The Bank Heist Hostage

It was all so sudden; just when I thought I would be having a great day, I end up at the business end of a few shotgun cannons as I lay flat on the floor. I stood in line at the bank to cash-in on a check that a co-worker gave me for an ancient firewood oven that belonged to my great-grandfather. Little did I know that my luck would turn out this way.

Now I'm lying facedown on the floor, as I were to kiss the thin layer of dirt from the cold tiles. My mind races with thoughts of my family, my pregnant wife; our life had just begun, and I fear it may end. The worst part of it all wasn't even losing my own life now, but to leave my unborn daughter without a father just because a group of punks thought it to be easy to take what isn't theirs.

One of the masked robbers approached me, intending to keep me and the others submissive to the orders they yelled upon everyone. I couldn't see a thing, so the only thing I could do was suppose about what was happening around.

I heard two of them talk to each other. It wasn't loud enough to listen to it. The alarm is ringing so loud that I could feel my ears screaming. I could feel some heavy footsteps around me all the time. My legs felt numb as my heart began to pound a hole in the ground. I can't die here. I don't want to die; I need to tell my girl that I love her, and I need to see my baby.

Every passing second feels like entire minutes, as we all can hear the police sirens blaring from across the street. I don't know whether to feel relieved or mortified because this could turn into a shootout! Please, God, anyone that's listening: I want to go home! I promise to be good, tell my wife and family that I love them, hold my baby in my arms, pull out my bucket list, and clear the dust from it.

If I were to die today, I would have left this world in a bitter state of delusion and unsatisfied; worried for what I'd leave behind and who I'd leave alone. I promise I will change; I promise!

The yelling intensifies between police and robbers. As soon as I hear the first gunshot, I close my eyes and hope for the best.

It almost seemed like a slow-motion movie in which how things happened; the only difference was that instead of going slow, one short moment felt eternal. Two minutes hadn't gone by when my ears were already ringing, and small glass shards fell onto the floor, almost the size of grains of sand.

I swear from today forth, I will be a better man for my family; yet I cannot live fearful for my life, for the world isn't as peaceful as we may believe it to be so comfortable. So as I latch onto one of the robber's legs, he points the shotgun at me and yells just before he is gunned down by the police waiting outside.

My heart is pounding so hard; I swear that it feels like it wants to find another body to move to because of all this stress. Today might be a tale I will tell at every barbecue or one that I will try to bury altogether, but at least now, I know nothing will ever be the same for me again. Life is short and can end at any moment, and my family will always know how much I love them.