Flash Fiction: 299 word story dare - Early Morning in a Seaside Town

The early morning hours along a seaside trail – 299 word story dare.

It was 5am April 5^th in the sleepy seaside village of Portballintrae when the sound of gunshots woke up most of the people who were sleeping soundly in their beds. 

Everyone, well mostly everyone jumped out of bed and rushed out their front doors to find out what was going on and were the gunshots were coming from. It wasn't just a couple of gunshots, it was about 20 rounds or maybe even more.

Gunshots were not unusual in Northern Ireland, but they had never been heard in Portballintrae before, a quiet village known for its gorgeous coastline and great walks.

Sadie was very shocked at what she had just heard. She was shaking and was quite afraid. Sadie was out the door about three minutes after the shots rang out, joining everyone else in the street, who were all as confused as she was.  Everyone was speculating about where the shots were fired, who fired them and who/what were they being fired at.

Some people said the sound came from the big beach, others said from the harbour while others though it was the caravan park. One thing they definitely knew, it was not on their street and no one from their street had committed the crime or been shot at, because they were all standing there together. Sadie had taken a headcount and a roll call just to make sure! She wasn’t the head of neighbourhood watch for nothing!

After much discussion, everyone went back to their homes as they couldn’t do anything or find anything out at this time.

Well, Sadie thought she’d try. She needed to know. She couldn’t go back to sleep now anyway. So she picks up the phone to the local police station, asks questions, but will she like what she hears?

(299 words)