20 Years by Jeff Hill

2,420 arrests. 2,314 times I pulled my gun. 19 times I shot at someone. 14 people I killed. 13 who deserved it. 1 who didn’t. 7,300 nights of drinking to excess. 3,650 days of wishing for something else. 7,000 days of service. 300 nights of purposelessness. 32,915 lives saved. 13 lives snuffed out. 1 without reason.

1 day until retirement. 25 years of service. 39 lifelong friends. 436 respected men and women dressed in blue. 17 watching from above. 1 watching from below. 26 surrogate kids. 93 reformed junkies. 2 family members who refuse to give up hope. 93,941 standing city folk. 1 man. 1 speech. 1 regret.

20 years, and all I care about is the 1 that got away. 20 years, and all I care about is you.

© 2012 Jeff Hill

Jeff Hill is a molder and corrupter of minds by day and a short story writer, pop culture blogger, and aspiring novelist by night. His fiction has appeared in Weirdyear, Cuento Magazine, Weekly Artist, Writing Raw, Microhorror, and Fiction 365 among others. You can find him at http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/jhill20

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