PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Michael stopped, startled not so much by the shocking red, but that something beautiful could exist against the background of ugliness.

It had been so long since he’d let himself see anything in the world except injustice and the need for vengeance and retribution. He looked at the flower and remembered his mother before she died. Then he recalled that all beauty died with her and finished snapping the magazine into his illegal automatic handgun.

Walking around to the front of the house, he rang the bell. A man answered. Michael aimed at the chest of one of the rapists.

It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ weekly edition of Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image above as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.

This story is a little different in that I had the idea for what I wanted to write before seeing the photo. Yes, the topic is controversial, so buckle up and hang in there for a second.

Unless you’ve been isolated from social media, you’ve probably heard of the recent film Citizen Vigilante directed by Uwe Boll and starring Armie Hammer.

It’s become a lightning rod for controversy and polarized opinions, The subject is an American vigilante living in Europe who is hunting and executing immigrants who have committed violent crime yet escaped justice due to a corrupt legal and governmental system.

Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”

I watched the film, reviewed it and then wrote a second commentary about why the protagonist breaks all the rules of vigilante films.

It’s an uncomfortable movie but draws tremendous attention because it directly addresses what most people see as an epidemic of violent crime committed by immigrants in the UK and Europe. Since I process my thoughts and emotions through writing, I decided to express part of my response to the film here.

To read other stories based on the prompt or to contribute one of your own, go to inlinkz.

My YA science fiction novel A Wobblegong And His Boy is up to thirteen reviews/ratings on Amazon with 89% of them being 4 and 5 stars (slowly gaining traction). Don’t forget you can also review my novel at Goodreads.

Happy Wednesday.