"One in the Big Box"

Kieran Shea's inspiration for "One in the Big Box":

"I once heard the phrase "one in the box" referencing chambered ammunition, and somehow it always stuck with me. So, that's where the title comes from..."one in the box" plus "big box store" equals "One in the Big Box". Anyway, with a short story I've always felt you needed to drop into the action like a blade and with flash fiction even more so. I like the idea of immediate suspense, that there is no time, that the clock is running out. I also wanted to set something where the reader would feel out off breath...something set with no resolution, through the eyes of one who must face the worst we, as human beings, can offer. I think this story works. We hear news like this all the time, the hostage standoffs--the mass shootings--the horror, and I wanted to face that and address our calloused sanitizing of all the carnage. Really, how do we tolerate this?"

Discount Noir featuring "ONE IN THE BIG BOX" is available here.