A sensitive adaptation of a Richard Wright short story about the growing up of a negro boy provoked by his acquisition of a gun and the dire consequences of his first shooting. Wonderful performances by LeVar Burton as the boy, Madge Sinclair as his mother and Robert Doqui as his father. Excellent musical background and cinematography. Its running time of 38 minutes classifies it as what used to be called a "featurette", but is the exact time the story needed to be told.