock of the Republicans rifle lay in sight. For a while, only the distant sound of gunshots was heard.

Then the rifle was slowly being retrieved behind the parapet. I gripped my sniper tightly placing my finger on the trigger, squaring my shoulders and steadily watching for any movements on the enemies rooftop. The Free Stater watched ready. The top of the Republicans cap showed from over the low wall and he pulled the trigger instantly piercing the centre of the cap.

Head shot.

The cap fell down into the empty street. The ends of his mouth quirked upward into a twisted smile. The Republicans hand was loosely holding the gun in his pale hand. Then the rifle fell over the rooftop hitting the ground with a clatter and the hand slipped behind the parapet.

A disturbing feeling of pleasure filled his insides. Normal people don't feel delighted when they kill somebody. He stood up slowly his legs felt numb and cramped after crouching for so long. He stared up at the blue sky took a deep breath filling his lungs with fresh air.

He heard it before he felt it.

Pain erupted in his head. It hurt. He felt his body hit the ground and darkness slowly clouded his vision, his body shutting down, and then, all at once the pain slowly disappeared.

And so did he.

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