Daddy's New Shotgun
Geraldlynn Notah
My name is Cody Shall; I’m seventeen years old and I was born and raised in the middle of Patagonia, Arizona. In a small town of 800, I only had one friend; his name was Jessie Dunlap. We grew up with each other and went on so many adventures together. Wherever I went Dunlap tagged along; you could never separate us because we were always together, and he was like a brother to me and my family.
One day Dunlap and I decided to go the forest. We called it the forest because there were so many cactus's; they provided shade for us or just anything that needed shade in this miserable heat. We did not want to leave the house until the evening after super to go out because the sun didn’t go down until nine, just before bed, but also because it was nice and warm.
I called Dunlap to ask if it was okay with his parents that he could come over.
His father answered the phone and I had asked, “Hi Sir it's me Cody, I was wondering if Dunlap could come over to the house this evening.
“Of course! I just need an okay with your father”
My Father, “Hey Jeff, it's me Tom, it's okay for Dunlap to come over.”
“Sounds good to me Tom, Dunlap should be heading over in about an hour; he has to clean his room first.”
After my dad put the phone up I jumped in excitement because I was happy that Tom did not hesitate to say yes to me, An hour later, Dunlap came knocking on the door; I opened the door and told him that we were having supper. My mom and dad were very happy to see Dunlap over and he was happy to see the food that mamma made. Mamma made some crispy chicken with some soft round homemade biscuits and her famous potato salad. Supper was amazing and I was as full as a hippo; my dad told me that he got a new shotgun and my eyes widened in excitement. Dunlap was curious and wanted to see what it looked like. I asked my dad if I could see it and go out to the forest to shoot. My dad brought it out and it was beautiful; it was a CZ 1012 shotgun my dad got it from a friend. He told me and Dunlap to be careful and not to shoot at any birds.
It was five in the evening and the weather was very nice. Dunlap and I took the back roads to the forest. We took our bikes out because we didn’t want to waste time walking. The trip took about ten minutes on our bikes and it was fun on the bumpy dirt road. Dunlap and I raced down the dirt road to see who could go the farthest without getting tired first. The best part about taking our bikes on this dirt road, was the downhill. It was like riding a roller costar. We saw the huge patch of cactus's and knew we were almost there. We did not want to be where people can see us with a huge shotgun. So, we rode our bikes to the center of the cactus's and picked our spot.
We put the bikes aside and pulled out my dad's shotgun wondering what to shoot at. Dunlap laughed and said that we should shoot at the cactus's because they don’t have anything in them. I did not believe him, so I lifted the rifle, aimed and shot at the closest cactus in front of me. Dunlap and I looked at each other in shock because we didn’t think it would make a hole bigger than a penny in the cactus, but it did. I gave Dunlap the shotgun and went to see if the cactus was empty and it was. I was surprised, so I told Dunlap to shoot the gun at the same tree. He shot at the tree four more times and made a massive hole in the cactus that looked like a bowling ball had flown through it. We still had two hours before heading home so we kept shooting at the same cactus because we wanted to see how many bullet holes, we could get in it. I was close to being six feet tall, but this cactus was huge and thick. It was getting late and I wanted to get three more shots in before we left so I got closer to the cactus and made sure I would hit the perfect spot; it was under were the arm of the cactus started to grow out, there, the arm was about to fall off and so I aimed, shot, and fired. I was on my last shot and the arm was hanging on; Dunlap was trying hard to distract me so I wouldn’t hit the arm, so I aimed and shot to fast. I was off balanced and fell backwards after I shot the gun.
I couldn’t see, I felt dizzy, and everything in my vision was pail white. In the distance I saw something falling fast at me.
I heard Dunlap scream at me, "Move!”
I couldn’t move no matter how hard I told my mind too. My mind was yelling at me to roll over but, my body was not wanting to move.
The fast-moving object fell on me, it was sharp and heaving like an elephant. It was painful and I never wanted to feel this type of pain with a million needles piercing though my body all at once, but it was.
I can hear Dunlap in the background saying, that he was going to run home and get help.
After he left, I started to get cold and had a million of things running through my brain. I was lonely and becoming numb by the seconds.
It felt like forever and I can hear the police sirens in the distance. But as my vision started to blur and by hearing started to mute, I was vulnerable. I felt warm hands on my body and whispers in my ears not hearing a word of what they were saying. The piercing of the sharp pain went away, and I felt free. I was slowly deflating, and I felt the warm hands lift me on my shoulders and bright lights.
I felt rain on my face and wished I could see what it was or who's around me, but I couldn’t feel or see anymore. I knew I was getting close to dying. I never wanted to be in this situation, but I was. My breathing was slowing down the min and my thoughts were slowly disappearing and the last things I said to myself was, “I never should have shot my daddies new shotgun.” Text goes here.
