He Laughs

Columbine. Sandy Hook. Isaac's life began on the day of the first shooting and his mother put a gun to his head the night of the last. What happens between those tragic dates is Isaac's life, and the story of a mother convinced her son would commit mass murder. Emma was ordinary, educated, and middle-class; how she dawned that ghastly duty lies in a saga of infidelity, divorce, greed, and financial ruin. Isaac was a side note in a family torn apart. He took sanctuary in the realm of his imagination, but it came under siege. At school Isaac's withdrawn nature pegged him as 'special needs'. Their solution: a regimen of prescription drugs with side-effects...a twitch...man-boobs...and a set of devoted tormentors. Isaac endured to freshmen year. Emma was drowning in wine and self-loathing. At school teasing turned to threats of an "epic YouTube ass-beating" Seemingly alone in the world, Isaac writes revenge-fiction to escape reality. Relics from his hidden family history-a pistol and a bag of pictures-become the props for his stories. Stories never meant to be seen but such are the nature of secrets. Is he the next school shooter? Or has Emma lost touch with reality?