Random - Phil's Day

Phil regarded the gun on the seat next to him with a sense of nonchalant irreverence. He hadn't cleaned it in months and couldn't be completely sure it would work if he were forced to use it. Still, that didn't matter much to him at the moment. All time seemed to have winded down around him, leaving him alone with his car, the clothes on his back, and the .38 on the cushion.

After a brief sigh, Phil searched for a parking spot. He had expected to feel anxious and twitchy during these preceding moments, but was rewarded instead with an eerie calm. His actions were mechanical; automated, and he was grateful for his mind's seemingly sudden ability to run on autopilot.

It wasn't as if he never doubted this day would come, but he had always regarded its arrival like most humans: as some mysterious place in the future that is always "then"; never now. Thus the realization that the time had finally come and left him calm and detached gave him a sense of calm; an inner peace he hadn't anticipated, and he relished it. He allowed his body to take him through the motions while his mind focused on the real task at hand. He began to go over the steps again, slowly and precisely, as he had done a thousand times over the past six months. Each step in the plan a single detailed thought, folded carefully and placed neatly in line with the next.

Phil was surprised to notice he had left the car some twenty yards back and had walked almost to the entrance to the cathedral. He stopped, briefly, as he snapped himself back to reality. A quick check confirmed the gun was tucked away in his jacket pocket. He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes as the chilly morning air ruffled through his hair and swirled down the street.

It was time. Phil opened the door and stepped inside.