god DAMN she's cute.

SO cute.

Oh... that's because he lives here. Fabulous!

Seeing my own city of Santa Barbara in here about a dozen times is awkward...

"Ridiculous," .243 M77 spit.
"You have so much to look forward to in life. You bought a new car. You may be saddled with debt for the next 5 years to be sure, but you got such a good APR."

Miguel swiveled around in his office chair; "You always knew how to cheer me up with depressing crap like that M."

.243 M77 turned away and watched her children play outside on a squeaking swing set. '5 years..' she thought. Just 5 years ago she was new out of the box. Factory fresh, with a spent .243 Winchester cartridge tucked away in a neat little envelope nuzzled next to her.

Only 2 years of freedom.. then what? A middle-aged, cheap, silver tongued Italian shotgun with years of experience whisked her away to a

Motel 6. The rest was straight out of daytime TV. She would never see the 200-yard range again.

.243 M77 piped up quietly, "Did I ever tell you about the crush I had on you?"

Miguel's typing paused almost imperceptibly.

"It was at the club. You had just signed up and you were taking your first stroll around the ranges. You had some horrible looking thing with you, a crusty Remington with gaudy scope rings. I remember how she glinted in the sun, a slathering of Break-free on her worn, blued barrel. No doubt trying to cover up all those scratches."

"Ah, 700... I remember her. I picked her up at some seedy consignment shop. She didn't last very long," Miguel chuckled. "You broke me in though, M, you taught me how to be happy on the range again."

.243 glanced at the clock, Friday was drawing to a close. It was time for her children to leave, they were spending the weekend with their father.

"I have to go, Miguel. Don't be so hard on yourself. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow at Ruger's Barbeque, right?"

"Sure, I'll be there."

Miguel couldn't help but smile as .243 M77 gently closed the door to his study. "A crush, eh?"