Do unto others -- flash fiction

"Bless me Father for I have sinned. It's been ten months since my last confession. I'm here today because I shot my neighbor's dog. I feel bad about killing it, but it had to be done."

"Go on my son."

"The dog bit my daughter almost a year ago. But the bastard who owned it refused to put up a fence or keep it inside or even chain it up when he let it out to do its business. He maintained that his dog had a right to roam free. And since he had powerful backers at city hall and throughout the community I had no recourse. Then yesterday I came home with my daughter, our gate was open to let the car through, she jumped out of the car and the dog charged her and mauled her. I had to shoot the dog. I've just come from the hospital. She survived the surgery, but the doctors say she'll never have a normal face."

"I'm so sorry for your daughter my son, the Lord forgives you, say ten Hai...."

The silencer screwed to the end of the gun did an excellent job. One father's revenge upon another hardly made a ripple in the still night air of the church. The priest fell backward in the confessional. The absolved peered through the shattered screen to make sure of his work.

"I hope the Lord forgives you, Father. I never will. I'll say my Hail Mary's but not for killing you, for killing the dog. He was just a dumb animal. You were supposed to be a man of compassion, a man who cared for others.

You should have bought the fence, you arrogant bastard."

Last week's fridayflashfiction extravaganza at Mad Utopia
and now THIS WEEK's flashfiction of which Do unto others is a part