One day Dunlap and I decided to go the forest. We called it the forest because there were so many cactus's; they provided shade for us or just anything that needed shade in this miserable heat. We did not want to leave the house until the evening after super to go out because the sun didn’t go down until nine, just before bed, but also because it was nice and warm.
I called Dunlap to ask if it was okay with his parents that he could come over.
His father answered the phone and I had asked, “Hi Sir it's me Cody, I was wondering if Dunlap could come over to the house this evening.
“Of course! I just need an okay with your father”
My Father, “Hey Jeff, it's me Tom, it's okay for Dunlap to come over.”
“Sounds good to me Tom, Dunlap should be heading over in about an hour; he has to clean his room first.”
After my dad put the phone up I jumped in excitement because I was happy that Tom did not hesitate to say yes to me, An hour later, Dunlap came knocking on the door; I opened the door and told him that we were having supper. My mom and dad were very happy to see Dunlap over and he was happy to see the food that mamma made. Mamma made some crispy chicken with some soft round homemade biscuits and her famous potato salad. Supper was amazing and I was as full as a hippo; my dad told me that he got a new shotgun and my eyes widened in excitement. Dunlap was curious and wanted to see what it looked like. I asked my dad if I could see it and go out to the forest to shoot. My dad brought it out and it was beautiful; it was a CZ 1012 shotgun my dad got it from a friend. He told me and Dunlap to be careful and not to shoot at any birds.
It was five in the evening and the weather was very nice. Dunlap and I took the back roads to the forest. We took our bikes out because we didn’t want to waste time walking. The trip took about ten minutes on our bikes and it was fun on the bumpy dirt road. Dunlap and I raced down the dirt road to see who could go the farthest without getting tired first. The best part about taking our bikes on this dirt road, was the downhill. It was like riding a roller costar. We saw the huge patch of cactus's and knew we were almost there. We did not want to be where people can see us with a huge shotgun. So, we rode our bikes to the center of the cactus's and picked our spot.
We put the bikes aside and pulled out my dad's shotgun wondering what to shoot at. Dunlap laughed and said that we should shoot at the cactus's because they don’t have anything in them. I did not believe him, so I lifted the rifle, aimed and shot at the closest cactus in front of me. Dunlap and I looked at each other in shock because we didn’t think it would make a hole bigger than a penny in the cactus, but it did. I gave Dunlap the shotgun and went to see if the cactus was empty and it was. I was surprised, so I told Dunlap to shoot the gun at the same tree. He shot at the tree four more times and made a massive hole in the cactus that looked like a bowling ball had flown through it. We still had two hours before heading home so we kept shooting at the same cactus because we wanted to see how many bullet holes, we could get in it. I was close to being six feet tall, but this cactus was huge and thick. It was getting late and I wanted to get three more shots in before we left so I got closer to the cactus and made sure I would hit the perfect spot; it was under were the arm of the cactus started to grow out, there, the arm was about to fall off and so I aimed, shot, and fired. I was on my last shot and the arm was hanging on; Dunlap was trying hard to distract me so I wouldn’t hit the arm, so I aimed and shot to fast. I was off balanced and fell backwards after I shot the gun.
I couldn’t see, I felt dizzy, and everything in my vision was pail white. In the distance I saw something falling fast at me.
I heard Dunlap scream at me, "Move!”
I couldn’t move no matter how hard I told my mind too. My mind was yelling at me to roll over but, my body was not wanting to move.
The fast-moving object fell on me, it was sharp and heaving like an elephant. It was painful and I never wanted to feel this type of pain with a million needles piercing though my body all at once, but it was.
I can hear Dunlap in the background saying, that he was going to run home and get help.
After he left, I started to get cold and had a million of things running through my brain. I was lonely and becoming numb by the seconds.
It felt like forever and I can hear the police sirens in the distance. But as my vision started to blur and by hearing started to mute, I was vulnerable. I felt warm hands on my body and whispers in my ears not hearing a word of what they were saying. The piercing of the sharp pain went away, and I felt free. I was slowly deflating, and I felt the warm hands lift me on my shoulders and bright lights.
I felt rain on my face and wished I could see what it was or who's around me, but I couldn’t feel or see anymore. I knew I was getting close to dying. I never wanted to be in this situation, but I was. My breathing was slowing down the min and my thoughts were slowly disappearing and the last things I said to myself was, “I never should have shot my daddies new shotgun.” Text goes here.
Geraldlynn Notah is from Moriarty, New Mexico, and has been at New Mexico Military Institute for three years. She enjoys to hike, run, play classical guitar, take care of her two little brothers, and sports. Notah is one of the few Navajo cadets that attend NMMI and as she excels at New Mexico Military Institute she graduates in May 2020. Notah will study to become a Chiropractor and work with athletes in the state of New Mexico. Her dream is to play college basketball at Arizona State University and to travel as much as she can.