There’s an old theatrical rule to the effect that if a gun appears on stage in Act I, by Act III it must be fired. But what if a gun were to go off at the end of a play without being foreshadowed at the beginning? It might be a black mark against the playwright, but it would also make the production a great deal more lifelike.

In real life, guns — events, really — have a way of firing suddenly, frighteningly, and in complete breach of the invisible scripts that we all vaguely think we’re following.

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