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I Got Hit

On Wednesday, I went shooting with my dad and sister. I'd really been looking forward to going because honestly in this world, knowing one's way around a gun is a good skill to know. And, it sounds pretty cool to say. So, we went shooting at a range. This wasn't my first time shooting a gun though, I've shot a rifle a few times at my grandpa's house and gone for youth group. It's funny, you can't play laser tag at youth group but they'd let us go shooting. Anyways. When we first got to the range I couldn't stop jumping at the noise, but e ventrally I got used to it.

Pulling that trigger the first time in so long was so nerve wracking. But, the bullet flew out and hit somewhere near the target. We had our own with squirrels on it. Pulling the trigger every time after that was only a little less nerve wracking. I have a very vivid imagination. This was my first time shooting a pistol as well, so I didn't know what to expect. I shot both a .22 and a .9mm. The .9 had a kick, but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. The little webbing between my fingers was a little sore after the .9mm though.

On my next turn I decided to go with the .22 again. After shooting the .9 I felt confident that I could handle anything. That's when it happened. On my sixth shot, a shell casing flew out, hit the wall, then bounced into my safety glasses. It took me a second to get the gun down and the glasses pulled away. In that time, it burned my face. I got hit.
About six hours later
It took me a second to figure out what the heck happened. All I knew was one second I was fine, the next my face was burning. I honestly thought I'd shot myself. Once I figured it was the shell though, I moved on and kept shooting. 

It wasn't till we were leaving the shooting range that anyone else noticed my burn. At that time, about half my cheek was red and irritated. Six hours later it had calmed down and was already scabbing over.  As I'm writing this, I made the mistake of bumping the burn and now my cheek is an oozing bloody mess. I think this puppy might scar. 

Sammy is not happy about my burn. He was nervous about me going shooting in the first place and said if anything happened to me he was going to freak out. Well, now I have an awesome burn on my face. I think I look pretty tough. I had no idea that shells could burn you. If I ever go shooting again, hopefully this won't happen. But I don't know if I will. I couldn't stop picturing the bullets going through my skin as we loaded them. As much as I wish I was comfortable with a gun like my heroes in my books, I'm not. 

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