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We received 537 stories this past submission period! Thanks to everyone who trusted us with their beautiful words. We will be making final decisions over the next few weeks.

Now to Eric

By: Zach Shephard

Today the nation mourns the loss of renowned gunsmith Samuel Cole, who died in a shooting near his home. Cole made many contributions to the firearms industry, including the rear-facing barrel camera and a number of popular SmartGun apps. Already, memorials have sprung up across the country.

Elsewhere in the region we have six dead in a Tacoma convenience store, twelve more at the Space Needle restaurant, and just three at the Buckley post office. Shots were fired outside Olympia’s capitol building, but no fatalities have been reported.

And that’s it for today’s mass shootings. Now to Eric, with sports!

© 2025. Zach Shephard

Zach Shephard lives in a small town in Washington state, where he's written stories that have appeared in places like Fantasy & Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. For more of his work, check out www.zachshephard.com.

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